Bryan Danielson On How His Coming Retirement Feels Different From 2016 Exit From Ring

Bryan Danielson’s in-ring career is coming to a close, and he recently spoke about how now feels different from his 2016 retirement. Danielson retired due to his neck injury back during his time in WWE, and he compared then to now in an interview with Yahoo! Sports.

“I can tell the difference just by my emotional state,” Danielson said in the interview about how he’s feeling now. “It was this huge, deflating moment when they told me that I couldn’t come back [in WWE]. It was like this part of me almost died. With this, I honestly feel like I am mentally ready, and part of it is because of my physical struggles.”

He continued, “Then, Brie [Garcia] and I were married but didn’t have kids yet so we didn’t have this life that we have now, where I love coming home and being with my kids.”

Danielson will defend the AEW World Championship against Jon Moxley at AEW WrestleDream this weekend, and has said he’ll end his full-time in-ring career once he loses the title.