Bryan Danielson Suffers Rare Defeat On AEW Collision

Written by Craig Ballantyne • Published 10th December 2023
Bryan Danielson makes entrance on AEW Collision

Bryan Danielson found himself on the losing end of a Continental Classic match on Collision.

Bryan Danielson was reported to have suffered a broken orbital bone during a match with Kazuchika Okada and Orange Cassidy on the October 25th edition of Dynamite. However, in reality, the injury occurred during his bout with Andrade El Idolo on the previous episode of Collision when the two accidentally knocked their heads together.

Danielson returned to action for the Continental Classic tournament on December 2nd, defeating Eddie Kingston to claim his first 3 points. Danielson then went on to beat Daniel Garcia to take his total up to 6.

However, his winning ways came to an end on the December 9th edition of Collision at the hands of Andrade. El Idolo was well aware that Danielson had been wrestling with one eye since his return, and targeted his surgically repaired orbital bone throughout the match.

The star tore Danielson’s eyepatch off and poked at his eye, causing his surgical scar to bleed. Despite being busted open, The American Dragon continued to take the fight to Andrade, however, El Idolo was able to counter him several times with shots to the face.

Andrade finally brought things to an end with only two minutes left on the clock when he clawed Danielson’s eye before landing a Hammerlock DDT for the pinfall victory.

This was only one of a handful of times that Danielson has tasted defeat in singles action since joining AEW in 2021. Before now, he had only been defeated seven times in the past two years, most recently failing to capture the TNT Championship from Christian Cage on the October 14th edition of Collision.

The star has also had two time-limit draws, against Kenny Omega in his AEW debut match, and then Adam Page when the pair fought over the World Championship for the first time.

Was Bryan Danielson Legitimately Injured On AEW Collision?

Many fans were worried that Bryan Danielson had reinjured his eye after footage emerged of the incident earlier this week. However, it has since been confirmed that the injury was all part of a storyline, with Danielson not expected to miss any TV time.