Bryan Danielson Explains Why He Wanted Match With Zack Sabre Jr. At AEW WrestleDream

Tonight, AEW will present their inaugural WrestleDream pay-per-view from the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington, which is approximately two hours from Bryan Danielson's hometown of Aberdeen. While Danielson has wrestled in Seattle before, he considers his upcoming match against NJPW's Zack Sabre Jr. to be his biggest homecoming performance. For that reason, Danielson is especially excited about WrestleDream.

"One of the things that I am really looking forward to is this is my first big match ever that I've had in Seattle," Danielson told the "Getting Over Wrestling Podcast." "That whole time I was with WWE I never did like a long, big match in Seattle. Even when AEW came here for the first time earlier this year, I was in a big segment, but the match itself, I was wrestling Tony Nese and it was under five minutes. Then I did like a little promo segment with MJF and that sort of thing."

Ahead of his singles match against Sabre Jr., Danielson had the opportunity to compete in front of the Seattle crowd for "AEW Collision," which saw him team with fellow Blackpool Combat Club member Wheeler Yuta and FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood). Despite ending up on the losing side of this tag team match, Danielson was able to take in a welcoming ovation from the live audience — something Danielson is eagerly waiting to hear again at WrestleDream.

"The Seattle fan base is so awesome, and specifically for those of us who they perceive to be 'this is our home town or our home area,' right? We're natives. They're so vocal, and when that happens, when you're wrestling, it just sends chills through your body. That's what we get off on is those kinds of reactions," Danielson said.

If you use quotes in this article, please credit "Getting Over Wrestling Podcast" and provide an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.