Danhausen reflects on staying in ring shape despite his lack of TV time in AEW.
Danhausen has not wrestled for a Tony Khan-owned promotion since the February 22 episode of Ring Of Honor. His AEW absence extends beyond that, with his last match coming in a battle royal at Worlds End 2023. Danhausen has made a few rare cameos since then, including at ROH Final Battle 2024, but he’s stayed active on the independent scene.
The Very Nice and Very Evil one spoke with Chris Van Vliet about his lack of ring time and fans wondering if he was still with the promotion. Danhausen, who has dealt with a broken leg and torn pectoral, explained how he returned after his latest injury, but didn’t have any creative plans ready for him.
Danhausen wants to stay calloused in the ring
“I did the Halloween segments,” he explained. “So I was like, well we could air these Halloween 3 style, annoying commercials until I come back and I was like, cool, and then it kind of just didn’t happen. So I think that kind of sucked the air out of the return a little bit, in my opinion, at least for me, it did. It was built for Halloween, and then I could have came back the next week, and I just didn’t. Then it took a little bit more time, and then I think I did come back on Thanksgiving, so it’s like three or four weeks later, but I come out and I want to wrestle.
“Because I don’t know if non-wrestlers might not know this wrestling hurts. But it also hurts less if you do it more. So your body gets callous to it I guess. So if you’re wrestling once every couple months, or once every other month, or whatever it is, it sucks every single time. It feels like the first time of going to wrestling school, where it’s the worst. Then also your body is more susceptible to getting injured because you’re not used to that weird getting slammed or weird movements or whatever it is.
“So I’d prefer to wrestle at least once a week, whether it be a dark match or whatever. Just let me go out there for the crowd, do something. So that way, if you need before TV, I’m fine, I’m ready to go. Then it’s not like, oh sh*t I haven’t wrestled in three months, all of a sudden, I have to wrestle. I’m not in ring shape anymore. I don’t have a wrestling ring near where I live at all.”
Danhausen is using the indies to stay in ring shape
Danhausen confirmed that his lack of TV time on AEW led to him accepting more indie bookings. He said it was less about a creative reason and more for ring time. He also noted that he wants to stay sharp and not be too susceptible to future injuries.
“Yes, just keeps me sharp. It keeps me, I don’t wanna say creative, because there is still some creative lull in indies because you’re not doing storylines, generally. So, it is just more so matches. So I have to have my creativity outlet be the promos that I do leading up to those, and then figuring out ways to do the match different, have fun with the crowd and try to make them participate in everything.
“But yeah, that’s why I do two to three a week so I can stay in ring shape and not, knock on wood, get injured. Because again, it’s like a weird middle ground you have to hit. Because if you’re doing it too much, you’ll probably get injured because your body is getting destroyed. But also, if you don’t do it enough, your body is not used to it, so then it’s more susceptible to getting destroyed.”
Danhausen found another way to represent AEW
Regarding fans asking if he was still with AEW, Danhausen said he’s willing to wrestle if they need him. However, the Indies and conventions give him another way to represent AEW. If fans want to know when he’ll be back on TV, he says they should be vocal about wanting to see him.
“Well for a long time I was there I just wasn’t doing anything. If you don’t have anything for me, that’s fine, but I feel like we need to find something for me. [So you’d just be backstage?] Not for all of 2024. At some point, there’s ‘you can just stay home.’ I’m like, okay, cool. That’s great, because I appreciate that, because then I’m not just getting brought out to like, whatever. Then they were letting me do the Indies and doing the conventions. It just helps me again, stay sharp, which is in turn for them.
“Also, still, I always looked at that as I’m still representing the company in a way, because I’m on these shows. So that’s better than me just not being seen on the show. I’m still at a convention with Sting, or whatever, taking pictures with Sting and posting pictures of Sting, doing that. All I can say was, when people were like, Oh, when you coming back? and I go, I don’t know you should ask. Because the more people are vocal, maybe the more there’s the chance of I got something.”
