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| If he makes it to AEW, there are no shortage of killer matches for him there Photo Credit: WWE.com |
Obviously, if it does become official that Daniel Bryan is no more and Bryan Danielson is reborn, the chatter for him to go to All Elite Wrestling will be deafening, which makes sense. The wrestling promotion run by the biggest wrestling nerd who also has billions of dollars at his disposal would absolutely not only want, but need to sign the greatest professional grappler of all time. This isn't a case of AEW needing to sign, like, Steve Cutler (nothing against Cutler at all). When someone of this caliber comes free, you do everything you can to get him in your fold. When you are this good and this renowned, every match you wrestle tends to have Match of the Year potential. That being said, AEW's roster, as constructed, has obvious dream matches and others that might not seem as appealing even when noting Danielson's involvement. I have ranked all 72 potential matches for Danielson should he choose to go to AEW. Note, I did not rank the obvious superpowered dream match of Danielson vs. Hook, because the mere acknowledgement of it ever happening would cause too much panic in the streets that society could fall into lawless anarchy, and not the good kind of anarchy either. Without further ado, here is the complete ranking of matches Bryan Danielson could have in AEW, in ascending order from least desirable to most.
Gross, even with Danielson involved:
72. Jake Hager - I would rather see Danielson wrestle a literal broomstick, to be quite honest.
71. The Good Brothers - The Impact/AEW relationship so far has been the rare lose/lose situation, if you ask me. AEW sends their guys over to Thursday nights with little bump in ratings, doesn't mention any of Impact's wrestlers outside of the Good Brothers on Wednesday nights, and said Good Brothers are the worst part of any episode of Dynamite, even if, theoretically, they'd appear on the same night as Brandi Rhodes. Thankfully, Brandi has been pregnant the entire time the Good Brothers have been a thing on Dynamite, so that theory has not been tested. Anyway, putting Danielson with any partner against these two would be a waste.
70. Matt Hardy - Perhaps the best use for Hardy going forward is an anti-Jim Cornette propagandist on Twitter, but it certainly isn't in the ring anymore.
69. QT Marshall - I liked it better when I thought he was just an agent.
68. Cody Rhodes - WWE has promoted Daniel Bryan vs. Cody Rhodes before, but that's not the reason I have no interest in seeing this repeat match. Danielson vs. Kenny Omega has probably happened before. Bryan vs. Dean Ambrose definitely has happened. The dirty truth, at least my dirty truth is that I have rarely, if ever, enjoyed a Cody Rhodes match. He wasn't blessed with the match layout gene like his big brother. The fact that he's sticking it to Triple H in AEW by becoming Triple H has made his matches, outside of the one against his brother (which I haven't seen and am going off rave reviews from people I trust) or, weirdly enough, against Wardlow or Shaquille O'Neal, have gotten worse. Do I think Danielson could make magic with him? Perhaps. I mean, his best match in WWE may have been against the same Triple H whose excess and self-gratification was used as fodder to make that WrestleMania XXX great. Does that possibility mean I want to see that match happen actively? Absolutely, positively not.
Would probably be great if just for the fact that Danielson is the greatest wrestler, living or dead:
For this section, I'm probably only going to be writing a why for a few of these. This is the sort of "replacement level" or "will be good just because I think it would be good" section.
67. Cezar Bononi
66. Shawn Spears
65. Billy Gunn
64. Aaron Solow
63. Ryan Nemeth
62. Brandon Cutler
61. Alex Reynolds
60.Blade/Pepper Parks
59. Serpentico
58. Chris Jericho - Jericho vs. Daniel Bryan on NXT was one of the best matches in that brand's first incarnation's history, if not the best. I do think Jericho has more left in the tank than most, but a Jericho/Danielson match would probably entail an extra build involving the Inner Circle, an act that is perhaps even more overexposed in AEW's history than Cody Rhodes himself. I do not want weeks of build that include boutique segments with their own names that are meant to sell commemorative t-shirts, even if I know in my heart that even a 2021 Chris Jericho vs. post-double retirement Bryan Danielson match would still be good.
57. The Varsity Blondes
56. Nick Comorato
55. Mike Sydal
54. Kip Sabian
53. Alan Angels
52. Brian Cage
51. "Big Shotty" Lee Johnson
50. FTR
49. Christopher Daniels
48. Private Party
47. Pres10 Vance
46. Top Flight
45. Lance Archer
44. Frankie Kazarian
43. Darby Allin - I'm going to be frank here in that my interest in seeing Allin wrestle, no matter how good he is, took a nosedive when he was named in Speaking Out and AEW had no inclination to do anything to hold him to account. A Danielson/Allin match would rule, no doubt, but I would feel hollow watching it, which is why it's not in the top ten, where a match of this caliber probably should be if you ignored pesky context like "should Allin even be allowed to work in wrestling right now?"
42. Ethan Page
41. Stu Grayson and Evil Uno
40. Anthony Ogogo
39. Colt Cabana - The only reason this match isn't higher up is because I bet their stuff in Ring of Honor when they collided was better and more influential and important than any potential matchup they could have in AEW. However, I would still love to see it at least once, just for old time's sake.
The Meme Matches:
38. Dr. Luther - Bryan Danielson, greatest living technician, vs. Dr. Luther, the man who made history as a deathmatch wrestler in Japan, although maybe not this dimension's Japan. What could be a better matchup in the history of AEW?
37. The Gunn Club - Billy Gunn's kids aren't the best wrestlers, but they're the wrestlers who are the most wrestler wrestlers who ever lived. I don't think I'm going to explain what that means. If you know, you know. Anyway, just looking at Danielson trying to figure out what to do with Austin Gunn, who is a can of Reign Energy Drink brought to life by the Blue Fairy, would be worth the price of admission.
36. Michael Nakazawa - Only if he brings back the baby oil, though.
The Sure Things:
35. Scorpio Sky - Has this match happened in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla? It might have. Sky feels like he's grown enough that this match might end up surpassing anything they might have done in Reseda.
34. Sammy Guevara - Guevara is talented, no doubt, but his highlight matches have been against Hardy. Those kinds of matches aren't exactly the ones you have to showcase what you have. It feels like if you want to showcase him, you put him against the best.
33. Powerhouse Hobbs - Danielson has always done well against big bruisers, whether they be technically gifted like Takeshi Morishima or WWE body guys like Ryback. Hobbs at this point feels more latter than the former, but regardless, he acquitted himself against Christian Cage while his opponent was working "The AEW Christian Match." I feel like there's more room to work with Danielson, even if this match would be even better five or ten years down the road should Dragon's career last that long.
32. The Acclaimed - Honestly, I'd be here for Max Caster's pre-match rap. The match itself should be good as long as Danielson's partner wasn't some slug, and AEW for all its faults doesn't have a whole lot of slugs.
31. Luchasaurus - Luchasaurus is a high-ceiling, low-floor wrestler who does dazzling shit but can also malfunction worse than the worst wrestlers on the roster at clearly inopportune times. I know people run hot and cold on him, but he's the perfect lump of clay for Danielson to work with and maybe guide forward towards a later life renaissance like Batista or Lance Archer.
30. The Young Bucks - The reason why people say they hate the Young Bucks is because they wrestle the same match over and over again, and it's a reputation I am willing to dispute. You don't hate the Bucks because they're not creative. You hate the Bucks because you don't like "The Young Bucks Match." If you hate them for having a formula, you hate nearly every single professional wrestler for having it, from Ric Flair down to Will Ospreay. The Bucks have gone out of their comfort zone more times than people might care to admit, and if they will go out of their way for anyone, it will be for the godfather of the scene they arguably inherited in the early '10s. The only reason I wouldn't be as high on this match as others is because it feels like it would happen if the Bucks brought Danielson in to be a tag specialist to prove a point about how "good the AEW division was," and that's a wrong-headed approach to anything, let alone handling the greatest wrestler who ever lived.
29. Pentagon, Jr. - It's taken awhile for me to come around on Penta as an in-ring guy, but even if he still felt rough around the edges, the swagger alone is a reason to want to see him interacting with Danielson.
28. Matt Sydal - I know this is a match that probably happened a bunch of times in ROH or ROH-adjacent companies in the Aughts, but there's something exciting about seeing Sydal get one last shot to show he's more than just a tag dude helping to get his brother some exposure against one of his old peers.
27. Jack Evans - Speaking of old peers, Evans feels like he's in a funk, even more so than his tag partner, and Danielson could bring out the old dragon in him to show all these young'uns who only know him as a Lucha Underground guy what people in the indie rec halls grew to love about him years ago.
26. Proud and Powerful - Really,. you could put Danielson in a singles match against either member of the former EYFBO, and it would be tremendous for different reasons. Santana's mean streak and polish might make him a perfect breakout candidate if he got the chance to wrestle the American Dragon, and Ortiz's zany antics would play to a different appeal within his arsenal. Still, the money would still be suiting up Danielson with a partner, someone old or someone new, and going against both in a tag match to get the best of both worlds.
25. Chuck Taylor - A long time ago, 12 years to be exact, Danielson was in the middle of a grungy ring in the ECW Arena, tapping out to an elevated single legged crab in the last match of King of Trios weekend to a Taylor with shaggier hair and more dubious friends. Both wrestlers have come a long way since then, and I would love to see them go at it as a way to see how far they've come since that night in Philly.
24. Pretty Peter Avalon -I know he's got the rep as being an immortal job guy in AEW right now, but when he's really working his shtick, few people are more entertaining or more of a fit with Danielson's sense of humor than Avalon. It might only get three minutes on Dark if it ever happened, but trust me, it would be the most entertaining three minutes of that week of wrestling across any promotion.
23. Sting - I don't really have a hankering to see Steve Borden wrestle all that much at his age and with his health, but one has to admit the morbid curiosity of Danielson vs. Sting, a match that to my knowledge has never happened, makes me intrigued at levels I never thought I'd ever be by a match featuring the Icon. Danielson has experience working legends who may or may not still have it (look up his ROH Title defense against the late, great Kamala for a hoot), and I think it would be a nice use of Sting's talents if the TNT network insists on having him on the show every week.
22. Sonny Kiss -I think the world of Kiss as a wrestler, and they've been done dirty relatively speaking in a company that could use a charismatic Black and/or queer wrestler at the top of the male ranks. Kiss vs. Danielson would be tremendous on its own, but Kiss' flexibility would be great fodder for Danielson to work some painful looking submissions that would pop off the screen better than against most others. Think of when Natalya Neidhart would put Melina Perez in the Sharpshooter and bend all the way back like it was nothing because the latter had so much ability to bend in ways no one can do normally. You could have that with Kiss in this scenario.
21. Ricky Starks - There's really no hook for this match other than, much like Marge Simpson with potatoes, I think it would be really neat. Starks has such a good command of facial expressions and movements in the ring that he could be a good foil for any version of AmDrag.
20. PAC - This is another match that has probably been done more than a few times on the indies before both guys really took off, Danielson into WWE and PAC with Dragon Gate before getting to WWE. Still, both have evolved even more since then that PAC's grumpy young man shtick might play best off Danielson's ability to be the most technically proficient white meat babyface in the game.
19. Butcher/Andy Williams - From what I've seen of the Butcher, he has this crazy, wild-eyed old school brawler energy akin to Sheamus at his peak. You know who had some really wild bangers with Sheamus when they were allowed to go more than a few seconds at WrestleMania? Daniel Bryan. It sucks that the Butcher and the Blade tag team was probably the only reason he even got a look in AEW, but there's potential in a singles run for Every Time I Die's guitarist. A match with Danielson is the pinnacle.
18. Kenny Omega - I know this match is probably number one for a lot of people because a lot of people see Kenny Omega as the best wrestler in the world today. I think he's phenomenal, but I don't think he's necessarily the best guy running right now, not even in his own company. It's kinda like the 2012 American League MVP debate, where old curmudgeons tried to frame the Mike Trout vs. Miguel Cabrera race as neophytes thinking Cabrera was garbage, and that couldn't be further from the truth. He had a tremendous year and racked up a lot of counting stats that were impressive. But he wasn't a better player than Trout was, which is fine. Only a handful of players in baseball history were better than Mike Trout was in 2012. To me, Omega is Cabrera, a fine wrestler who racks up Meltzer stars, and a guy like, I dunno, number one on this list is Trout. No shame in it, and the match would be incredible, I bet. It's just not the tip-top.
17. Joey Janela - The Bad Boy's ranking here is almost completely based on the fact that if he got any opportunity to wrestle Bryan Danielson, he would do something incredibly stupid during it to get himself over, and I would love every minute of it.
16. Trent? - Trent? has come a long way from young boy WWE tag guy, but over the pandemic shows last year, he proved he was even more than a better tag wrestler after leaving the company. His match with Omega turned a lot of heads and made folks, myself included, realize he might have some big shot high-workrate potential in him. The best chance to have an old school ROH-style main event with Danielson might not be with anyone who actually shared a ring with him in ROH. It might be Sue Marasciulo's baby boy.
The elite and the intriguing:
15. MJF -It's funny when I see people say MJF is the "best heel ever" because he says outrageous stuff when his promo content is, by far, the weakest part of his game. He's like Rick Rude in that he says a lot of cringeworthy stuff, but you bought it because of how he said and delivered it. Also like Rude, he's 100 percent committed to serving up his own comeuppance in the ring commensurate to how much shit he talked and how severe that shit was. Few people dedicate themselves to being a heel in all forms, not just cheating and preening but in taking offense and making the babyface look like a trillion dollars. MJF gets that. He doesn't flip, flop, and fly, and his offense can be punchy-kicky at times, but I'll take that a 100 times over whatever the fuck Will Ospreay does on a nightly basis in Japan between bouts of victim blaming and misogyny. The only hesitation I'd have is I feel like MJF would try to revisit too much of Danielson's WWE territory because you know he loves being an obnoxious smark in his promo material. However, there's no denying that a potential MJF/Danielson match has off the charts, best AEW headliner match ever potential.
14. Jon Moxley -Yes, they were frequent foes in WWE, especially between Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2012 and late 2013. However, it is indisputable that post-WWE Mox is different from both WWE Dean Ambrose and pre-WWE Mox, and I'm not sure there's much of a convincing argument that Ambrose is better than post-WWE Mox. He has settled into his own as a ring general in his own right, and one would have to be crazy not to get hype for a potential Moxley/Danielson match in AEW.
13. Miro - Speaking of people who changed in vibe after leaving WWE, Miro is far more dynamic now than he ever was as Rusev. I'm not sure Danielson ever crossed paths with him there, which makes any potential matchup between the two in AEW all the more intriguing. Gimme.
12. "Hangman" Adam Page - You know how Roman Reigns is the Big Dog of the World Wrestling Federation, the Head of the Table, the Tribal Chief? He wasn't always like that, and one could argue that a healthy dose of wrestling Daniel Bryan, from his debut match at TLC 2012 through Bryan's apparent final WWE match this past Thursday had a lot to do with that. Page is kinda like AEW's Reigns, and I think whatever rounding out he needs, which isn't much but it's noticeable, could be achieved through a few matches with the American Dragon.
11. Angelico - Excalibur always loves talking about the "llave submission style" that Angelico employs, but viewers rarely get to see it because he's stuck in jobber/henchman status. You know what might get him out of that purgatory? If Danielson decided he was interested in trying out a match based around that llave submission style. Everyone remembers Angelico for being the dude who jumped off Dario Cueto's office in one of the most insane high spots in Lucha Underground history, but he could turn heads in a different way if he had the chance to grapple with Danielson for more time than it took for him to tap out quickly.
10. Eddie Kingston - Another foe from King of Trios '09 weekend, Kingston has arguably come a lot further than anyone since the day his team (which also featured Brodie Lee) went up against Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli, and Squire Dave Taylor. He's wiser and more polished as a brawler, and he's someone that can do more than act as the cocky heel set up to make the visiting ace look good.
9. Jungle Boy - A lot of people will identify Danielson with the Yes Movement, thus imagining him as a quintessential babyface. His major heel runs in WWE were both in a more classic, cowardly role that those who didn't follow him in ROH won't know his "I HAVE UNTIL FIVE" phrase was part of a ruthless technical taskmaster with a Napoleon complex. Few opponents in AEW would allow him to tap into that vein without delving into parody like Jungle Boy, who might be the best all-around wrestler that made his debut on American cable television in the company. His ground game would allow him to trade counters with Danielson seamlessly while his agility would give Dragon's character motivation to get frustrated and even more ornery. This match should have people salivating.
8. Christian Cage - Danielson was just coming into his own in WWE when Cage was winding down, but it's hard to overstate how much both of them in the late Aughts and early '10s formed my tastes in in-ring competition. I feel like this match would be special because it would allow Cage to explore different routes than what he's done in his first couple of AEW matches so far. It might be too early in his tenure here to definitively form opinions on what "The AEW Christian Match" is, but he seems fine getting his ass kicked early on only to gut out a win in the end. It feels like that formula won't work against Danielson given how similar a boat the both of them are in together. Cage is one of the smartest and savviest workers I've ever seen, one who can say he might be able to rival Danielson in that department. Having these two in the same company with the same availability is too tempting not to run it out on a Wednesday or a quarterly Saturday.
7. Dustin Rhodes - He's on the downslope of his career. No one will deny this. However, few wrestlers have the in-ring resume that Younger Dust has across different companies, styles, and eras. It feels like a miss that he never had a high-profile match against Danielson, especially in that one moment in WWE history when they were both relevant in 2013, but when you think of the phrase "dream match," you think of the best worker in one era taking on the best worker from another. No one was better than Dustin Rhodes from 1990 through 1994. No one was better than Bryan Danielson at various points over the last two decades. That dream match can happen now, and even with Rhodes being where he is physically, one can have a reasonable expectation that it could not just be good, but excellent, maybe even an all-timer if the cards fell right.
6. Wardlow - Wardlow is still green, as it's probably the reason he's been so sporadically utilized in one-on-one matches in his tenure so far. However, what I saw in his flashes in the ring, whether it be in longer form matches like the cage match against Cody Rhodes in pre-pandemic 2020 or various tags is promising. More than anyone else on the roster, he reminds me of Ryback in a positive manner. Everyone clowns on The Big Guy now, but he had potential at times, and I'm willing to bet his ledger in WWE had more good matches than bad overall. He had good matches with a few people, but there was always this dumb magic he would have with Daniel Bryan. I couldn't explain it, but outside of the big Randy Orton matches on RAW, the Triple H Mania XXX match, and that back-half of the Real Americans gauntlet where he tore it up with Cesaro, his best stuff was inexplicably against Ryback. I think Wardlow can surpass a lot of big wrestlers, not just Ryback, in the ring, so the prospect of seeing him go up against Danielson excites me more than it probably ever should.
The cream of the crop:
5. JD Drake - I know he's a job squad guy right now, but there's a lot of Kevin Steen and a lot of Arn Anderson inside of the wild-eyed Southern Boy from North Cackalacky. He made the most of a few EVOLVE invites, and it feels like a matter of time before he gets to be on the main roster of AEW after getting to have a name that gets mentioned with less contempt than the real jobbers. He's already one of the best overall workers in America right now. He has a marquee match where he acquitted himself well against Allin on Dynamite. It feels like it would just be a matter of booking him once against Danielson and letting nature take its course.
4. John Silver - This pick is another spot where getting to watch a guy before he became a meme informs my decision a lot more than what he's actually done on Dynamite so far, and it's not like Johnnie Hungie is just picking his asshole and waving his dick at traffic when he gets to be booked on Wednesday nights. Perhaps I'm using my fantasy booking powers with the best fucking wrestler ever to be more relevatory than anything, but I guarantee if you put Danielson in the ring against Silver, when Silver recovers of course, you will have a star on your hands overall. It won't just be the manic antics and the wide-eyed and over the top psychosis that connects with one large part of the audience on a flimsy, superficial level. It will be real connection through showing that he is indeed an entertainer and a grappler all in one if given the chance to go to war with the American Dragon.
3. Marko Stunt - The reason why Danielson is so highly regarded is because he's versatile. He can do a lot of things in the ring, and it makes him an ideal universal opponent. Stunt isn't the kind of guy that people think of as a dream match candidate for anyone, not even Danielson. I can only imagine the looks people are giving this column having Stunt here and Omega back in the teens, but it's not about what is perceived as pure wrestling ability, although again, getting to see him before he became a glorified mascot has informed my opinion on the smallest member of Jurassic Express. If you look at every single one of Danielson's matches over his career, whether at the TWA or in ROH or across other various indies or in WWE, nearly all of them were at least similar in stature to Dragon. He basically has towered over no one in his career outside of random enounters with El Torito on Saturday Morning Slam. Stunt, however, makes Danielson look like Sid Vicious in stature, and thus a new opportunity to see Danielson explore studio space that was unavailable to him until now has opened up. If you don't think the American Dragon as the Godzilla-sized entrant in a match isn't something that would play well, you have no idea what makes him tick. There are interviews and promos and other candid moments that suggest he lives for the absurd. What would be more absurd than seeing him as the giant in a match?
2. Orange Cassidy - When people say "Bryan Danielson is a great wrestler," I wonder how many of them get the reason why that's true. Some will cite the grappling, while others might microanalyze all the selling he's done, while others will look at his ability as a striker. All of those aren't so much reasons why he's a great wrestler, but they are symptoms supporting that claim. Danielson is the greatest wrestler ever because he understands what wrestling is and what makes it work. He knows not every opponent is the same, and that each match is an opportunity to do something unique, something memorable. It's easy to do when you're an indie provocateur who can choose dates and doesn't have to wrestle 150+ times a year on the road. Yes, there was a "Daniel Bryan Match" in WWE, but even there, in a place where monotony rules the day, he put his own spin on things in every match. Having a formula isn't a bad thing, but when you're a wrestler doesn't abide by that, you stand out.
So, what does that have to do with Orange Cassidy? Put two and two together. Cassidy is the most unique wrestler in AEW, definitely in America (at least until Inter Species Wrestling starts running shows again), and among the most unique around the world. Dramatic Dream Team and Choco Pro have a lot of delightful weirdos. But Cassidy has gotten wildly over as someone who wasn't really seen a whole lot on the mainstream before now, and he's gotten over like wildfire wrestling guys who wrestled their matches. His breakout match in AEW against PAC featured Cassidy going up against a guy wrestling his match, which is fine. "The PAC Match" is actually an incredible foil for what Cassidy brings to the table. Chris Jericho got Cassidy over through a gonzo dive into a vat of mimosa, but when Jericho puts someone over, he always puts his whole ass into it.
Why Danielson as a Cassidy opponent is so intriguing because you have a wrestler who has made a career by trying new things, by embracing the absurd, by knowing you put yourself over by putting the story over, that wrestling is collaborative. It's why he'll be remembered far more fondly than someone like Ospreay, whose constant preening and no-selling and flipping and stiffness make his matches an exercise in telling everyone how great Will Ospreay is. Danielson showed everyone how great he was by kicking Takeshi Morishima in his head and then also acted like himself was dead everytime Morishima dropped a bomb on him. But that was Morishima. In order to make Cassidy feel like a big deal, he'll pull something new out of his bag. He'll embrace his inner absurdity, and it'll be the most unique match in wrestling history when it happens. Or at least it'll be the most unique match since Cassidy vs. Stokley Hathaway. But some pinnacles are meant not to be climbed, I suppose.
1. Rey Fenix - Even if I didn't think Rey Fenix was the best wrestler in the world right now, this would be my number one dream match for Danielson. It's not that Fenix makes everything look easy; it's not even that both Fenix and Danielson make what they do look easy. It's that you have someone who throws his entire body, sometimes literally, into pro wrestling, not just jumping from rope to rope or stopping dead in his tracks to spin against his momentum to throw a roundhouse kick, and he's the guy in this company. You then have the near-consensus pick for the best wrestler ever coming in, someone who not only has forgotten more about wrestling than most people will ever know, but someone who has intense and immense respect for the wheelhouse of the native wrestler's style. It's the perfect storm for the perfect match to happen.
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Bryan Danielson may never leave WWE officially. He may never wrestle again, to be honest. If I were able to receive the reality television bag, I wouldn't want to risk further CTE to make a living. Then again, I'm not the greatest wrestler who ever lived. Bryan Danielson has the world in the palm of his hand, and if he chooses to leave WWE to hit up the other American wrestling company, you can plainly see the options for great matches are not meager at all.
