Tony Khan has revealed why Bryan Danielson missed WrestleDream.
The AEW President was asked about the absence of the American Dragon from commentary tonight and his future during the PPV post-show. Khan first gave a storyline reason, saying that it was a decision he made because of the main event I Quit match between Jon Moxley and Darby Allin:
“No, he’ll be back. To be honest, there was a couple of things. I think it made sense given what was happening with the main event.
I think it would have been really, really hard for Bryan to restrain himself, and now knowing what Jon had planned, I also think it would have been really hard for Bryan to sit there at the desk while Darby is in that position.”
Bryan Danielson has a long history with the Death Riders leader. It was Jon Moxley who put an end to Bryan’s full time wrestling career at the WrestleDream PPV last year. Tony Khan later also revealed that the former WWE star was given the night off because of a prior family commitment:
“And since Bryan had a family commitment, I told him, ‘Hey, if you have a family thing, tonight’s probably the night to go to your family commitment, because I don’t want to put you in a position where you might be risking your job if you get up from the desk and interfere in this match.’
So it’s worked out for everybody because Bryan was able to be with his family as planned. We had, I think one of our very best pay-per-views tonight and Bryan didn’t have to risk his job by being in that position at the desk where he’s in a no man’s land, right?”
The media scrum also featured Kris Statlander who named her potential next challenger after her win at the show. You can check out more about it here.