Tony Khan: I Told My Father That He Should Turn To Bryan Danielson If I Can’t Book A Show

Tony Khan names Bryan Danielson as the person he would trust to put together a show if he couldn’t do it.

Tony Khan names Bryan Danielson as the person he would trust to put together a show if he couldn’t do it.

Danielson, formerly known as Daniel Bryan in WWE, signed with AEW in 2021 and debuted at AEW All Out 2021. He has been one of the company’s top stars ever since. The veteran has also been helping the company behind the scenes, and he has been working on AEW creative in recent months. In June, AEW CEO Tony Khan stated that he has a very close relationship with Danielson, and he praised his mind for the business.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Khan was asked to name the person he would trust to put together a show if he was unable to do so himself, and he pointed to Danielson. 

“He hasn’t been around as much lately, because he’s been recovering from an injury. But if I got hit by a bus, or if I was ever incapacitated for some reason, the person I told my father that he should turn to is Bryan Danielson,” Khan said.

In the same interview, Khan was asked to describe how far he plans ahead with his booking. He noted that he has long-range ideas and plans, but everything is in pencil due to the nature of the business. Khan highlighted Danielson’s arm injury as an example of situations that force him to make changes.

“I have long-range ideas and plans for things we can do. I do everything in pencil. On the AEW All Access show on TBS, I gave a look at a matrix that I built with all the different ideas. There are rows and columns for the different stories and where they can intersect and the different dates and how everything progresses. But this changes so often. We’ve had major changes this summer. We lost [former ROH and WWE star] Bryan Danielson with a broken arm, and [former WWE and Dragongate star] Pac has been out with internal injuries. Jamie Hayter has been out injured. These are three great wrestlers. In the case of Pac and Jamie Hayter, they are great former champions and also British stars I really was hoping would be involved in the Wembley Stadium show. But we have such a deep roster. It’s like when a sports team has an injury and switches people around and brings people in. That’s what we do,” Khan said.

Danielson broke his arm at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door, and he has been sidelined ever since. He recently commented on his arm injury. Click here to see what he had to say.

As of this writing, there is no word on when Danielson will return to the ring. Fightful will provide more information as it becomes available.

In an interview, Danielson stated that Blackpool Combat Club should never break up. Check out his comments here.