Timothy Thatcher’s AEW match against Bryan Danielson only came about after the former WWE NXT wrestler raced across the planet to make it to the show.
Thatcher’s first, and to date, only match with AEW was on the February 1, 2023 episode of Dynamite as part of Danielson’s feud with AEW World Champion MJF.
During a recent appearance on “The Wrestling Perspective Podcast,” Thatcher recalled his hectic arrival to AEW after being contacted by the promotion. He said,
“I am in Japan, and it’s 1 in the morning because of the time difference, and I get [a buzz on the phone]. ‘Would you like to wrestle Bryan Danielson next week on TV?’ ‘Yeah, but I’m in Japan right now. I live in America. I’ll be home in this much time. Can we do it then?’ Thirty minutes passes [and] I doze back off. [AEW messages back] ‘What if we fly you from Tokyo?’ ‘Yeah okay, but I gotta work for NOAH that week, too.’
“So I literally flew into Dayton, Ohio, had the match with Mr. Bryan Danielson, and immediately flew right back to Japan to wrestle then the next two days for NOAH.’ Needless to say, when I got there I was just like ‘Yeah, whatever happens is going to happen,’ because … I’m just a man that’s passing through all the time. Thankfully, again, it was against Bryan Danielson, who is easily the most famous, and probably one of the best wrestlers I’ve ever been in the ring with, easily by leaps and bounds.”
With his busy schedule, Thatcher had little time to prepare for the match with Danielson. Despite this, the pair delivered an entertaining match that was won by the American Dragon.
