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AEW Rumors on Bryan Danielson, Eddie Kingston Injury; Matt Hardy Talks Vince McMahon
January 18, 2022
Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe and All Elite Wrestling.
Danielson, AEW Reportedly Disagree on Him Working for Indie Promotion
Bryan Danielson and AEW reportedly have differing opinions on whether he should be allowed to work for a certain independent wrestling company.
According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t WrestlingInc's Matthew Wilkinson), Danielson wants to work for a specific indie promotion, and while AEW isn't against him working there eventually, it wants to delay that from happening.
The company is reportedly located in a market that AEW hasn't held a show there yet, and AEW wants Danielson's first appearance in that market to be under the AEW banner.
While WWE rarely allows its talent to do anything with other wrestling companies, AEW has been far more flexible in that regard.
The most obvious example is Jon Moxley, who is the reigning Game Changer Wrestling world champion and also worked with New Japan Pro-Wrestling while under an AEW contract.
While Danielson has only worked for AEW since joining the company in September, he has made it clear that he has interest in working elsewhere as well.
After he made his AEW debut at All Out, Danielson discussed his desire to work for NJPW and in Mexico, although he admitted he likely wouldn't do so in the immediate future because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meltzer didn't give any indication regarding which company Danielson wants to work for or where it is located, but it stands to reason it could be in Seattle.
Danielson is a Washington native and his first AEW match in Washington would be a huge deal, so it is possible AEW is trying to preserve that moment.
Eddie Kingston Nursing Injury
AEW star Eddie Kingston is dealing with an injury that could cause him to miss some time.
According to PWInsider's Mike Johnson, AEW President Tony Khan announced the injury during an AEW Dark taping over the weekend.
Johnson added that there is speculation Kingston will miss "a few weeks" as a result of the unspecified injury.
Kingston's most recent match was part of the AEW Dark taping on Jan. 8 against Joey Janela. Before that, his latest televised match saw him team with Santana and Ortiz in a winning effort against Daniel Garcia and 2point0 on the Jan. 5 Dynamite.
Recently, Kingston has been involved in a storyline with The Inner Circle against Garcia and 2point0.
AEW has been teasing a potential match between Kingston and Inner Circle leader Chris Jericho, and it seems as though Santana and Ortiz may choose between them at some point.
Kingston had been teased for The Wrld on GCW, which is set to emanate from Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on Sunday. He would have faced AJ Gray at the event.
GCW confirmed to WrestlingInc's Eric Mutter that Kingston will not be wrestling on the show, however.
Kingston is among AEW's most valuable performers primarily because of his mic work, and the company would undoubtedly love to have him back as quickly as possible with his Inner Circle storyline heating up.
Matt Hardy Talks Vince McMahon's Booking Philosophy
AEW's Matt Hardy gave some insight into the booking philosophy of WWE Chairman Vince McMahon this week.
Speaking on his The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast (h/t Mutter), Hardy said he and his brother Jeff were supposed to win the WWE Tag Team Championship in a TLC match during their heyday, only for McMahon to go in a different direction:
"Well, that was supposed to be our big win and then he said, 'Well, it's too predictable. Everybody in that venue is going to know you're going to win and they're expecting you to win, so I don't want to do that. Let's do it the next show.' And I think sometimes that's a good thing, especially when you have babyfaces that are over and that been in this long rivalry, and the fans want to be rewarded with this proper payoff.
"I would have loved to have the win there and I think it would've been the time to do the win, and us being the champions and it also would've kind of changed the history of the TLC matches a little bit. But Vince is a big advocate of, 'If you're over as a babyface, there are times where you don't need to win, it doesn't make a difference.' And that's kind of how we looked at."
The Hardy Boyz helped create and popularize the TLC match, as they took part in each of the first three.
The first was at SummerSlam 2000, and it was won by Edge and Christian. Edge and Christian were then victorious once again over the Hardys and Dudley Boyz in the most famous TLC match ever at WrestleMania X-Seven.
Despite the fact that the Hardy Boyz didn't prevail, they are viewed as pioneers of the TLC match and did a great deal to popularize that style of match.
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