Report: Vince McMahon Said Bryan Danielson Could Work NJPW's G1 in WWE Contract Talks

Vince McMahon lost Bryan Danielson to AEW, but it wasn't without trying everything he could to keep him in WWE.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported Danielson was offered by WWE the chance to compete in New Japan Pro-Wrestling's G1 Climax tournament. WWE does not typically allow its performers to wrestle for other promotions, so this was seen as a major concession on McMahon's part.

The Observer report noted Danielson was offered similar contracts by both promotions, offering him more limited dates and the chance to work for other companies if he wanted. Danielson ultimately chose AEW, saying he chose the new promotion for the health of the wrestling business and because he wanted to test his limits: 

"I started thinking about things and WWE was so gracious with me as far as the offer that they gave me. They were going to let me go do some other stuff on the outside. But, I hate to say this... Vince (McMahon) and I have a great relationship. I love him, I do. Sometimes he's overprotective of me. And I want to be able to push my limits. That's one of the things that I love about this, is the physicality of what we do out there and being able to push my limits and being able to do that here in a safe manner is one of the things that really drew me here."

"There's just excitement," he continued. "You all see it. You were probably all out there and you felt it. You felt how excited people are about this product and it feels vibrant. And even just watching it through a TV screen in a trailer. I'm sitting there going, 'God this is awesome. I want to be a part of this.' So that was it... I really battled back and forth because there's a lot of people there that I consider family, that actually are legitimately my family, and you know, people that I love there. So it was a really tough decision."

Danielson made his AEW debut at All Out in what was one of the biggest pops in recent wrestling history. He immediately hopped into a feud with AEW champion Kenny Omega, who is often mentioned alongside Danielson as the best wrestler in the world. 

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