Is Bryan Danielson’s Full-Time Wrestling Career Ending Earlier Than Expected?

Bryan Danielson has enjoyed a new lease on his wrestling life since 2018. After being forced to retire due to his concussion history in 2016, the former Daniel Bryan spent two years resting, recovering, and seeing specialists until he was given the green light to return to the ring. The first three years of his comeback went down in WWE where he added a proper WWE Championship reign to his résumé as well as another WWE WrestleMania main event. Danielson would exit WWE to join AEW in 2021, rekindling rivalries from his early career and cementing himself as one of the company’s most reliable performers in the process.

That hasn’t come without consequence. Since May 2022, Danielson has suffered a concussion, a broken arm, and a broken orbital bone in various hard-hitting matches. These injuries have preceded the 42-year-old’s planned late 2024 retirement, as Danielson has long emphasized that he will stop working a full-time schedule before the end of this year.

Bryan Danielson Requires Surgery

If things don’t improve, the American Dragon could be shelved earlier than his anticipated retirement date.

Speaking during a digital exclusive, Danielson revealed that his AEW Dynasty clash with Will Ospreay left him in a bad way.

“I go to give [Will] a Frankensteiner off the top rope. I’ve never had this happen to me: Will lands right on his feet, I go straight down on my head,” Danielson recalled. “Later in the match, right before he pins me, he hits me with a Tiger Driver 91. I got shooting pains down my arm.”

It’s worth noting that Danielson taking Ospreay’s Tiger Driver 91 to conclude their bout was part of a storyline, as him being stretchered out of the arena was the planned post-match angle. That said, his aforementioned Frankensteiner’s rough landing was a mistake, and his body might have been legitimately prone to injury following it.

“I’m at home and I have to go get MRIs. I have a compression of the nerve root at C6, C7, and C7, T1. I’ve got this shooting pain that’s running down my arm that won’t go away,” Danielson continued. “The doctor is telling me that pretty soon I’m going to have to have surgery. The only way I can hold out, the only way that I can hold out is if I can keep the strength in my right hand. Right now it’s still there. I have the shooting pain, but I’ve still got the strength. So I plan on staying at home, recovering, doing physical therapy.”

Danielson is currently scheduled to team with Darby Allin and FTR to take on The Elite at AEW Double or Nothing. His AEW contract expires a couple of weeks before AEW ALL IN: London in August, but he has expressed a desire to extend his stay slightly, at least through AEW WrestleDream in October, as it takes place in his home state of Washington. Surgery related to C6 and C7 is said to have a 2-3 month recovery timetable, meaning if Danielson undergoes it after AEW Double or Nothing, he would be absent until September, about one month after his originally hoped retirement date.

Stay tuned to ComicBook for updates on Danielson’s health.