Bryan Danielson Comments On Creative Role In AEW, Whether He Books His Own Storylines

With Bryan Danielson currently on the final full-time run of his wrestling career, many have come to believe that "The American Dragon" has some, if not all the say on what he does and doesn't do in AEW. Since announcing that he would be stepping away from full-time wrestling in September 2023, Danielson has wrestled dream matches in the Tokyo Dome, Arena Mexico, and has mixed it up with a variety of opponents all over the world; combined with AEW's reputation for handing talent the keys to their creative, those appearances seem to lend credence to the idea that Danielson is the driving creative influence in his own farewell tour.

However, that's apparently not the case, as Danielson revealed in an interview with Sports Illustrated that he has absolutely no control over his creative direction.

"Here's the truth: I don't want anything to do creatively with my own stuff," Danielson said. "I also don't know where people get the notion that I do. It's very hard in wrestling to be objective about yourself, so I leave that in the hands of other people."

Danielson claims he didn't have any say in his creative during his time in WWE, either — even when given the chance.

"That was the same thing in WWE, even when I was part of the creative team," Danielson said. "The head writer of 'SmackDown' at the time, Ryan Callahan, asked me what I wanted to do, and I remember saying I didn't want to talk about what I wanted to do. I don't think you can be objective about that stuff."

Danielson is currently set to compete in the men's Owen Hart Foundation Tournament, with his first round match against NJPW's Shingo Takagi taking place at Forbidden Door on June 30.

Please credit the original source when using quotes from this article, and thanks to Sports Illustrated for the transcription.