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Top AEW star Bryan Danielson has weighed in on the recent controversy surrounding CM Punk and The Elite after their backstage altercation and suspensions.
Punk ran down the AEW EVP's as well as Colt Cabana and Hangman Page at the post-All Out media scrum, which led to Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks confronting the former AEW World Champion in his locker room.
No one who was involved in the fight has appeared on AEW TV since the altercation. At the time of writing, the futures of Punk, Steel, Omega and the Bucks are pending an internal investigation.
As a member of the AEW roster that tends to stay out of drama, Bryan Danielson has given his thoughts on the brawl to Sports Illustrated. As expected, he was very reserved about the whole thing.
“Tony made a statement last week on Dynamite. I hate to say, ‘Oh, this is what happened,’ when I wasn’t in the room. I tend to focus on what I can control and focus on the opportunities that present themselves whenever there is any type of disruption—whether it is something like this or even something, for example, like the pandemic."
Danielson went on to talk about the pandemic and how he enjoyed figuring out how to work around not having crowds to bounce off of.
“Wrestling in front of nobody was a real opportunity to hone my craft. It became what William Regal likes to call ‘close-up magic.’ We didn’t have the crowd or anything like that, and I learned so much about myself and what worked from a wrestling standpoint. It was no longer theater. It became cinema. There were things you could do there that you couldn’t do in front of a live crowd. It was a lot of fun mentally to try to figure that out.” said Bryan Danielson (H/T WrestleTalk)
Bryan Danielson could benefit from the brawl's aftermath by becoming the AEW World Champion
In the aftermath of the backstage brawl, CM Punk was stripped of his AEW World Championship, with Tony Khan announcing the Tournament of Champions to determine the new titleholder.
Bryan Danielson could end up a beneficiary of Punk being stripped, as he has made it to the final of the tournament. The American Dragon is now just one win away from becoming the AEW World Champion.
Danielson will face his Blackpool Combat Club teammate Jon Moxley in the final at the "Grand Slam" edition of Dynamite on September 21st, with both men hungry to carry the torch for AEW.
Do you think Danielson will become the AEW World Champion? Let us know in the comments section down below!
