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THE FIRST RING OF HONOR STAR (AND ITS A BIG NAME) TO BE OFFERED A WWE DEAL IS....

By Mike Johnson on 2009-08-23 20:48:30
PWInsider.com has confirmed that World Wrestling Entertainment has offered former ROH champion "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson a contract.

Danielson, considered one of the best pure wrestlers in the world from a technical standpoint, has been the nucleus of ROH as he's been main eventing for the company since their first show in February 2002.  Originally trained by Shawn Michaels and Rudy Boy Gonzales at the Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy, Danielson has been something of a journeyman, learning and wrestling all over the world in Japan, Great Britain, Mexico and other countries, as well as training in MMA to create his own unique mesh of styles. 

Danielson was under a WWE developmental deal early in his career when the system was based out of Memphis, but was later released.  He's long considered William Regal one of his mentors and has been considered the best in-ring performer not signed to a national company for several years running. Danielson has given ROH a number of legitimate classics over the years with everyone from Jushin Liger to KENTA to Paul London to Austin Aries to Samoa Joe, among others. Should he depart the company, it truly is the end of an era for ROH.

Danielson was signed to an ROH contract when the company debuted on PPV, but earlier this year opted not to sign a contract extension.  He's continued to work for the company since then as an independent contractor.

As we noted last week exclusively in the PWInsider.com Elite section, the ROH on HDNet move to Mondays brought ROH to the forefront of WWE's attention.  Numerous sources within WWE confirmed last week that the company was looking into the contractual status of a number of ROH talents as there were several names that were now on the WWE radar.  Danielson is the first name we've confirmed to have actually been offered a deal.

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