AEW's Bryan Danielson Would Love To Work NJPW G1 Climax
Danielson in G1?
Sep 22, 2021
Could Bryan Danielson be the next wrestler to step through the forbidden door?
The American Dragon made his All Elite Wrestling debut on September 5 at All Out and Danielson is set to face Kenny Omega in his first AEW match on Wednesday, September 22 at Dynamite: Grand Slam.
Speaking to Bleacher Report ahead of the match, Bryan revealed he "would love" to compete in New Japan Pro-Wrestling's G1 Climax tournament.
"There are things I want to do, but I don't ever think of them as goals. Oh man, I'd love to do the G1. But if I never do the G1 and all I ever do is wrestle in front of 19,000 people at Arthur Ashe Stadium, I think I'm going to be okay, I'm sure. So it's weird as far that kind of stuff goes because there are so many things you can't control. I would love to do the G1, but until we get COVID under control, that's not even possible for me to go quarantine for two weeks," Danielson said.
Danielson noted he is less focused on achieving goals, though, and he is more interested in appreciating what he already has in life.
"One of the things that I've really worked on is trying to desire less and less. I feel like, and this is more of like a minimalist philosophy, but the less things that you want, your overall well-being is better, right? So, if I don't want a nice car, I don't desire a nice car, it doesn't bother me that I don't have a nice car, right? I think that that comes from growing up poor and trying to focus on being thankful for what I have, which is something that my mom was always really great with us. And that's kind of expanded into my 20s when you get more into the Eastern philosophies and all that kind of stuff. So when it comes to it, it was hard, because with WWE, they want you to be very goal-driven," Danielson continued.
"All those the media interviews, if you don't say you want to main-event WrestleMania, then they're like, 'Oh, he doesn't have any drive, or he doesn't have any ambition,' which I don't [laughs]. But sometimes you just have to lie to please demand. My overall goal is just having fun and being satisfied with awesome people. There's a part from the Tao Te Ching that really spoke to me. It's something about real happiness is living right next door to another country and having no desire to go there. Because you're so happy where you're at, you know what I mean? But I am an adventurer and kind of an explorer, so I like seeing different things. And one of the reasons why I came to AEW is the curiosity.
"There's no desire for any sort of external expectations. As far as what's going to happen [in AEW], I'm going with an open mind and an attitude of trying to be the best wrestler I can be. And that's always been a focus. I think one of the cool things about wrestling is that if you really focus on it, and don't worry about the politics and anything else, you focus on just becoming a better pro wrestler."