In an interview with Nick Stav on YouTube, Bryan Danielson revealed that then-WWE Chairman Vince McMahon tried to get him to re-sign with WWE just days before his debut at AEW All Out in 2021.

He noted that he gave notice to Vince McMahon in early August that he made the decision to join AEW and WWE tried to do a counter offer, but Danielson stuck to his guns.

Danielson said that he did not sign his AEW contract until two or three days before his debut on the pay-per-view and somehow, someone in WWE found out and McMahon reached out to try and sweeten their deal.

“It was maybe five days before the pay-per-view and he called me,” Danielson said. “And this is just what I told him, I said ‘Sir, I’ve already agreed to this thing and if I was somebody to go back on this…like, I feel like you have a decent amount of respect for me, would you still respect me? One of the things that you respect about me is I honor my word.’ But it was a great conversation and he said, ‘Dammit, you’re right!'”

Danielson went on to make his debut at All Out to a massive pop after fans were treated to another surprise with the arrival of Adam Cole just minutes earlier.