Latest Health Update On AEW Star Bryan Danielson

It's been six months since Bryan Danielson was forced to retire from wrestling full-time, losing his AEW World Championship to Jon Moxley at AEW's WrestleDream pay-per-view, with the "American Dragon" in desperate need of time off due to how beaten up he was by the end of his title reign. Danielson openly admitted to needing neck surgery, and given the recent news surrounding Kevin Owens and his neck injury, Dave Meltzer has provided an update on how Danielson is doing in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

The most recent update that Meltzer was able to provide was that Danielson was still trying to avoid having surgery on his neck, something he openly admitted to needing in 2024, and that the idea of stem cell treatment has been floated around, but there has been no progress on that front. It's because of Danielson's determination to not go under the knife that has left his wrestling future, as Meltzer puts it, up in the air, and that his match with Moxley at WrestleDream 2024 might very well have been Danielson's actual retirement match as a return to the ring doesn't seem to be on the horizon.

Meltzer did note that Sting needed neck surgery after the injury he sustained during his WWE run in 2015 and ended up coming back to wrestle for three more years in AEW, but that isn't guaranteed to happen for Danielson as he was in a bad way by the time he dropped the AEW World Championship. Danielson has remained in the loop with AEW, appearing at Globe Life Field in December 2024 to help promote the All In Texas event on July 12, and was recently backstage at the Dynasty pay-per-view on April 6 helping out with the creative side of the show.