Bryan Danielson had no plans on fixing his broken orbital bone.
Wrestlers have an interesting mentality when it comes to dealing with injuries. As has been seen on multiple occasions, wrestlers will nearly always do what they can to at the very least finish a match regardless of the injury sustained. Furthermore, performers will continue to wrestle with mild injuries to reach a logical point in a storyline to be written off, risking a mild injury from being much worse.
With the AEW Continental Classic running throughout November and December and a rematch with Kazuchika Okada confirmed for Wrestle Kingdom in January, Danielson did not want to take more time away from the ring.
Danielson’s wife Brie Garcia was asked about the multiple injuries The American Dragon has suffered throughout 2023 in an interview with Marc Raimondi. Garcia first addressed Danielson still having a youthful attitude to wrestling even though he is now in his 40s:
“He’s made of steel, I know it’s crazy. It’s just one of those things that is unfortunate for pro wrestlers. You know, our body ages, but mentally, we don’t. I think his body is like ‘I think it’s time to hang up the boots.'”
Garcia then discussed the orbital bone injury, which was suffered in a match on Collision following an accidental clash of heads with Andrade El Idolo. It was revealed that Danielson intended to not have the orbital bone looked at but the injury would get worse to the point where he had no choice:
“He’s so strong, I mean nothing holds him back. Even when he got the two broken bones in his orbital bone, he was dealing with the pain like ‘I’m fine’ until his nose went numb and everything else.”
Bryan Danielson returned to action on the December 3rd edition of Collision as part of the blue league in the AEW Continental Classic Tournament.
Bryan Danielson NJPW Plans Forcibly Altered
The American Dragon issued the challenge to Okada for a rematch at Wrestle Kingdom via video message following the conclusion of Okada’s match at Power Struggle. Original NJPW plans For Bryan Danielson had to be altered due to the broken orbital bone, as Danielson was originally set to confront his New Japan rival face to face.
H/t to SEScoops.