As wrestling fans, it’s important to know when you are witnessing something or someone that you are likely never going to see ever again. Eras gone by had the pomp and circumstance of the Hogans, Austins and Rocks of the world, but in the modern age, we have the American Dragon.
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Bryan Danielson has been one of the best wrestlers in the world for nearly 25 years at the time of writing, with countless classics under his lumberjack beard. But according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, what are the ten best matches of Danielson’s long and decorated career?
10 Vs. Minoru Suzuki – AEW Rampage: The Buy-In (15/10/2021) [Rating: 4.75 Stars]
When Bryan eventually left WWE in 2021 to join AEW, the amount of dream matches that had fans drooling was the length of an entire football field. However, one match that fans didn’t know they needed until it was given to them was this absolute war between the American Dragon and the scariest old man in the business.
Gifted to fans FOR FREE ON YOUTUBE NO LESS, this match was not only a dream match in every sense of the word, but it also had fans minds racing as to what someone like Bryan Danielson was allowed to compete in the G1 Climax for NJPW. Please, find a way to get Bryan in the G1, we would all be so happy.
9 Vs. Eddie Kingston – AEW Rampage (27/10/2021) [Rating: 4.75 Stars]
Bryan was virtually a shoe-in to win the World Title Eliminator Tournament in 2021 because of course he was, he’s Bryan Danielson. But what that meant was that other fan favourites would have to take a loss along the way, with Eddie Kingston being the biggest example to this situation.
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Still though, the predictability of the result doesn’t take anything away from this match being not just one of the best of either man’s career, but genuinely one of the best matches in AEW history. Considering this match took place less than two weeks after the match with Suzuki, just shows how hot Bryan was when he arrived in AEW.
8 Vs. Hangman Page (AEW World Championship) – AEW Dynamite (05/01/2022) [Rating: 4.75 Stars]
Imagine for a moment that you are Tony Khan, I know you have a lot of different jobs and probably sleep around 40 minutes every night but just imagine. You’ve booked Bryan Danielson vs. Hangman Page for the AEW World Championship for the first show, not just of the new year, but on a new network as well, where do you place that match?
If you answered with ‘the main event,’ you clearly didn’t imagine hard enough, as TK made this the first AEW match of 2022 by having it open Dynamite’s debut on TBS, and what a way to start the year! This match set the bar ludicrously high for every match that followed it over the next 12 months, with some fans even suggesting that no match did surpass it in 2022.
7 Vs. Naruki Doi – Dragon Gate USA Untouchable 2009 [Rating: 4.75 Stars]
It’s perhaps the greatest match in the history of DGUSA, and they didn’t even leave the ring once. For a bit of context, Bryan was nearing the end of his time on the indie circuit as a WWE run was in-bound in the new year, but on his way out, he wanted to prove why he was the best wrestler in the world.
In his way this time around was Naruki Doi, the reigning Open The Dream Gate Champion who had gone through everyone who was put in front of him in 2009. The two men put on a technical wrestling clinic in front of a rabid Chicago crowd, with neither man leaving the ring during match, but figuratively leaving everything in the ring once all was said and done.
6 Vs. Takeshi Moreshima (ROH World Championship) – ROH Manhattan Mayhem II 2007[Rating: 4.75]
A true testament to how good Bryan Danielson was during his legendary Ring of Honor run is this match, as he had a David vs. Goliath-style match with the ROH World Champion who was nearly twice his size with one good eye.
Bryan’s eye injury added a level of legitimacy to this legendary contest that, to this day, is seen as one of Danielson’s best matches of his career. However, it didn’t get the full rating from Dave Meltzer, which for some might mean it’s slipped through the cracks, but go out of your way to check it out.
5 Vs. KENTA (ROH World Championship) – ROH Glory By Honor 2006 (Day 2) [Rating: 4.75]
It’s unclear whether or not the microphones were turned up to 1000 for this match, but this match just sounds painful. Even when Danielson messes up one of his moves, you can clearly hear him tell the fans that he doesn’t ever mess up (although he may have used more explicit language.
While mainstream wrestling in 2006 may have worn fans down, this match was a testament to how good a match, and a promotion, could be away from the public eye. A Ring of Honor classic from one of their hottest periods that needs to be seen by anyone who claims they are a fan of either the American Dragon or the former Hideo Itami.
4 Vs. Nigel McGuinnes (ROH World & Pure Championship Unification Match) – ROH Unified 2006 [Rating: 4.75]
SPOILER: Every match after this one got the full five stars from Dave Meltzer, but this one is going in this spot because if there was ever a match that truly deserved the perfect rating but didn’t get it from Mr. Meltzer, this was it.
From Bryan throwing shade at The Beatles in front of a rabid Liverpool crowd, to Nigel damn-near killing himself for the sake of the match, this is by far one of the greatest matches of either man’s career, and a match that is arguably the greatest five-star match to be given five stars.
3 Vs. Jericho Appreciation Society (Anarchy in the Arena) – AEW Double or Nothing 2022 [Rating: 5.00]
The only multi-man match on this list, but what a multi-man match! This ten-man brawl is essentially the mother of all street fights turned up to eleven, with things like barbed wire, gasoline and Jon Moxley’s entrance music being stuck on repeat as if New Jack had control of the soundboard, this is one of the most insane matches you will ever see.
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Not only that but Bryan actually had a big part to play in the match as well. He was almost set on fire by his own teammate, he threatened to kick everyone’s head in, before eventually being strangled by the top rope. Had Eddie Kingston not looked like he’d cannibalised someone backstage, Danielson’s run in the match would be seen as the best part of this chaotic scene.
2 Vs. Hangman Page (AEW World Championship) – AEW Dynamite: Winter is Coming (15/12/2021) [Rating: 5.00]
60 minutes is a long time to do anything, especially if it’s something strenuous, so imagine what it must be like to wrestle for a world championship for one whole hour. However, what makes this match so impressive isn’t the fact that Hangman and Bryan wrestled for an hour (although that’s pretty cool too), but it’s the fact that they kept people engaged for the whole thing.
AEW’s use of time limits in the past meant that once these guys had reached their top gears after wrestling for so long, they were still able to go the extra mile to add extra weight and levity to the closing stages. As mentioned before, 60 minutes is a long time to do anything, but watching this match for an hour is time well spent.
1 Vs. Kenny Omega – AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam (22/09/2021) [Rating: 5.00]
To those who thought the previous entry was a bit too long, allow us to present you with this, a match that is just as good but takes half the amount of time. When Bryan got to AEW, everyone went ‘yes very nice to have you here, but when are you wrestling Kenny Omega?’ Bryan responded by saying ‘as soon as humanly possible please’ and THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED!
In front of a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York, combined with the success of All Out a few weeks before, this is match that had people believing ‘AEW is a real force to be reckoned with.’ It was a dream match that lived up to the hype, it was amazingly the first time Meltzer had given Bryan a five-star rating, and is truly a match deserving of topping this list.
