Bryan Danielson wants to win the AEW World Championship because he loves competing in title matches.
Danielson will face Chris Jericho in a semi-final match in the AEW Grand Slam Tournament of Champions on the September 14 episode of AEW Dynamite. The winner will face either Jon Moxley or Sammy Guevara at AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam for the world title, which was vacated after CM Punk went down with an injury.
In an interview with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, Danielson shared his mindset about being the champion. He noted that, to him, it's not about being the top guy. The veteran also stated that he likes to compete in title matches.
“For me, it’s not about being the top guy. I don’t care about that. And it’s not about leading the locker room. You can be a leader without the title. I like the feeling of big championship matches. Championship matches are my favorite kind of matches to wrestle. It’s a different feeling from anything else," Danielson said.
Likewise, he expressed his excitement about the tournament, which he called an opportunity to create excitement and deliver matches that have plenty of gravity.
“This is an opportunity to create more excitement. I’m pretty pumped about the title tournament. It just lends gravity to all these matches. I’m really excited," he said.
Danielson went on to emphasize how he likes the opposing personalities that are often featured in wrestling, and he used the difference between himself and Jericho as an example.
“One of the things I love about pro wrestling is the different personalities. If Chris and I weren’t wrestlers, would we share anything in common? I don’t know, but I know we share a love for this. The reason Chris Jericho wrestles is because he loves it. That’s a shared passion. That’s my connection with Daniel Garcia, too. That love of wrestling brings us all together," Danielson said.
"The American Dragon" made it clear that he wants to win the gold because he enjoys competing in title matches, as he's chasing the emotions that come with them.
“I want to be world champion because being in championship matches is unlike anything else. Those matches, they’ve got a different tension. I love the feeling of a big title match. Those are the feelings and emotions I’m chasing," Danielson said.
Danielson recently explained why, sometimes, you just have to crush someone's trachea. You can check out his comments here.
Fightful will have coverage of AEW Dynamite as it airs on Wednesday.
