Timothy Thatcher Recalls Being Contacted For His AEW Appearance

Timothy Thatcher came in to AEW for a match against Bryan Danielson earlier this year, and he recently recalled how that came about. Thatcher is signed with Pro Wrestling NOAH, and he faced Danielson as one of his challengers leading into his AEW World Championship match against MJF at AEW Revolution 2023. The NXT alum spoke with Fightful’s Wrestling Perspective Podcast and recalled being called in Japan in the early morning about the match.

“I am in Japan, and it’s 1 [o’clock] in the morning because of the time difference, and I get [a buzz on the phone],” Thatcher recalled (per Wrestling Inc). “‘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.'”

He continued, “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.”