During his appearance at Starrcast as part of the AEW All In: Texas weekend, Bryan Danielson addressed WWE’s apparent discomfort with fans chanting “YES!” during his AEW matches — revealing that the company recently contacted him about it.
Speaking candidly to fans at the live event, Danielson explained that he had received a message that, while not explicitly legal, seemed like a veiled warning.
“I think it’s odd. I just got a text message yesterday… I wouldn’t say threatening legal action. But, like, ‘Hey, you know if you…’”
Though he didn’t name anyone specifically, Danielson acknowledged that WWE’s values differ from his own and that he tries not to criticize others for those differences:
“Everybody has their different values, and they have their own values. They’re just different from mine and that’s fine.”
The AEW star noted that the chants were inevitable the moment he debuted in the company in 2021 and clarified that he avoids saying the word “yes” himself.
“Yeah, yeah… I knew there was no way to stop the ‘YES!’ chant when I got to AEW. And it’s also something like, am I not allowed to raise my fingers in the air? When I do it, nobody notices but I never say ‘yes!’ when I do it. I always just do this [raises fingers] and the people—so am I not allowed to do that?”
While Danielson didn’t go into full detail, he admitted the situation feels unnecessarily complicated and isn’t something he enjoys discussing.
“This is getting really into the weeds of stuff that is not super interesting or fun to talk about for me, and I also don’t wanna get myself or anybody else in trouble.”
Despite WWE’s apparent efforts to discourage the chant’s use in AEW, fans continue to embrace it as a tribute to Danielson’s legacy — one that has transcended promotional boundaries.
