WWE made a last ditch effort to re-sign Bryan Danielson.
The former WWE Champion didn’t have a smooth run in his former employer, but Bryan certainly had a great run in WWE. It isn’t just the fact that he’s won the world title multiple times; He’s been part of some of the best stories that the company had in the last decade or two.
Plus, Bryan took part in some of the best matches ever produced in a WWE ring. But despite being a top star in WWE, Danielson wanted to pursue other interests and liked that AEW was a more wrestling focused product. But just because Bryan had the ability to leave, that doesn’t mean Vince wouldn’t try to re-sign one of his top stars.
Bryan Danielson spoke to Nick Stav, and he revealed that he received one last phone call from the former WWE Chairman about signing a new deal with WWE (Transcript courtesy of Fightful).
“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
And as you can see, Bryan Danielson made his AEW debut at All Out 2021. The former AEW World Champion doesn’t seem to regret his decision one bit. However, Bryan is still respectful and complimentary of his time in WWE. Though Bryan is retired from in-ring activity, he will return to AEW television as he’s now a full time commentator.