Below are some top news stories of the day, involving Bryan Danielson and Matt Riddle.
• Bryan Danielson remains involved in AEW despite battling a serious neck injury. According to PWInsider, he was backstage at Dynamite this week, continuing his behind-the-scenes work.
Danielson, who hasn’t wrestled since losing the AEW World Championship to Jon Moxley at Wrestle Dynasty, is undergoing stem cell therapy to avoid surgery.
While off TV, Fightful Select confirmed he’s still active in AEW’s creative process and will be part of ‘All In’ this year in some capacity, though his exact role is unclear.
Speaking of this week’s Dynamite on TBS, the show drew 563,000 viewers with a 0.17 rating in the 18-49 demo, which is down from last week’s 579,000 viewers with a 0.16 rating.
• Matt Riddle has responded to criticism over missing recent indy events, defending himself on Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw.
He emphasized that he wrestled over 100 times last year, along with meet-and-greets, and doesn’t think missing a few shows should be a big deal.
Riddle expressed frustration over people making a “stink” about his absences, pointing out that wrestlers in demand sacrifice family time, holidays, and vacations. He dismissed the backlash, saying he doesn’t care what critics think.
The controversy follows Riddle skipping a Memphis Wrestling event to attend Nick Hogan’s wedding and accusations of scamming an indie promoter. Despite this, he remains unconcerned about the criticism.
Here’s what the former United States Champion said:
“Do you know my least favorite part about it? I love wrestling, I love traveling, I love doing all this. You know what my least favorite part is? You miss one show here and there, and it’s national news. Everybody wants to make a stink about it.
Like, dude, I wrestled over 100 times last year, not to mention meet-and-greets and other things. I stay busy, bro. If I miss 5 shows out of 100 in a year—eat it. I don’t care.
And then, like, dude, I want to see these ‘perfect’ people. That’s what I want because I’m far from perfect, but I do the best I can. And that’s it, dude.
You know what it’s like, JBL, when you’re in demand. Brisco, you know what it’s like when you’re in demand. You’re making your rent, you do everything—you sacrifice family, you sacrifice holidays, time, vacations, weddings, everything. And then if you miss one show, it’s like, ‘You son of a b*tch.’”
