Bryan Danielson Recalls Turning Down Vince McMahon To Sign With AEW

Bryan Danielson has looked back on Vince McMahon’s last attempt to keep him in WWE.

After over a decade in WWE, Bryan Danielson made his AEW debut at All Out in 2021. The American Dragon quickly became one of the most popular stars in the promotion and went on to have classic matches with the likes of Adam Page, Kenny Omega, and Swerve Strickland.

In an interview with Nick Stav, Danielson revealed that before signing with AEW, WWE had reached out to try to persuade him to stay with the company.

“I hadn’t actually signed my contract until two or three days before (his AEW debut).”

“When WWE found out that I hadn’t signed yet, they said, is there anything we can do?“

Danielson called Vince McMahon to let him know his decision, and the then-WWE Chairman made him a new offer.

“I called (Vince McMahon) in early August and let him know, ‘Okay, I’ve made my decision and I’m gonna do this.’ Then he had called me one time kind of in the meantime and said, ‘Hey, what if we offered you this instead? That sort of thing.’

Bryan Danielson Questioned If Vince McMahon Would Respect Him If He Backed Out Of AEW Deal

By then, Danielson had decided to go to AEW, and when McMahon called him again shortly before All Out, he explained that he had already made an agreement.

“It was maybe five days before the pay-per-view and he called me. And this is just what I told him, I said ‘Sir, I’ve already agreed to this thing and if I was somebody to go back on this, like, I feel like you have a decent amount of respect for me, would you still respect me? One of the things that you respect about me is I honor my word.’ But it was a great conversation and he said, ‘Dammit, you’re right.’”

Bryan Danielson remained in AEW for the rest of his full-time career, which came to an end at WrestleDream in 2024 when Jon Moxley defeated him for the AEW World Heavyweight Championship.

The American Dragon has remained with the company in a backstage capacity, and recently, Tony Khan announced that Danielson will take on a new role as a full-time commentator on Dynamite.

Did Bryan Danielson make the right call signing with AEW? Should he have taken Vince McMahon’s offer? Let us know what you think in the comments!

H/T to F4WOnline for the above transcription.