Bryan Danielson ‘at peace’ if career ends at AEW All In

If Bryan Danielson’s career ends this weekend, he’s at peace with how everything went.

Danielson is just six days away from what could be his last-ever match. He’s challenging Swerve Strickland for the AEW World Championship at All In. The match has a stipulation where Danielson will retire as an in-ring competitor if he loses.

While speaking with BBC Radio in advance of the pay-per-view, Danielson was asked if he’s at peace with this potentially being the end of his in-ring career.

“Yeah, I’m very much at peace with it. If I wasn’t at peace with it, we wouldn’t have done that, right? [laughs],” he said. “But I also think — I’ve been wrestling for 25 years now at this point. To me, it’s now or nothing as far as winning the AEW World Championship. I came in and I said I was going to kick people’s heads in and I was going to win the AEW World Championship. And I’ve kicked a lot of people’s heads in, but I haven’t won a single title.”

The last time Danielson held a title was in 2019 while he was with WWE. Danielson said AEW’s Alex Marvez told him that, going back to his WWE career, Danielson has lost 19 straight title matches.

When Danielson was forced to retire in 2016, he wasn’t ready for wrestling to be taken away from him. But he’s now at a very different place in his life. He’s excited to spend more time with his family when his time in the ring does come to an end.

“My life is just different now, right? When I was forced to retire, I wasn’t ready. 2015 was kind of my last match, but I was forced to retire in 2016. At that point, I’m 35 years old and I’m just like, this doesn’t feel right,” Danielson said. “I also didn’t have anything else to really put my focus and my attention towards. And now I do. Now I have a wonderful family that I’m really excited about spending time with and that sort of thing. So, yeah, it’s a very different place when it’s by choice rather than you’re forced.”

Wembley Stadium in London is hosting All In this Sunday. Danielson confirmed that his wife Brie Garcia and their children will be in attendance. It will be the first time his son has ever seen him wrestle live.