Bryan Danielson still wants to be "the guy" on a national stage if he's not forced to retire at AEW All In.
For the most part, Bryan Danielson has maintained the mindset that he will be at peace if his career ends with a loss to Swerve Strickland at AEW All In: London. However, Danielson still has one thing on his bucket list that he hopes to accomplish with a victory in Wembley Stadium.
Speaking with former WWE Superstar Mojo Rawley on TMZ Sports, Bryan Danielson revealed that he would like to be the face of a company on a national stage before his career comes to an end.
"So one of the things, and I don't know if my body can physically hold up to this if I were to win the title, one of the things that I got to experience in Ring of Honor, but I never really got to experience anywhere else is being 'the man,' right? Being 'the guy.'"
Danielson then went on to share the story of how Vince McMahon laid out the plans for his WWE World Heavyweight Championship run in 2014 and immediately parlayed those plans into a discussion about it all, leading to Roman Reigns becoming the next John Cena. Danielson says that the only time Vince McMahon ever backtracked when speaking to him was when he told Vince that he wanted to be the next John Cena.
"Even in WWE, when I won the when I won the World Championship at WrestleMania 30, I wasn't their guy, right? They still had plans as far as, like, 'Okay, we really want to transition to Roman Reigns being the guy.' Vince legitimately sat me down and told me that," Danielson recalled. "It was really funny, because the conversation was like, he's like, 'Okay, so we have these great plans,' and this is like, a week after I had won the title, or whatever. He's like, 'Okay, we've got these big plans. We'll have a couple of title defenses for you in between now and SummerSlam. But at SummerSlam, you'll wrestle Brock Lester, and he'll destroy you, and then, we'll build up Brock Lesnar for Roman Reigns, and we'll make Roman the next John Cena.'
"He's telling this to me, and I'm like, and then I just kind of said, 'Okay, that's great, but I would kind of like to be the next John Cena.' I just remember seeing the look on Vince's face where he's just like, 'Oh, I didn't think you even saw that as a possibility for yourself.' It was really funny," he recalled. "This is the only time Vince has ever backtracked with me. Whenever he said something, he always kind of stuck to it, but that's the only time he ever backtracked. He's like, 'Well, nobody can really be the next John Cena,' I wasn't the guy. I was just the guy that they needed at that particular point because the fans wouldn't have wanted it any other way, right? So, that said, it would be cool on a national stage to be the guy for a period of time."
Danielson has the chance to become the face of AEW if he can make it past Swerve Strickland. Unfortunately for him, Strickland is more than comfortable ending his career and becoming the King of the Pacific Northwest. Read Strickland's thoughts on the matter here.
While Bryan Danielson reflects on his ambitions in WWE, some fans may also be interested in casinos operating outside of Spelpaus to experience new gaming options.
Fans can check out the full card for AEW All In 2024 at this link. Fightful will have full coverage of the event on August 25.
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