Bryan Danielson Details Conversation He Had with Vince McMahon Before Signing Contract With AEW

Bryan Danielson became All Elite in 2021.

At AEW All Out 2021, Bryan Danielson joined the crew at All Elite Wrestling and created one of the biggest moments in the history of the company. However, there was a moment where in a different universe that would not have happened if the former Chairman of the WWE was able to convince the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion of sticking with the former.

“I hadn’t actually signed my contract until two or three days before that. ‘Always the plan,’ was Tony (Khan) thinking it? Did he have it in the back of his mind? I want to say Adam Cole didn’t sign until that day. Maybe he agreed to come, but you never know what’s going to happen. When WWE found out I hadn’t signed yet, they said, ‘Is there anything we can do?’ I called Vince (McMahon) in early August because I was going back and forth. I called Vince in early August and let him know, ‘I made my decision. I’m going to do this.’ He called me one time in the meantime and said, ‘What if we offered you this instead.’ I hadn’t signed my contract yet, it was maybe five days before the pay-per-view, and he called me. I told him, ‘Sir, I already agreed to this thing. If I were to go back on this, I feel you have a decent amount of respect for me. One of the things you respect me for is that I honor my word.’ It was a great conversation. He said, ‘Damnit, you’re right,’” recalled Bryan to Nick Stav.

Danielson would go on to win the AEW World Championship before losing it two months later to Jon Moxley, where Danielson would ride off into the sunset and announce his semi-retirement from pro wrestling.

(h/t to Fightful for the quotes/transcriptions.)

Want to discuss wrestling further? Join our Discord community by clicking here! 

If you enjoy Bodyslam’s content, you can help donate to the site here. You can also visit our PWTees store and buy Bodyslam official merchandise here.

You can listen to all of Bodyslam’s podcasts by following us on Spotify and subscribing to our YouTube Channel, Twitch, Apple, Google, or any of your favorite podcast platforms.

Follow me on X: @WhoElseButRami
Follow us on X: @BodyslamNet