AEW's Bryan Danielson Addresses Injury Update, Continuing To Wrestle While Hurt

Bryan Danielson suffered a broken arm at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2 and after the firing of CM Punk, Danielson came back at the early end of his recovery period to provide Ricky Starks with an opponent in a series of hard-hitting, brutal matches. According to Danielson, his injured arm has not appreciated this early comeback.

"I think by continually wrestling on it I'm slowing it down from healing 100%," Danielson told "Sports Nightly" host Jeff Adams with a chuckle. "As older wrestlers like to say, 'We never anticipate being 100% again.'" 

Danielson detailed that there's plenty of physical, strenuous activity that he can still do, and learns to work within the confines of his new normal. The former WWE Champion has learned which sides of him hurt, and which ones don't, focusing on not impacting the actual break itself, as that's where the arm is currently weakest.

Danielson broke his arm in a match with Kazuchika Okada at the Forbidden Door event, opting to wrestle a full 10 minutes after breaking the limb, likely injuring it further. Danielson was given a recovery time of 6-8 weeks and came back closer to 6 weeks after to wrestle Ricky Starks in both a Strap Match and a Texas Deathmatch. Danielson recently wrestled Christian Cage for the AEW TNT Championship, less than a week after a blistering contest with Swerve Strickland. Danielson has credited "smoke and mirrors" for distracting fans from the ways he's protected the injured limb during his return.