In a recent interview with “Inside The Ropes,” Bryan Danielson reflected on his conversations with WWE and Vince McMahon before he left the company in 2021.
Before his contract with WWE expired, Danielson informed McMahon that he wanted to pursue opportunities with NJPW and participate in the G1 Climax tournament. McMahon indicated that he would allow Danielson to do so if he wanted.
You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On if WWE would’ve let him compete in New Japan’s G1 Climax: “So, I don’t know for sure if he would’ve let me. The last conversation we had where I told him I was gonna go to AEW. I told him, once I make my decision, i’ll tell you. It was around August of that year, my contract expired the last day of April in 2021. It was early August is when I finally decided and called him and told him. He kind of asked me why and I said, well, this that and the other, one of the things I want to do is I want to work with New Japan and do the G1. He did say in that moment, I don’t know if it would have actually ever come to fruition, ‘I’d let you do that’ or whatever it is. So, yeah. I think maybe.”
On if Vince McMahon even knows what the G1 Climax is: “I don’t know. I’m not sure. He definitely knows what New Japan is and all of that kind of stuff. I had told him of my desire to do the G1 before cause I kept pitching G1 style tournaments in WWE. I said, I’d really like to be able to do this thing, so yeah.”
Danielson left WWE in 2021, and later that year, he signed with AEW and debuted at All Out in September. He returned to NJPW for the first time since 2004 to compete at Wrestle Kingdom 18 earlier this year, where he faced off against Kazuchika Okada.