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AEW brought on one of the greatest minds in pro wrestling when they signed Bryan Danielson a few years back. Now one top talent believes Danielson is responsible for his debut with the company.
Timothy Thatcher made his All Elite debut on February 1, 2023, losing to The American Dragon in just under 14 minutes. This was a part of Danielson's pursuit of then-world champion MJF, who tried to interfere on behalf of Thatcher until Konosuke Takeshita made the save. The match was heavily praised by some.
Thatcher recently spoke with Fightful Overbooked and recalled how he was in Japan for Pro Wrestling NOAH, when he received a message at 1:00 am local time, asking if he'd want to wrestle Danielson on TV the following week. Thatcher suggested they do the match when he returned to America, but the person on the other end offered to fly him in from Japan, and then back. Thatcher had one stipulation - he had to be back in time to work his dates for NOAH.
"It sorted out where I flew to Dayton, Ohio for one day, and turned around and flew all the way back to Tokyo, and then had two matches immediately the next two days for NOAH. It's one of those things where I was very glad it did happen and that was probably based on Mr. Danielson's recommendation. I don't think anyone at AEW has any idea about who I am or anything like that. I think that was his idea, which is a wonderful tick to have. We do share the same mentality," Timothy Thatcher said.
Thatcher went on to reveal how he was inspired to become a pro wrestler after watching Danielson in action. He attended the King of the Indies 2001 event and while watching Danielson vs. Douglas Williams, he thought this is how pro wrestling should be done.
Bryan Danielson set for big match at the inaugural AEW Dynasty pay-per-view
AEW will present the first-ever Dynasty pay-per-view on Sunday, April 21 from the Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis, MO.
The first confirmed match for Dynasty was Bryan Danielson vs. Will Ospreay in a dream match for the company. This was expected to be the main event, but Danielson recently indicated otherwise when speaking to Sports Illustrated.
"Me and Will Ospreay won't be the main event at Dynasty. That tells you what type of show it will be. I have an inkling of some of the things that are lined up, and I think people are going to be really excited," Bryan Danielson said.
Despite their lengthy careers, AEW Dynasty will mark the first-ever in-ring meeting between Ospreay and Danielson. The two veterans have never teamed up or gone against each other.
