Bryan Danielson is speaking candidly about the reality of his physical limitations, admitting that his lingering hope of returning to the ring may have been nothing more than wishful thinking. The “American Dragon,” who ended his full-time in-ring career in October 2024, has transitioned to commentary on AEW Dynamite, but the weekly travel schedule has taken a significant toll on his already fragile neck.
During a new appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Danielson explained why he refuses to label himself as “retired,” despite acknowledging that the wrestler he once was is gone for good.
“I hate the [retired] word because I was forced to retire before [in 2016],” Danielson said. “So I never consider myself fully retired. Like — this is how I think and this is how a lot of wrestlers think, ‘Well, I think I could do this in this situation if needed or called upon or whatever it is.’ But yeah, you know, effectively for the Bryan Danielson that I used to be, yeah, that guy doesn’t exist anymore.”
Danielson admitted he had quietly held onto the idea that he could make sporadic returns to the ring. But the physical pain caused by consistent travel for commentary has forced a sobering reassessment.
“I’d like to never get neck surgery,” Danielson said. “I was actually doing really well until I started traveling more, and then it’s really gone downhill. I had these weird… delusions about like, ‘Okay, maybe I could get back and do a little bit of wrestling or whatever it is.’ Now I see that they were delusions. This traveling is like, ‘Okay, yeah, that would not be a good idea.’”
When asked whether he could still wrestle in a reduced capacity, Danielson said he could envision enjoying “fun” matches similar to the lighthearted work he did early in his career at the Butlin’s camps in the UK. But he doesn’t believe AEW fans would want to see him in that form.
“I would love to, not on TV, right?” Danielson said. “I think I could go have fun matches and have fun doing the fun matches. But then I don’t think that that’s the TV — that’s not the kind of wrestling fans would want to pay to see Bryan Danielson do.”
Danielson remains on the verge of needing neck surgery but hopes to avoid it. He emphasized that his condition was stable until the demands of weekly cross-country travel began to worsen his symptoms.
Danielson’s comments paint a clear, honest picture of a wrestler reconciling with the physical cost of his career — and the reality that, even if he never says the word “retired,” the Bryan Danielson fans once knew may never step into the ring again.
