Bryan Danielson: Why I'm Wearing A Plain White T-Shirt In AEW

Presentation is a big thing in wrestling. The right tights, hair, tee, music, or whatever can make or break a performer.

With Bryan Danielson arriving in AEW, one of the things that stood out about The American Dragon was his choice of apparel, with Danielson opting to wear a simple plain white t-shirt for all of his non-wrestling appearances thus far.

When asked about his sartorial decisions by the New York Post, Danielson had a simple reason for the plain white tee:

“I’m really not interested in selling people things, my merch shirt or anything like that," said Danielson.

Bryan would go on to elaborate further:

"The other idea, this is more of a general concept in my life as far as … if you try so hard to look a certain way, you’re focusing on the wrong thing. Steve Jobs just had like five black turtlenecks or something. He didn’t have to choose. I like the idea of simplicity. I like the idea of when people are watching it’s what I say, it’s what I do. It’s not necessarily, ‘Oh, man, that’s a cool t-shirt.’ And hoping and believing that what I say and do is strong enough to keep people watching.”

There is also another reason behind the idea, with Danielson telling Sports Illustrated's Justin Barrasso:

“Not wearing a merchandise shirt, not wearing a Bryan Danielson shirt. Not that I won’t in the future, but the idea is to strip everything down and see if what I present and what I do is enough. And I think it is. I’m at a point in my career where I really want to challenge myself. If I wasn’t already known to people, could I come in and get massively over? I think about that a lot. I also try to simplify my life. The older I get, the less I need. A plain white T-shirt is exactly that in its most abstract form.”