It’s official — MJF and Bryan Danielson will clash over the AEW World Championship in a 60-minute Iron Man Match on March 5 in San Francisco at AEW Revolution. The match was originally pitched well over a month ago by Danielson, but Friedman only agreed to it if “The American Dragon” could remain undefeated up through tonight’s episode of Dynamite. That resulted in Danielson winning matches against Konosuke Takeshita, Bandido, Brian Cage, Pro Wrestling Noah’s Timothy Thatcher and Rush.
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MJF and Rush tried to ensure Danielson would lose tonight before the match even started by having Preston Vance and Jose The Assistant lock the trainer’s room door while Danielson was in there with Takeshita. However, Danielson was able to bust open the door and run to the ring before the 10-count, kicking off the match, He was able to pin the former ROH World Champion, but only after hitting his Running Knee finisher twice.
Friedman snapped after the match, once again attacking Danielson’s arm with his Salt of the Earth submission. The episode went to commercial as security helplessly tried to wrench Max off of Danielson.
Danielson previously stated in an interview with Sports Illustrated that, while he’s not focused on being the top guy in AEW, he’ll gladly chase after its top prize.
“For me, it’s not about being the top guy. I don’t care about that. And it’s not about leading the locker room. You can be a leader without the title. I like the feeling of big championship matches. Championship matches are my favorite kind of matches to wrestle. It’s a different feeling from anything else,” Danielson said. “This is an opportunity to create more excitement. I’m pretty pumped about the title tournament. It just lends gravity to all these matches. I’m really excited.”
“I want to be world champion, because being in championship matches is unlike anything else,” he later added. “Those matches, they’ve got a different tension. I love the feeling of a big title match. Those are the feelings and emotions I’m chasing.”
