Bryan Danielson Admits He’s Barely Involved in AEW Creative and Jokes About “A Couple of A-Holes” Backstage

Bryan Danielson might still be listed as a consultant in AEW, but he’s making it clear—his role isn’t as hands-on as it used to be.

During his Starrcast conversation, Danielson addressed his current status in the company and didn’t hold back on his honest view of the creative process and locker room dynamic.

“Yeah. I am officially a consultant. But I mean I don’t—I honestly don’t do much consulting.”

He explained that while he’s still technically involved, AEW’s creative direction has been largely independent of his input in recent months.

“I haven’t had much of anything to do with creative in AEW for a while. But I think the AEW shows for the last several months have just been incredible. You know, I watch the product every week at home—both shows—and I just think that the people that are…the wrestlers, the people involved in the creative, everybody’s doing just such a great job.”

Danielson added that he’s never been afraid to critique wrestling storytelling—whether in WWE or AEW—and referenced something he even wrote in his autobiography published by WWE.

“Listen, I’m not afraid to be critical of a creative process or what I see. Like okay, maybe… even when I was in WWE, I would say like, ‘Okay, sometimes this feels like a parody of wrestling to me.’ I wrote that in my book that was put out by WWE.”

Even so, he praised AEW’s current team for the quality of recent programming and the environment backstage.

“But yeah, I think the last several months of AEW have been really, really good. We’ve got great people backstage, we’ve got a great writing crew, great producers… we’re really good. We’ve got a lot of great people.”

Then, without skipping a beat, Danielson cracked a smile and got real:

“We also have a couple of a**holes.”

When Tony Schiavone joked, “She said MJF,” the room burst into laughter. Danielson didn’t confirm or deny—but instead reflected on how everyone, including himself, can act that way sometimes.

“I mean, I think in general—and I think this about myself too—we all have the ability to be an asshole, right? So that’s why I try to be slow to criticize people who I feel like could be being assholes, because I oftentimes find myself doing something and I’m like, ‘Oh gosh, I’m being a real asshole here.’”

Bryan Danielson is still watching the product, still offering wisdom where needed—but he’s also comfortable stepping back and letting the next generation steer the ship. And in true Danielson fashion, he does it all with honesty, humor, and just a little bit of humility.

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