Bryan Danielson is focused on what he can control, and not so much on being the best wrestler in the world.
During a recent interview with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, Bryan Danielson spoke about how he approaches success in the wrestling business. Danielson said being the best is subjective, and he instead focuses on learning and trying to overcome new challenges.
“I don’t worry about being the best,” said Danielson. “I try to be the best wrestler I can be, and I try to fulfill the vision of what I would like wrestling to be. This is a joy. I gauge matches on whether I enjoyed them, whether I was in the moment or felt how much fun it was to wrestle in front of thousands of people. A day or two later, that’s when I watch the match and pick it apart and see where I need to improve—but also to be proud of what I did well.
“The idea of being the best, it’s so subjective. To me, that’s focusing on the wrong thing. Wrestling is a mirror to improve yourself. It allows you to get better at public speaking, for example. William Regal talks about a quarter-turn in a headlock. That little tweak makes the headlock infinitely better. I think I could work a 15-minute match exclusively using a hammerlock. That’s a mental challenge, the kind that makes me go deeper with every single thing I do. I love being a lifelong learner, and that makes me enjoy this even more.”
Danielson also spoke about one positive takeaway from wrestling during the pandemic era, noting that it allowed him to learn more about himself and perfect his skills.
“I tend to focus on what I can control and focus on the opportunities that present themselves whenever there is any type of disruption—whether it is something like this or even something, for example, like the pandemic. Wrestling in front of nobody was a real opportunity to hone my craft. It became what William Regal likes to call ‘close-up magic.’ We didn’t have the crowd or anything like that, and I learned so much about myself and what worked from a wrestling standpoint. It was no longer theater. It became cinema. There were things you could do there that you couldn’t do in front of a live crowd. It was a lot of fun mentally to try to figure that out.”
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