Bryan Danielson Recalls 'Surreal' Photo With Fellow AEW Stars Adam Copeland & Saraya

When Adam Copeland and Bryan Danielson crossed paths on an episode of "WWE SmackDown" in February 2021, Saraya was more thrilled than anyone else. She had just seen two of her heroes defy the odds by overcoming career-threatening neck injuries en route to main-eventing WrestleMania 37. The moment motivated Saraya to follow in the footsteps of the two legends, to defy the odds herself after a neck injury prematurely ended her career.

Less than two years since that WWE moment, the former Paige pulled off a miracle when she wrestled Britt Baker at AEW's Full Gear 2022. More recently, when she got to take a picture with Copeland and Danielson in an AEW ring, all those emotions from 2021 came pouring out. In a recent interview with "Sports Nightly," Danielson detailed the significance of the photo.

"It was such a cool realization because all three of us had matches on Tuesday," Danielson said. "We were all in the ring before the show, and I think it was Saraya who first had the realization when she said, 'Hey, we're all in the ring together. We all got matches tonight.' It was surreal because we were all told at different points that we'd never wrestle again. 

"I did say that, between the three of us, [if] you combine three of our necks together, and I don't think you'd have even one complete neck [laughs]. It is cool and also a testament to the advancement of medical technologies, but also that all three of us kept fighting through. Also, one thing feeds off the other. When you hear somebody else has been able to come back, you think, 'Okay, maybe I can come back.' Those sort of reinforcing stories help us all."

On the aforementioned "Dynamite," Saraya lost the AEW Women's World Championship to Hikaru Shida, while Danielson and Copeland got wins against Swerve Strickland and Luchasaurus, respectively.