Confirmation On Original Creative Plans For Top AEW Star, Bryan Danielson Reacts To Raja Jackson-Syko Stu Incident; Wants To Team With His Wife (Brie Bella)
— Bryan Danielson says he could see a scenario where he teams up with his wife, Brie Bella, for a tag team match. Though Danielson has stepped away from full-time wrestling and Bella hasn’t competed since 2022, he told the “UNSCRIPTED” podcast that it would be special for them to share the ring together in a match their kids could watch.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On the possibility of teaming with Brie Bella: “Maybe. There is a world where that can happen. If we did it, it wouldn’t be a full-time run or anything like that. I think it would be something to where it’s so our kids can see it. Our kids would really enjoy it.”
On wanting to do it for their kids: “There is a world where Brie and I would do a tag team match together so our kids can see it. Both of our kids see their dad as a wrestler. They know that their mom wrestled, but they don’t see her as a wrestler because she hasn’t wrestled much since they’ve been born. I think it would be really cool for us as a family to do a tag match where our kids can see it, and they can see their mom and dad doing this thing that they love.”
On AEW and WWE working with each other: “It’d be interesting. Tony Khan has a collaborative mindset. Where we’re at right now, it seems more like WWE is trying to put us out of business rather than wanting to go into business. The landscape of wrestling has changed so much in the last six or seven years that I would never say never. I don’t know exactly how it plays out as far as who is on top of who in the corporate structure of WWE, but if Nick Khan, who is a great businessman and has brokered these incredible deals for WWE, if he thought it was best for WWE to do some sort of collaboration with AEW, say once a year, and it was great for wrestling fans and wrestlers….there would be some hurdles there as far as the relationship goes because there have been some nasty things said on both sides. You have to overcome those things. If you could get there, it would be a huge win for wrestling fans. Do I see that happening in the next year? [indicates no and laughs]. A lot of bridges have been burned, and a lot of bridges need to be mended for that to happen. You have people within AEW and WWE who genuinely love each other as people. I have friends there who I will love until the day I die. It’s not just wrestlers. It’s people in management. Likewise, there are people in WWE who love people in AEW. Not just the wrestlers. Love some of the people in leadership roles in AEW. There is enough love there that something could happen, but there’s also enough bad blood to where it’s like [shakes head and laughs]”
On the Raja Jackson-Syko Stu incident: “I’ve seen the clip. I have no context for what actually happened. It seems pretty irresponsible on a lot of different levels. I have been in the ring with people who, we don’t necessarily get along, but there is professionalism. I will say this, and this is not a defense of what he did, I don’t think Rampage’s son is a professional wrestler. I don’t know who (orchestrated it). There is a certain degree of professionalism you have to have to call yourself a professional wrestler, and that’s not it.”
— Wardlow suffered an injury shortly after making his return at AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door 2025, which led to changes in AEW’s creative direction.
Initial reports claimed that Wardlow was set to challenge Hangman Page at All Out 2025. However, AEW sources later clarified that this was never the plan and that Kyle Fletcher had always been slated as Page’s opponent.
AEW President Tony Khan confirmed this during a recent media call, reiterating that Fletcher was the intended challenger for Page all along.
You can check out some highlights from the media call below:
On the rumors that Wardlow was meant to challenge Hangman Page: “The plan has been and has always been the TNT Champion Kyle Fletcher to step up and challenge the AEW World Champion ‘Hangman’ Page at AEW All Out. I thought it was ludicrous when I saw somebody report that at AEW All Out there was ever any talk of Wardlow wrestling for the world title. And there had been big plans for Wardlow, that is true. Wardlow was going to be very involved in the television in the run-up to All Out but he was never going to be the challenger.”
On Fletcher as the challenger: “Kyle Fletcher was always the hand-picked man to be in his position here. Wardlow was a hand-picked man to be in a key, prominent position when he got involved, as you saw after Okada versus Swerve. He’s clearly a top guy in a top scene… Wardlow would absolutely, if he was healthy, have been involved in this run-up to All Out and he would have been in a top prominent spot coming out of All Out.”
On Wardlow joining the Don Callis Family and his injury: “It makes sense for Wardlow to be with them and I was really excited about his return. I was so devastated when Wardlow was injured, and that is true. Wardlow is out injured and that part of the report was true. But then, the way people source things and the way people report things I think is terrible… I also think it’s crazy and terrible that Wardlow got hurt, most of all. I feel terrible for him that he is out injured.”
— During a recent interview with CBS Sports, Eddie Kingston spoke about WWE’s counterprogramming tactics toward AEW, noting the clear differences in how the two promotions operate.
He also revealed that he thought about retiring while recovering from injuries but credited Homicide with helping him stay motivated and keep going.
You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On AEW adding him to All Out 2025: “Humbly, it’s flattering that they think I matter that much, that I can help that much. I don’t think too highly of myself. So I’m very humbled that they believe that I can help in whatever bulls*it war or bulls*it thing that’s going on because all it is is bulls*it. You know what I mean? It’s competition and it’s one place wanting to monopolize and there’s another place that doesn’t want to monopolize. For now, cause you know how once people get power it changes. You know what I’m saying? So let’s not get it twisted. I’d like to think that if the shoe was on the other foot, things wouldn’t go down like that, but power corrupts man. At the end of day, guess what? You know who wins? Pro wrestling fans. To me, having multiple companies is a good thing for the boys too because we get to get paid. We’re independent contractors — more companies, more money. That’s why I hope, I at least hope the boys get that. That’s why I say everything is bulls*it cause that’s what it is. It’s all bulls*it. It’s all part of the game. I’m not saying it in a mean way, at the end of the day, it is what it is. 50 years from now when we’re all dead or 100 years from now when we’re all dead and gone, there’s going to be another company that’s going to do it again and again and again. It’s a business and that’s it. The wrestling fan wins if they’re open-minded.”
On how rough his recovery has been: “The hardest part of anything in life is the mental game. Pain is whatever. I’ve had eight or nine surgeries already.”
On considering retirement and being without his partner for a time: “I told her to get out and that I’d be alright, lying, of course. For two months, I was by myself. I wasn’t doing PT, sitting there days in the dark by myself. Thank God I don’t really drink much anymore. I coped with food, which didn’t help. I went from beating myself up, not knowing if I’d get back in the ring, and trying to be satisfied. I told myself, ‘Well, I reached this goal and I reached that goal.’ I was trying to convince myself that it’s OK to call it.”
On Homicide convincing him not to retire: “He didn’t get to go out his way,” Kingston said. “So he’d tell me, ‘Go out your way. I know this is not the way you want to go out.’ I want to go out on my shield. I want to go out swinging to the end. People can say whatever they want about Eddie Kingston, but one thing they can’t say is that I wasn’t defiant to the end. That’s what kept me going.”
(h/t – Fightful)
