Bryan Danielson clarifies WWE’s stance on ‘Yes’ chants

In communications with Dave Meltzer, AEW’s Bryan Danielson clarified some of his statements regarding WWE and the use of the “Yes!” chants he made during an interview with Barstool Sports, blaming himself for not explaining himself well when doing the media rounds.

In the Barstool interview, Danielson said he did the chant because it was an easy way to get a crowd response and to get fans to show how excited they are about a potential match:

“I’m not doing it myself because I respect WWE’s intellectual property. I don’t think anything legally…they haven’t threatened anything legally. I had a great conversation with Kevin Dunn before I debuted with AEW. I was very up front with WWE on ‘I want to let you guys know I’m leaving. This is my debut date.’ They asked me, politely, to respect their intellectual property even on some things that couldn’t be legally enforced. I’m trying my best to do that. There are also certain expectations fans have of me that they want to be able to do and I’m happy they still get to do that. I’m going to do my best to avoid swinging my arms in the air.”

Danielson explained to Meltzer that WWE has never spoken to him about the chants and that his meeting with Kevin Dunn was about intellectual property, but mainly music. He said Dunn never brought up the chants and that there has never been a threat, discussion or even a legal letter regarding anything.

He is fine with fans doing the chants, but doesn’t want to encourage them in the same way he did while in WWE as he wants to differentiate the Daniel Bryan character from Bryan Danielson.

Danielson will make his in-ring AEW debut Wednesday against Kenny Omega on Dynamite Grand Slam from Queens, New York.