AEW star Bryan Danielson reveals how he missed his dream match with a WWE legend

Virgin Radio

7 Aug 2024, 12:24

AEW wrestler Bryan Danielson has confessed he’s missed his chance be able to wrestle one of his dream matches with a WWE icon. 

The Ring of Honor Hall of Famer is in the UK to help promote the upcoming AEW All In London at Wembley Stadium, and stopped by for a chat with Virgin Radio. 

There are whispers that the mega show could host his final match before retirement, so we got Danielson to recall his earliest memories of wrestling and music as part of Virgin Radio’s FIRSTS. 

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First wrestling match you remember watching?

“My first wrestling match that I remember watching was actually a live wrestling match, so I've got to go see it live. I certainly watched wrestling before that, but my parents took me to go see the Ultimate Warrior versus Rick Rude and then the Ultimate Warrior pulled down Rick Rude’s pants and we saw his butt. I think it's my sister's first male butt she ever saw. That’s my first memory of seeing my first wrestling match.”

First album you bought?

“My first album that I ever bought was Green Day - Dookie, which makes me feel really old.”

First wrestling superstar you met?

“My first wrestling superstar that I ever met was Greg ‘The Hammer’ Valentine, and it was at an independent show that was probably about two hours from my house where I grew up. Me and my buddy Skylar went to go see him, and he came to the ring. There were probably only 45 fans there, and there's Greg ‘The Hammer’ Valentine. 

“We shake his hands. I'm like, ‘Can we have an autograph?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, sure, kid, after the show.’ We wait outside after the show, and he comes out. We're like, ‘Greg, you said you'd give us an autograph’. He just pretends he never even heard us, and then walks right out fast.”

First music concert?

“My first music concert was Vanilla Ice, and it was after he was cool! He had been going and doing the fair circuits. So at the Puyallup Valley fairground, I saw Vanilla Ice. The opening act goes out and they do good. Vanilla Ice comes out, and he plays two songs, and people are booing and giving him so many jeers that he ends up just walking off stage and quitting his set after two songs.”

First poster you put on your bedroom wall?

“There was an American football player named Brian Bosworth who played for the Seattle Seahawks, which is my favourite team. Brian Bosworth was this huge college football star, and they expected him to do great things in the NFL, and he played for my favourite team, and his name was Brian, and my name's Bryan, and I thought it was awesome. It said ‘The Land of Boz’, like Brian Bosworth. Turns out he never played very well in the NFL, but I had that poster up on my wall for years.”

First World Title?

“First world title was The Ring of Honor World Championship that I won in 2005 when I was 24 years old. I beat Jamie Noble, who was at the time called James Gibson, and he's been a mainstay in WWE for years.”

First song at karaoke?

“My first song that I sang at a karaoke ever was Whitney Houston, I Will Always Love You. Probably not your best first song!”

Favourite wrestler you’ve never had a match with? 

“My favourite wrestler that I've never had a match with would have to be Shawn Michaels, because Shawn Michaels, he actually trained me, but by the time that he trained me, he had kind of retired. Then he came back, and I never got a chance to wrestle him. By the time I got to WWE again, he had retired again.”

The big difference between UK and US crowds?

“I feel like the UK crowds are a bit more rabid. It's interesting because I feel like people in the UK are more…when you talk to people in general, they're not as loud, for example, as Americans, when you're just talking to somebody, but then you get them in an arena or a stadium, and they're much wilder. Way, way wilder. 

“You go to any football game in the UK, and you walk in with the opposing team's jersey, you guys are wild. I love it. I love it, but you're wild.”

AEW: All In London at Wembley Stadium featuring Bryan Danielson, Mercedes Mone, MJF, Will Osprey and more takes place on Sunday, 25 August and tickets remain on sale.