Bryan Danielson revealed during a promo segment last week on AEW Collision that he promised his six-year-old daughter that by the time she’s seven, he will stop working a full-time wrestling schedule. Danielson never said that he would retire from in-ring action.
In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Danielson talked about winding down his career. He said,
“Although I talk about the satisfaction of completing the match against Okada with the broken arm, it’s actually the singular worst injury I’ve had. My neck injury was worse, but that was the result of years of abuse on my neck. It’s the same with the concussions. No single concussion was worse than the break of my arm. And because of that, it put me at a point where I couldn’t be there for my kids the way I wanted.”
Danielson noted that he doesn’t think he will get to a point where he’s done wrestling. He stated,
“I don’t think I’ll ever reach a point where I declare I’m absolutely done. I want the ability to show up when I want to show up. Terry Funk is someone I always admired. He retired a million times, but he loved it so much he couldn’t help but keep doing it. And he did it when he wanted. For me, it might be a couple times a year, or it might be years between matches.”
Danielson further commented on his plans to stop wrestling full-time, saying,
“In my mind, it’s around August of next year. My daughter will say, ‘Daddy, are you going to be done wrestling when I turn seven?’ And I’ll respond, ‘Well, not exactly when you turn seven, but I’ll be on the home stretch.’
“I didn’t get a chance to do All In this year. I would like that chance next year. We have a show, WrestleDream, this October 1 in Seattle where I’m wrestling Zack Sabre Jr. If we have another next year in Seattle? Maybe it will be then. My daughter turns seven in May, so it’s a good time to close down the shop.”
Danielson’s contract expires shortly after his daughter’s seventh birthday. He started to realize he was getting hurt more often in bigger matches.
“There is the realization that over the past year, I’m getting hurt after every big match I have,” said Danielson. “That’s a sign. I love wrestling, but I do not want to wrestle at the expense of my long-term health. I did the Iron Man match with Max, and then I didn’t wrestle again until Anarchy in the Arena, and even that was a lot of smoke and mirrors. Then I wrestle Okada and I break my arm. The injuries are starting to pile up. At what point is that worth the risk? Especially when my kids want and need me at home.”
He continued, “I always thought I’d wrestle until the day I die. But it’s not going to be this regular, weekly wrestling. I don’t even know if it’s going to be wrestling at big shows. I’ve always wanted to wrestle for DEFY in Seattle. How easy would it be for me to call the promoter and pop in some weekend? They wouldn’t even need to promote me. I could come in, surprise people, and do my thing.”
