AEW Champ Bryan Danielson Addresses Recent Injury, In-Ring Issues

AEW World Champion Bryan Danielson has been open about his physical condition over the past year; as his title match with Jon Moxley at AEW WrestleDream looms large, a match which will see Danielson retire from full-time action if he loses, the American Dragon sat down with "Uncrowned" to give some insight into just how bad his body is holding up heading into the Tacoma Dome.

"Physically, I have had my ups and downs," Danielson said. "I hurt my neck really badly in April in the [Will] Ospreay match, and because of circumstances I wasn't able to get an MRI until May. When that happened, it was questionable if I'd even be able to finish the Owen Hart Tournament." Danielson would be back in time for both the Owen Hart Tournament, which he won in July, as well as the Anarchy in the Arena match at Double or Nothing. However, Danielson has since revealed that he will require neck surgery before the end of 2024.

In recent weeks, Danielson has defeated the likes of Jack Perry, Nigel McGuinness, and Kazuchika Okada, but it was in his match with Okada where both he, and the AEW staff started to see first-hand the wear-and-tear develop. "Midway through the match, I started losing strength in my legs. There's a point later in the match where I'm trying to kick him and I can't turn over my kicks. That's something that I have the body mechanics to do because I have been doing it for so long, but here I am and I can't turn my hip over for this kick ... It's getting to a point where, physically, we're seeing the signs. I haven't been sleeping well because I have been having this shooting pain down my arm."

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