Bryan Danielson, previously known as Daniel Bryan in WWE, wrapped up his full-time AEW career after a tough match against Jon Moxley at WrestleDream 2024. The bout was intense and ended on a deeply emotional note for Danielson.
Interestingly, Moxley, a former member of The Shield, adds a unique twist to the story. Fans have pointed out a fascinating coincidence: all of Danielson’s farewell matches in WWE also featured former Shield members.
After Danielson’s loss in WrestleDream, a fan noticed his special farewell bond with The Shield. He wrestled for over ten years in WWE as Daniel Bryan and faced each Shield member before retiring. His last singles match on Raw was against Seth Rollins in 2019, which he lost in eight minutes.
Plus, Danielson’s last SmackDown match was in April 2021 against Roman Reigns, where he lost again. After his WWE contract ended, he joined AEW and had his last match with Jon Moxley, also known as Dean Ambrose in WWE, who joined AEW in 2019.
After losing to Moxley, Danielson hasn’t officially retired from wrestling. However, his in-ring return remains uncertain. For now, he seems ready to take a long break.
Bryan Danielson reflects on full-time career end
As Bryan Danielson recently told Shawn Garrett in an interview before WrestleDream, the end of his wrestling career was like the art of life, which is always changing and giving us new things to discover.
He said, “There’s people coming up all the time. There’s always this key group of legends in Japan, in Mexico that I’d love to wrestle, that I never got the chance to wrestle…Then you see them and you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh. I’d love to wrestle that guy.’ I liken it to this – does an artist ever paint their last painting? There’s always a new vision, there’s always something else you could paint. ”
