Bryan Danielson hopes he can convince Tony Khan to open AEW Revolution with the Iron Man match.
All Elite Wrestling‘s Bryan Danielson recently sat down with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated to discuss a wide variety of subjects. When asked about headlining AEW Revolution on Sunday, Danielson admitted he hopes Tony Khan can be convinced to let them do the match first… so he can get a good night’s sleep.
“I would love to convince Tony [Khan] to let us go first, mostly because I go to bed really early,” Bryan Danielson said. “On Sunday, my wife couldn’t believe this; I went to bed at 8:03. There is a chance I will be going to the ring at that time this Sunday. We’ll be in San Francisco, and the idea of wrestling at five is much more suited to my personality.”
Many fans will likely try to compare this weekend’s Iron Man match at AEW Revolution to the WrestleMania XII Iron Man match between Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart. But Danielson thinks his match will be an entirely different animal based on what they’ll have to follow on Sunday night if it closes the show.
“That was billed as these two great wrestlers wrestling for an hour, and it meant a big deal to me when I watched it,” Bryan Danielson said. “It was a slower match up front, and I just don’t think you could do that today at the end of an AEW pay-per-view. The undercard on WrestleMania 12 wasn’t nearly as exciting as the undercard of Revolution is going to be.
“We’re going to be following a lot of great stuff, including the Mox-‘Hangman’ Texas Deathmatch. The promoters from yesteryear would say that you don’t follow blood with wrestling, but that’s exactly what we’re doing. So it presents those types of challenges. To me, that’s exciting. This is maybe the biggest challenge I’ve put in front of myself in my entire career. I can’t think of anything else with more pressure mentally or physically.”
Danielson understands the pressures of closing the event this weekend with a one-hour Iron Man match and admits his biggest concern will be holding the live crowd’s attention.
“The biggest concern is holding the live crowd’s attention,” Bryan Danielson said. “It is very important to have statement moments scattered regularly throughout the match. Having just read two books by Cormac McCarthy, he’s a great study in minimalism when it comes to fiction.
“He has these incredible sentences that hit you right in the heart. We need those sprinkled throughout the match, and plot twists. Overall, it needs to be a compelling narrative where the live crowd feels it. I know, 100%, the matches before us are going to be outstanding. We’re going an hour, and we can’t have a stinker. This is the last match of the night.”
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What do you make of Bryan Danielson’s comments? Would you prefer the Iron Man match to go on first or last at AEW Revolution? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
