Former WWE NXT Star Will Be Next To Face Bryan Danielson

An old-school slugfest is potentially on the cards for next week's "AEW Dynamite" as Timothy Thatcher goes on-on-one against Bryan Danielson. 

Thatcher, currently a member of the Pro Wrestling NOAH roster, was handpicked by MJF as Danielson's next opponent on the 1/26 "Dynamite" where "The American Dragon" put away Brian Cage in a singles bout. On the road to his Iron Man Match against MJF at the Revolution pay-per-view, Danielson must defeat opponents handpicked by MJF every week until February 8, in order to receive a shot for the AEW World Championship. Thus far, Danielson has defeated Konosuke Takeshita, Bandido and Cage on his road to Revolution. 

Meanwhile, next week's match will mark Thatcher's official AEW debut. The veteran wrestler recently told Wrestling Inc. that he had "other talks" with promotions but ultimately decided to sign with Pro Wrestling NOAH and he gave his word to his friend, Hideki Suzuki, and wanted to follow through on that promise.

There were also rumblings of Thatcher potentially returning to WWE, especially after Paul "Triple H" Levesque assumed control of the promotion's talent relations and creative departments last summer. However, Thatcher recently confirmed that he had not engaged in any talks with Triple H since WWE Chief's Content Officer has "got a lot on his plate now, especially since he's in charge of the whole thing."

Besides Thatcher vs. Danielson, other confirmed matches for next week's "Dynamite" include Jon Moxley vs. "Hangman" Adam Page in a grudge match, TNT Champion Darby Allin vs. Samoa Joe in a No Holds Barred bout, and AEW World Tag Team Champions The Acclaimed versus unnamed opponents.