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BRYAN DANIELSON TALKS WINDING DOWN CAREER, CM PUNK'S DEPARTURE AND MORE

Bryan Danielson spoke with Sports Illustrated, stating that he feels his time as a full-time performer is winding down, "I don’t think I’ll ever reach a point where I declare I’m absolutely done,” said Danielson. “I want the ability to show up when I want to show up. Terry Funk is someone I always admired. He retired a million times, but he loved it so much he couldn’t help but keep doing it. And he did it when he wanted. For me, it might be a couple times a year, or it might be years between matches.”

Danielson stated the following about the timetable, "In my mind, it’s around August of next year, My daughter will say, ‘Daddy, are you going to be done wrestling when I turn seven?’ And I’ll respond, ‘Well, not exactly when you turn seven, but I’ll be on the home stretch.“I didn’t get a chance to do All In this year. I would like that chance next year. We have a show, WrestleDream, this October 1 in Seattle where I’m wrestling Zack Sabre Jr. If we have another next year in Seattle? Maybe it will be then. My daughter turns seven in May, so it’s a good time to close down the shop"

He then stated, "There is the realization that over the past year, I’m getting hurt after every big match I have now. That’s a sign. I love wrestling, but I do not want to wrestle at the expense of my long-term health. I did the Iron Man match with Max, and then I didn’t wrestle again until Anarchy in the Arena, and even that was a lot of smoke and mirrors. Then I wrestle Okada and I break my arm. The injuries are starting to pile up. At what point is that worth the risk? Especially when my kids want and need me at home. I always thought I’d wrestle until the day I die, “But it’s not going to be this regular, weekly wrestling. I don’t even know if it’s going to be wrestling at big shows. I’ve always wanted to wrestle for DEFY in Seattle. How easy would it be for me to call the promoter and pop in some weekend? They wouldn’t even need to promote me. I could come in, surprise people, and do my thing.”

On CM Punk's departure affecting the locker room, Danielson said, "In any job, when you lose somebody who’s very important, or you lose somebody you really like working with, that’s hard, But everyone keeps doing the job. And any time there is loss or controversy or struggle inside an organization, it’s a chance to bring people closer. It’s also a chance to divide people. So you have this thing where you can use struggle to make your life worse, or you can use struggle to make your life better. When I lost my father, I came out on the backside. I was worse. Struggling with my depression, I’ve come out of it better. So how you approach something and how you learn from something, that’s what makes the difference."

He also talks about Ricky Starks, his relationship with Tony Khan being like kindred spirits, and more

 

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