Bryan Danielson On AEW’s Focus On Consistent Storytelling, Wanting Matches With Daniel Garcia & Zack Sabre Jr.

In a recent interview on Rasslin’ with Brandon Walker, Bryan Danielson discussed AEW’s focus on consistent storytelling, wanting matches with Daniel Garcia and Zack Sabre Jr., and much more. You can read his comments below.

Bryan Danielson on AEW building a product that makes top stars like he and CM Punk want to join the company: “One of the things that I think has really helped AEW, because you have to understand, me and Punk coming is a product of them already being great. If it was something that was bush league, Punk wouldn’t have gone. I wouldn’t have left WWE. They already had momentum that made both of us, made Punk, who was done with wrestling, mentally done with wrestling. But they created a product that was enticing enough to get him to come back to wrestling. They created a product that was enticing enough for me to decide, and I love WWE, I loved working there, that made me decide to go. They’ve also created a product that’s getting old wrestling fans, who have stopped watching, back to watching wrestling. They’ve also created a product where people, who have never seen wrestling, younger people are now watching wrestling and being like, ‘Whoa, this is cool!’ The first time I saw Darby Allin hop off his skateboard and give an RKO to [Chris] Jericho or something, and I was with WWE at the time. I thought that’s the coolest kid I’ve ever seen.

On AEW’s focus on storytelling: “One of the things that I think AEW also has done a great job of is creating consistent stories, and so one of the things is creating an environment that feels believable. So, it’s like In AEW, to get a title match, you have to work your way up the rankings. Nobody, no matter how big or how small, comes in and gets a title match right off the bat. I think that is consistent within the AEW storytelling universe, and that’s what makes it so appealing and then it also opens it up to people not knowing what’s going to happen within that match. What are the ramifications of the match? The matches themselves have ramifications. If I win, do I get a title match? You get to see all the different layers of storytelling, but then also, it creates an environment where fans can go back to it, and they can rely on it. They know that this is consistent.”

On wanting matches with Daniel Garcia, Zack Sabre Jr., and others: “I think the one that’s most likely to happen the soonest is the Daniel Garcia match because he’s in AEW. I also think that’s one of those matches where he could learn a lot from me and I could learn a lot from him because he’s so young. That’s a match that I’m really looking forward to. Although, so, one of the things that I want outside of AEW, I want to do this in England because he’s English, I want to wrestle Zack Sabre Jr. in England. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter by Dave Meltzer, after I was forced to retire, he renamed the best technical wrestler the Bryan Danielson award because I had won it so many years in a row. Now, Zack Sabre Jr. has won it like seven years in a row. Some of those years, I was in forced retirement, but even since I’ve come back, he’s still winning the best technical wrestler. That’s named after me! I’m number two in my own award! I’m not even the best Bryan Danielson! Somehow is Zack Sabre Jr., if that’s his real name, is winning the Bryan Danielson award, so that’s something I’d really look forward to.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit Rasslin’ with Brandon Walker with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.