On October 2nd, Bryan Danielson faced Kazuchika Okada in a high-stakes title vs. title match during the fifth anniversary of AEW Dynamite. Danielson emerged victorious, successfully defending his AEW World Title. However, he did not capture Okada’s AEW Continental Title, as Okada’s championship was only at risk for the first 20 minutes of the bout. In an interview with Anthony Sulla-Heffinger of The Uncrowned, Danielson shared the challenges he faced during the match.
“Midway through the match, I started losing strength in my legs,” Danielson stated. “There’s a point later in the match where I’m trying to kick him and I can’t turn over my kicks. That’s something that I have the body mechanics to do because I have been doing it for so long, but here I am and I can’t turn my hip over for this kick. When I got to the back, I went to the trainer right away and they worked on me for like 30 minutes. They said it was stemming from the neck stuff. It’s getting to a point where, physically, we’re seeing the signs. I haven’t been sleeping well because I have been having this shooting pain down my arm.”
Danielson will defend his AEW World Championship against Jon Moxley this Saturday at Wrestle Dream. Bryan has stated that his full time in ring career will come to an end when he loses the world championship.
Tim Viczulis