Kyle O’Reilly Says Bryan Danielson Hit Him The Hardest He’s Ever Been Hit

Kyle O’Reilly reflects on the one time he’s been in the ring with Bryan Danielson. 

Kyle O’Reilly and Bryan Danielson are two of the best technical wrestlers in the world. However, they haven’t shared the ring as much as fans may have liked to see. 

Kyle O’Reilly says he only shared the ring with Bryan Danielson once around 2006. As part of a tag match that saw him team with Billy Suede against Danielson and Sid Sylum, the match took place in Vancouver and there is not even a record of it on CageMatch. 

Speaking in a recent interview with Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp, O’Reilly reflected on the bout and how hard Danielson hit him during their only time across the ring from each other. 

“It’s the only time me and this individual have ever touched. To revisit it is a huge dream match of mine. It was 2006 maybe. It was a tag match,” he began. “Me and Billy Suede vs. Bryan Danielson and Sid Sylum. It’s the only time I’ve ever faced Bryan Danielson. A tag match in Vancouver. He did that spinning back Tiger Mask kick to me, in the jaw, and it was like, ‘Aw, dude.’ It rocked my world. It was brutal. It was also like, ‘Bryan stiffed the shit out of me. This is sweet.’” 

O’Reilly also reflected on knowing how good Danielson was before he even got into the wrestling industry, saying that he was a fan of Danielson even when he was still attending independent wrestling shows as a fan. 

“When I was I going to indie shows in 03-04, maybe even before that. He’s from Aberdeen, which a quick drive from British Columbia, so a lot of his first indie shows after he came back from Texas were in BC. The local promoter was using him a lot when he first came out with the mask and was American Dragon. I was like, ‘Who is this guy? He’s incredible.’ In 05 when I started training, he was the Ring of Honor Champion and had that epic run. You knew this guy was the guy, for sure.” 

Kyle O’Reilly recently returned to wrestling and Bryan Danielson is in his final year as a full-time competitor. Both work for AEW so a potential singles match between them isn’t completely out of the question.

Fans can check out the full interview with Kyle embedded above.