Bryan Danielson Turns Heel In Surprise Return To AEW Dynamite

Just three weeks after Bryan Danielson was written off of AEW programming for ostensibly a long period of time with a promo where he said "it's time for me to go home," "The American Dragon" made a surprise return on Wednesday's episode of "Dynamite" at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis, Missouri. After Kenny Omega defeated Jeff Cobb to retain the IWGP United States Championship, he was menaced by Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta. Soon after, Danielson's music hit and he waved off his Blackpool Combat Club stablemates, pantomiming as if he was angry at them. He followed by offering his hand to Omega, helping him up.

And then Omega turned his back to Danielson to tell off Yuta. You can probably guess what happened next: He walked right into a Busaiku Knee as soon as he turned around. Danielson then put Omega in the LeBell Lock while Moxley, Castagnoli, and Yuta stomped him, even switching to a one-handed version of the hold where he posed with one hand while hooking Omega's nose with the other. This seemingly sets up Danielson as the next challenger for Omega's U.S. Title.

When Danielson debuted in AEW in the summer of 2021, his first match in the company was a non-title match with then-AEW World Champion Omega that opened the first annual "Dynamite: Grand Slam" show at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York City. The bout, which went to a 30-minute time limit draw, is widely considered one of the best in AEW history to date, with an average 9.57/10 rating from 810 votes at CageMatch.net. That show also holds the AEW attendance record, with AEW announcing the figure as 20,177 fans in the building.