Dream Match Between AEW's Bryan Danielson & CMLL Star Made Official

By Eric Mutter
Blue Panther and Bryan Danielson shake hands CMLL/Alexis Salazar

There were unbelievable scenes in Arena Mexico this past Friday night, when CMLL Homenaje a Dos Leyendas ended with CMLL's Blue Panther, Mistico, Ultimo Guerrero, and Volador Jr. defeating AEW's Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley, and Matt Sydal in an electric eight-man tag team match. But the defeat left Danielson unsatisfied, and he immediately challenged Panther to face him "mano y mano" next Friday. Panther quickly accepted the challenge, leaving it up to CMLL to make it official.

On X in the wee hours of Monday morning, CMLL did just that, confirming that Danielson vs. Panther would headline this Friday's "Super Viernes" in Arena Mexico. The show will also feature the first block of CMLL's Universal Championship tournament, which sees all of the champions in CMLL face off to determine the promotion's "champion of champions."

The Panther-Danielson match is a dream match for many, including Danielson, who hasn't been shy about sharing his fandom for the 63-year-old luchador over the years. Though the match had long seemed out of reach due to Danielson's previous run in WWE or AEW's working relationship with AAA, hope for the match was rekindled when AEW and CMLL began working together in the fall of 2023. The relationship would build to this past Friday's main event, which saw Danielson fulfill his dream of competing against Panther, albeit in multi-man action, and of competing in Arena Mexico, the famed home base of CMLL since 1956.

While Danielson, Castagnoli, Moxley, and Sydal were unsuccessful this past Friday, AEW's Willow Nightingale did give the promotion something to cheer about. The #1 contender for Julia Hart's TBS Championship scored the pinfall in her match, defeating Stephanie Vaquer to give her, La Catalina, and Tessa Blanchard the win over Vaquer, Zeuxis, and Lluvia.

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