Bryan Danielson Reveals Message from WWE Over the “Yes” Chant and Questions Their Logic

Bryan Danielson’s “Yes” chant might be one of the most iconic audience chants in modern pro wrestling, but now he’s revealing that WWE isn’t happy with how it’s still following him in AEW.

During his Starrcast Texas 2025 conversation, Danielson dropped a revealing story about WWE’s legal stance—and how fans make enforcing it nearly impossible. It started when Bryan was asked if he realized fans would keep chanting “Yes” even after he jumped to AEW. He replied with a surprising update.

“Oh yeah, I do. It’s odd—I just got a text message yesterday. I wouldn’t say threatening legal action, but like, ‘Hey…’”

The crowd was visibly shocked, and Danielson clarified that he doesn’t hold it against WWE, even if it doesn’t sit right with him.

“You know, like—I’m not somebody who tends to criticize people, right? Like, everybody has their different values. And they are—they have their own values. They’re just different from mine, and that’s fine.”

Still, the absurdity of trying to control a crowd chant wasn’t lost on him.

“You realized this when you came to AEW—it was impossible to stop that chant from the fans.”

“Yeah… yeah, right? So, who are they trying to stop? The fans? Are they sending cease and desists to all 15,000 of you?”

Then came a sarcastic dig at the idea of WWE trying to claim gestures as intellectual property.

“Am I not allowed to raise my fingers in the air? Right? When I do it, nobody notices. But I never say ‘yes’ when I do it. I always just do this [raises hands], and the people [react]. So am I not allowed? Am I not allowed to do that?”

Danielson made it clear he didn’t want to stir up legal trouble for anyone, but also hinted that the situation is more frustrating than it appears.

“I don’t know. This is getting into the weeds of stuff that is not super interesting or fun for me to talk about—and I also don’t want to get myself or anybody else in trouble.”

Despite the drama, Danielson had nothing but respect for his time in WWE. He shared heartfelt thoughts about his run and how it shaped him.

“I really appreciate my time there. I enjoyed it. I love wrestling in all forms and sizes, and I loved the people I met there.”

Interestingly, Danielson revealed WWE wasn’t even part of his original wrestling dream.

“Honestly, that was never my goal—to be in WWE. When I started wrestling, my favorite wrestler was Dean Malenko. I thought my path would be to go wrestle in Japan and that would be where I’d spend most of my career.”

While WWE may want to lock down the “Yes” chant, Bryan Danielson’s legacy is clearly out of their hands. The fans have made it theirs—and no legal message can change that.

Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.