Bryan Danielson Makes AEW In-Ring Return After Collision Taping

AEW

Bryan Danielson made his AEW in-ring return after last night’s AEW Collision taping in Kent, Washington (June 25).

With his last match coming at AEW WrestleDream in October 2024, fans have remained optimistic regarding the in-ring future of former AEW World Champion Bryan Danielson despite “The American Dragon” being openly unsure about whether he’ll be able to compete again.

However, fans’ hopes regarding a potential return were recently renewed when Danielson got physical at ROH x CMLL Global Wars in Mexico last week – delivering a Busaiko Knee to Shane Taylor in a non-televised segment.

Now, one week later Danielson made another off-air appearance, this time in his home state of Washington following last night’s AEW Collision.

After Kyle O’Reilly’s Collision main event with Kyle Fletcher ended, the Paragon member cut a promo to the fans in attendance at the ShoWare Center, but was interrupted by Max Caster.

Caster then proceeded to issue his ‘Best Wrestler Alive Open Challenge’, a challenge which was answered by none other than Bryan Danielson, who was dressed in street clothes.

Before Danielson and Caster could tie up however, Paragon’s Adam Cole laid Caster out with a SuperKick, allowing Danielson to lock in the LeBell Lock on the former AEW Tag Team Champion and earn a submission win in just a few seconds.

Danielson then celebrated with O’Reilly, Cole and Roderick Strong and announced that he was officially joining Paragon for one night only – even changing his name to ‘Kyle Danielson’ before ‘The Final Countdown’ played to close the show.

Despite this playful return to action it is still unclear whether Danielson will be making a proper in-ring comeback, with the former WWE star admitting that he’d be okay with not wrestling again if it meant he’d avoid having to get neck surgery.

We will provide further updates on Danielson’s health and potential return to the ring if/when more news becomes available.

You can see footage of his AEW Collision return down below.

Bryan Danielson (sort of) RETURNED TO ACTION after last night's AEW Collision taping.

Danielson answered Max Caster's open challenge and submitted him in seconds with a LeBell Lock after Adam Cole hit Caster with a SuperKick.pic.twitter.com/PiAe0XeRYc

— WrestleTalk (@WrestleTalk_TV) June 26, 2025

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• Bryan Danielson
• Return
• AEW

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