AEW: Bryan Danielson on “I Had A Lifetime Job At WWE, And I Chose To Come To AEW Because It’s The Best Wrestling Company”, Sammy Guevara & Kelly Madan Head Injuries Update, More News

Brian Danielson Comments on “I Had A Lifetime Job At WWE, And I Chose To Come To AEW Because It’s The Best Wrestling Company”

This past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite 5 Year Anniversary Show featured Bryan Danielson defeating Kazuchika Okada to retain his AEW World Championship in the main event of the show.

AEW recently released a video featuring AEW CEO Tony Khan and Danielson giving a speech to the crowd following the show. During his speech, Danielson gave his thoughts about his decision to leave WWE despite having a “lifetime job” there to come to AEW instead.

“First of all, I’d like to thank Tony Khan. Without him, AEW wouldn’t be here. You wouldn’t have an alternative. It is better that AEW exists for the wrestlers, for the production people, and for professional wrestling fans. I first wrestled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 23 years ago. I don’t know if you guys remember, but you were the crowd that made me into a WrestleMania main eventer [laughs]. So I just wanted to say thank you, Pittsburgh. Last but certainly not least, I want to thank all the men and women in the back because they’re the ones who made this place so great that I had a lifetime job at WWE, and I chose to come here because there were the best wrestlers in the world, the best fans in the world, and this is the best wrestling company in the world. Next week, check out WrestleDream because at WrestleDream, in Tacoma, Washington, I am gonna kick Jon Moxley’s fucking head in.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

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Sammy Guevara & Kelly Madan Head Injuries Update

As noted before, Sammy Guevara and indie talent Kelly Madan suffered head injuries at Ring of Honor’s ROH TV tapings this past Wednesday in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that was held prior to that night’s AEW Dynamite 5 Year Anniversary Show.

PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that the word that was making the rounds among AEW talent on Thursday morning was that Madan had suffered a concussion injury but she was alert and coherent after going to the hospital. Keller reported that those spoken to stated that Madan did not suffer any other injuries.

In regards to Guevara, Keller reported that the current belief is that Guevara had suffered a concussion injury but this has yet to be confirmed by his sources.

PWTorch’s Wade Keller reported that his sources stated that Guevara was able to walk around backstage on his own after receiving medical treatment and evaluation. Keller reported that his sources also have yet to confirm if Guevara had suffered a concussion or any other injuries.

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AEW News & Notes

As noted before, Adam Cole has been out of action for AEW since September of 2023 due to an ankle injury. Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that Cole was in attendance backstage at this past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite 5 Year Anniversary Show in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was reported that AEW officials currently are expecting Cole to make his return from injury soon.

As noted before, Powerhouse Hobbs has been out of action for AEW since this past April due to a knee injury and was recently medically cleared for an in-ring return. Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that besides Adam Cole, Hobbs was also in attendance backstage at this past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite 5 Year Anniversary Show in Pittsburgh.

AEW officials reportedly currently have plans to use “The Final Countdown” for Bryan Danielson’s entrance theme song again, according to Fightful Select.

In a recent episode of the Grilling JR podcast, co-host Jim Ross gave his thoughts about his belief that AEW’s new media rights contract with Warner Bros Discovery is great for the wrestling business. Ross stated “Yeah, I think so (AEW’s new TV deal is great for the wrestling business) because, you know, with the advent and the development of AEW, it gives talent an option. Everybody can’t work in WWE. Everybody can’t make a living doing just the indies. So, I think AEW’s a good alternative without question and it’s good for the talent and any time you can create an environment or a business plan that includes the enhancement of talents and you have a way to keep the talent happy which is paying ‘em, it’s a pretty good deal. Our company is unique in the sense… the travel schedule for the talent is probably as good as it’s ever been in the history of pro wrestling. So, a guy’s got a chance, if they choose to, to have a life. To have a chance to be a dad or a mom or whatever, and so it’s (a) unique time in the business without question. Tony (Khan) did a great job of cutting that deal and a lot of talents should feel very relieved that it’s done and they can continue to earn a good living in AEW and not be traveling all the time.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)

In a recent interview with TV Insider, Britt Baker gave her thoughts about her recent absence from AEW following this past August’s All In 2024. Baker stated “I guess in a lot of ways I can’t other than I lost, so back of the line. I can’t think of how many times I’ve said that to girls in my promos when I was champion. Back of the line. It’s a harsh reality when you’re in that position.” Baker also gave her thoughts about her match with Mercedes Mone for the TBS Championship at AEW’s All In 2024 event. Baker stated “Mercedes is absolutely one of my role models. Someone I always dreamed of wrestling in the ring. I can’t lie. My experience working with her was awesome. She was so cool to me. She always treated me like her equal. Mercedes is iconic. She has done it all, wrestled everywhere. Her WWE matches I will study until the end of time. Ones I will always show to people getting into wrestling. The Bayley and Sasha Banks (Mercedes) TakeOver match, at one point I think I memorized the match from start to finish. I look at it as I got to share the ring with one of my idols. I hope it’s not the last time either. I’m thankful for the experience because a lot of people don’t get those opportunities. You get asked what your dream match all the time, but do you ever get to have it? A lot of people can’t say they have.”

In a recent separate interview with Fightful, Britt Baker gave her thoughts about the online criticisms directed towards her and if her being the first female talent signed to AEW made her more susceptible to criticism. Baker stated “Heavy is the head that wears the crown. It’s the nature of the business. It doesn’t matter what company, what business, what promotion. There are always people that are going to be heavily criticized. As much as it hurts…I think what hurts me the most is when people run with rumors or concepts or ideas that are not true. If I sat here all day and fought off or batted down everything I’ve heard about myself that wasn’t true, I would spend my entire day on social media. I don’t do that, and I delete the app unless I have something to promote or it’s a Steelers game, and I get to talk shit to Bengals fans. That’s actually more frustrating than any of the criticism. I would like to say that, for most genuine wrestling fans, criticism comes from a good place. Just because they might not be able to communicate that properly or respectfully, that’s one thing, but just running with a rumor, people build whole podcasts around a one sentence rumor they’ve heard about me that’s not real. Some day, I can’t wait to do a tell-all; it’s going to be very eye-opening for a lot of people. You just have to let it roll off your back. I can’t control (it). I’m a control freak in all aspects of my life. I was the kid in school that took the reins of the group project because I wanted it to be perfect. I like to have control of things. You can’t have control of the narrative that people are going to say about you. They’re going to hear something and if it doesn’t fit their narrative of what they want it to be, they’re going to twist it and turn it so it does anyway. I’m at the point of my career where I’m happy. I know what goes on and what doesn’t.” Baker then sarcastically continued stating “Whatever you’ve heard about me, it’s true. Whatever you heard I said, it’s true. I said it, I did it. I don’t care because it gets to the point where it’s laughable. You can’t lose sleep. You can’t sit at home and cry because people say you’re a bully or this and that. At the end of the day, my priority and passion is pro wrestling. I love the AEW women’s division, I love AEW. I love pro wrestling. I watch both companies religiously. That’s more of my focus now. How can we make pro wrestling better? We can’t control Twitter, X, Instagram bullshit rumors, but you can work on making the product better and building bigger stars and growing the AEW audience, crossing over into mainstream media. I’ll leave it at that.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)