EXCLUSIVE
Wrestling star tells talkSPORT Brock Lesnar was ‘afraid’ of hurting him and gave him incredible reply
Brock Lesnar was once afraid of hurting former WWE star Daniel Bryan in a marquee match, the current All Elite Wrestling sensation has said.
Now wrestling under his real name of Bryan Danielson in Tony Khan’s AEW where he’ll headline at Wembley Stadium later this month, the 46-year-old spent the better part of 15 years with WWE across several spells.
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The popular performer was forced into an early retirement in 2016 owing to serious issues following a string of concussions sustained during his career.
Remarkably and after a sustained battle to get medically cleared, the grappler was given the green light to return to resume active competition.
That resulted in an iconic run in WWE for Danielson, even if the legacy of his medical issues appeared to live on.
The Washington native spoke exclusively to talkSPORT’s Will Gavin about his meeting with Brock Lesnar months after his return to the squared circle.
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The duo faced off at Survivor Series and veteran Danielson explained The Beast was reluctant to work his usual in-ring style in the contest – for fear of hurting his colleague.
Incredibly, the former UFC star was urged to do exactly that, before going on to oblige.
“I loved that match,†Danielson said.
“I was wrestling Brock Lesnar. He was afraid of hurting me and I told him, I said, ‘this idea of me being fragile is a tale that WWE had spun.’
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“In my mind, I wasn’t. I hadn’t had any major surgeries until after WrestleMania 30.
“I went 15 years of my career without having a major… I’d had some concussions, which are very serious, and I’d detached my retina which required a laser eye surgery, but I was back wrestling three weeks later, which was also not smart!
“He thought of me that day as somebody who was fragile and somebody he doesn’t want to hurt.
“I said: ‘don’t treat me like that, I’m not that – you can do the same things to me that you’d do to anybody else.’ And then he did!
“It was a really fun match.â€
Danielson’s visit to talkSPORT came as AEW prepares to return to London for All In 2024 at Wembley Stadium, a year after packing more than 80,000 fans into the venue for last year’s maiden event.
Joining AEW in 2021 following his exit from WWE, Danielson was forced to miss last year’s spectacular, but will top the bill this time around with his match against AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland.
The legend has openly admitted he’s now winding down his days as a full-time performer having made the most of a second chance at life in the ring following that first retirement.
He’s vowed to call time on his career once and for all if he fails to claim the gold in London, and insists he’s now making every moment count.
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He explained: “Even now, I’m behind the curtain and about to go out, and right before my music hits, usually about two minutes before I know I’m about to walk through the curtain, I start getting these tingles in my body; just excited and happy.
“It’s that idea of, if you get to do this thing you love… try to truly enjoy it, go out there and feel it.
“I meditate after my matches so I can lock in this feeling of what wrestling feels like because I know it’s coming to an end.
“Even when I talk about it now, I get goosebumps.
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“I went through major depression when I was forced to retire before, so I am hoping that sustains me through to the next chapter in life, holding on to these, not so much the memories, but the feeling.â€
AEW: All In London at Wembley Stadium featuring Bryan Danielson, Mercedes Mone, MJF, Will Osprey and more takes place on Sunday, 25 August and .
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