Kurt Angle On Daniel Bryan Likely Joining AEW: ‘I Never Thought WWE Would Let Him Go’
Kurt Angle (Photo by Phillip Massey/FilmMagic)
Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan) is likely headed to AEW possibly as soon as tonight at All Out after multiple reports have surfaced that he is joining the promotion.
WWE hall of famer Kurt Angle recently joined The Wrestling Inc. Daily show to talk about Bryan leaving WWE for AEW. Kurt said “I’m really surprised at that. I never thought that WWE would let him go. Daniel was a big part of the company for the past ten or so years. He was literally the top babyface in the company for a few years, so, I’m really surprised they let him go. But Daniel is probably happier in AEW for whatever reason. I don’t know if it was money or if he wasn’t happy with the direction of his character, but it had to be something that made him leave.”
Angle also stated what many others have said, that WWE is more suited for families and kids while AEW tailors their product to young adults. He said, “I think that the [WWE] shareholders put a lot of pressure on the big man and tell him ‘keep everything PG rated. Gear it more for younger kids, that’s where the merchandise is.’ The WWE, their theory is, if the kids are watching it, the parents are watching it too. The 18 to 40 years olds that WWE had during the Attitude Era, that’s more the way AEW’s direction is right now. They’re swearing on the air, they’re putting up the middle fingers. It’s more of an Attitude Era attitude.”
You can listen to the entire interview here. Thanks to Wrestling Inc. for providing transcriptions.