Bryan Danielson Points Out Opportunity Following AEW All Out Melee

AEW All Out was a successful showcasing for the company for several reasons, but those efforts were overshadowed when CM Punk hurled insults at the post-show media scrum. This reportedly led to a brawl in the locker room area that lasted several minutes between Punk with his coach Ace Steel and The Elite (Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks), with others possibly involved in the melee as well. Several men were suspended from AEW after the fact, which is something that "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson applauds Tony Khan for deciding to do, even if it did result in the AEW World Championship and AEW Trios Championship to become vacant. "Tony made a statement last week on Dynamite," Danielson told Sports Illustrated. "I hate to say, 'Oh, this is what happened' when I wasn't in the room."

Now that there's a need to pivot in a new creative direction, Danielson claims he's prepared to adapt and help make it a memorable story. "I tend to focus on what I can control and focus on the opportunities that present themselves whenever there is any type of disruption — whether it is something like this or even something, for example, like the pandemic. Wrestling in front of nobody was a real opportunity to hone my craft. It became what William Regal likes to call 'close-up magic.' We didn't have the crowd or anything like that, and I learned so much about myself and what worked from a wrestling standpoint."

Similar to how pandemic wrestling unfolded, the tournament of champions that Danielson is participating in is something spontaneous but that's why Danielson likes it so much. "This is an opportunity to create more excitement," said Danielson. "I'm pretty pumped about the title tournament. It just lends gravity to all these matches. I'm really excited." Danielson takes on Chris Jericho in the semi-final round tonight on "AEW Dynamite."