Bryan Danielson’s victory over Kazuchika Okada came with a cost. The American Dragon got his long-awaited dream match against The Rainmaker this past weekend at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door. In a shocking turn of events, Danielson forced Okada to submit, making this Okada’s first submission loss in over eight years. While Danielson got the W, he did not walk away unscathed. Danielson revealed at the post-show press conference that he believed to have suffered a fractured forearm, but later x-rays revealed the bone to be broken. There is no word on how long Danielson will be out of action for.
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According to Fightful Select, Danielson’s injury has caused “several adjustments creatively” within AEW, specifically regarding Danielson’s work inside the ring. The report added that “there were plans” for Danielson to wrestle on AEW television more after this past weekend’s pay-per-view. It was speculated that Danielson was originally going to wrestle Tomohiro Ishii on AEW Dynamite this past Wednesday, but that spot ultimately went to Jon Moxley.
Beyond Danielson’s in-ring work, the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion had also been contributing to the “first several weeks of AEW Collision.” It’s unclear if Danielson’s injury will keep him away from AEW altogether or if he will remain traveling with the company and strictly work in a backstage capacity. It is always possible that Danielson’s creative duties could be accomplished remotely.
“I love working with Tony and I love working in AEW,” Danielson said during the AEW Double or Nothing press conference. “It’s a lot of fun because, sometimes, before I even got here, Tony and I would talk on the phone sometimes for an hour-and-a-half to two hours and we’d just be talking about things and wrestling and that sort of thing. I think we have a lot of similar ideas on wrestling, and sometimes he says things to me and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s a great idea,’ and we riff off each other really well. When we do it, it doesn’t feel like work. When you love wrestling, stuff like that is fun.”
Danielson’s original injury timetable was 6-8 weeks, which would have had him ready to compete by AEW ALL IN: London in August. Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for updates on Danielson’s recovery.
