Bryan Danielson Comments On Being Considered The Best

Bryan Danielson has widely been regarded as one of the greatest in-ring performers in the history of professional wrestling, having held almost every major title in all the promotions he's worked for. The key word in that statement is "almost," as Danielson has yet to hold the AEW World Championship, losing his first match for the belt against "Hangman" Page.

Although he's currently in the semi-finals of the AEW World Championship Tournament with a chance to hold the company's top title, Danielson doesn't care about being the top guy in AEW and said so during an interview with Sports Illustrated.

"I don't worry about being the best," Danielson said. "I try to be the best wrestler I can be, and I try to fulfill the vision of what I would like wrestling to be. This is a joy. I gauge matches on whether I enjoyed them, whether I was in the moment or felt how much fun it was to wrestle in front of thousands of people. A day or two later, that's when I watch the match and pick it apart and see where I need to improve—but also to be proud of what I did well.

"The idea of being the best, it's so subjective. To me, that's focusing on the wrong thing. Wrestling is a mirror to improve yourself. It allows you to get better at public speaking, for example. William Regal talks about a quarter-turn in a headlock. That little tweak makes the headlock infinitely better. I think I could work a 15-minute match exclusively using a hammerlock. That's a mental challenge, the kind that makes me go deeper with every single thing I do. I love being a lifelong learner, and that makes me enjoy this even more."