Bryan Danielson (Sort Of) Wrestles First Match Since Full-Time Retirement After AEW Collision Taping

Bryan Danielson wrestled his first match since retiring as a full-time competitor in a dark segment on June 25.

All Elite Wrestling taped tonight's episode of Collision at the ShoWare Center in Kent, Washington on Wednesday. The main event of the taping featured a battle of the Kyles between Kyle Fletcher and Kyle O'Reilly that was won by the Don Callis Family member.

After the taping ended, O'Reilly was about to cut a promo for the fans in attendance when he was suddenly interrupted by Max Caster. The former AEW World Tag Team Champion then issued a Best Wrestler Alive open challenge that was answered by Bryan Danielson.

After Caster and Danielson came face-to-face, Adam Cole hit Caster with a Superkick and the American Dragon submitted Caster in eight seconds with a LeBell Lock to win the match.

Danielson then put over Kyle O'Reilly following the match, announcing that he was joining Paragon for one night as Kyle Danielson. The arena then filled with The Final Countdown, which Danielson called "The Final Kyle", to send the fans home happy.

Prior to the dark match, Danielson had not wrestled since his full-time retirement at WrestleDream 2024 when he dropped the AEW World Championship to Jon Moxley. Danielson got physical for the first time since his retirement last week, though, making the save for Blue Panther following ROH x CMLL Global Wars when he hit Shane Taylor with a Busaiku Knee.

While Danielson himself has said his neck "is wrecked", reports noted last week that there was an expectation amongst some in All Elite Wrestling that Bryan Danielson will wrestle again. Certain creative decisions have even been made just in case Danielson wrestles again, such as Wheeler Yuta using several of the former ROH World Champion's moves.

H/T Fightful & PWInsider

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