Former WWE Champion Says He Wanted To Be A Star In NJPW More Than Main Event WrestleMania

Former WWE Champion and AEW star Bryan Danielson says he wanted to be a star in NJPW more than main event WrestleMania.

At NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18, Bryan Danielson will face Kazuchika Okada in a rematch from their AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2023 first encounter.

This will mark Danielson’s first time inside a NJPW ring since 2004, so a lot has changed in the past two decades for both the company and the performer.

Since then, “The American Dragon” has gone on to become a legend, a former WWE Champion and a two-time WrestleMania main eventer.

Speaking at the NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18 press conference, Bryan Danielson expressed his gratitude returning to the promotion. He said:

“I just want to say how grateful I am to be here in Japan, especially New Japan. It’s been almost 20 years since my last tour of New Japan.”

“To be here now, at the Tokyo Dome…when I started professional wrestling, what I really wanted more so than main eventing WrestleMania in WWE, which I did twice, more so than anything, I wanted to be a star in New Japan Pro Wrestling.”

“20 years after my last tour, I get to wrestle Okada in the Tokyo Dome for Wrestle Kingdom,” 

Danielson has stated that he intends to break Okada’s Rainmaker arm in response to the arm injury he suffered during their first showdown at Forbidden Door.

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18 will be headlined by SANADA defending the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against Tetsuya Naito.

Transcription via Fightful

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