The Best of All Time.
There’s one factor that transcends generations, and it’s the talk of who’s the best of all time when speaking a few sport or an artwork. An argument about who’s the GOAT could maintain a particular significance once we discuss someone that we’ve seen stay. At present in sports activities like soccer (I cannot name it soccer) you’d discover that debate surrounding the determine of Lionel Messi as one entity that has achieved all of it within the sport. Via ups and downs, Messi has lastly reached the sky within the competitors and has been in a position to win each single trophy the game has to supply in many alternative leagues. For basketball, one may say the GOAT is undoubtedly Michael Jordan because of his wonderful marketing campaign with the Chicago Bulls, and the truth that he as soon as retired and even got here again to have his iconic “Final Dance” along with his workforce, which additionally noticed him successful one other NBA championship.
For professional wrestling although, the talk of who’s the best of all time can’t be drawn by fictional achievements and scripted outcomes. One factor that I see generally within the discourse is the concept that a wrestler is extra vital due to the titles he has received, creating this bizarre but materialistic thought of professional wrestling through which those chosen to win title after title are GOAT candidates.
The idea of the “Belt Collector” attracts from this angle and makes folks imagine that simply because Kenny Omega has 16 extra titles he needs to be up the GOATs checklist, when in actuality, the credentials Omega has are greater than sufficient to earn him a spot in that dialogue, extra so due to the tales he has advised and the influence he had within the trade.
Should you have been to ask me in 2021 who I might contemplate the best of all time, I might have stated someone like Kenta Kobashi, as a result of, on the peak of his sport, he was simply the very best wrestler on the earth.
The one factor that was sure, although, was that I might all the time point out the identify of 1 American Dragon in second place on my checklist, and I all the time known as him the “Western GOAT.” For some cause, I discovered myself separating these two as a result of whereas Kobashi was my favourite wrestler at the moment, the opposite was starting a brand new chapter in his profession.
One that may see him breaking the “Western GOAT” monicker I used and would make me perceive what I used to be not keen to simply accept: He was the one GOAT in that dialog.
That is the story of how I noticed Bryan Danielson is The Best of All Time.
This story begins in 2022. After his debut in All Elite Wrestling, Danielson was a fan favourite from the beginning even in all his conceitedness and his matches with the likes of Eddie Kingston and Hangman Web page, which allowed folks to see who Danielson could possibly be if he needed to. The one argument that may be stated about Bryan and why he could possibly be thought-about the GOAT is clearly his versatility in comparison with his friends.
I believed this was understood when reflecting on his WWE profession post-injury, when he made a triumphant return in 2018, solely to turn out to be essentially the most despicable particular person the yr after AND THEN return to his fiery underdog antics towards Roman Reigns in his final match for the corporate.
Once I noticed Danielson beating the residing hell out of the AEW World Champion and leaving him a bloody mess, I understood this once more.
In the identical yr, AEW hosted a Match of Champions, through which I noticed Danielson arrive on the finals and face his Blackpool Fight Membership accomplice Jon Moxley. For the whole lot that’s price, I needed Danielson to win, however the thought of AEW’s Ace getting the crown as soon as once more appealed to me due to its nature. Danielson didn’t want the AEW World Championship, however the historical past of the belt wanted him.
In the identical yr, I noticed Messi win the World Cup with Argentina for the primary time. As an Argentinian lady, that day was one of many happiest days of my life and I’ll all the time keep in mind it as a second through which I believed in miracles. That day, Messi’s bucket checklist was accomplished, and nobody may deny his standing because the definitive GOAT of the game. I don’t know if I’ll ever be capable to expertise such ecstasy once more, however something nearer to it will likely be incredible.
To observe that concept, there’s one factor that has marked Danielson’s run in AEW. Similar to Messi’s profession, the concept of the miracle lives in his profession. That factor he and solely he’ll obtain. When speaking in regards to the a number of miracles Bryan had in his profession, you solely take into consideration two issues: His return in 2018, and his WrestleMania 30 second through which we noticed Danielson breaking the code and reaching the immortality WWE presumed he didn’t have.
Even when it needed to finish abruptly, that second earns extra significance with time, as a result of we now have been in a position to expertise three totally different primes for Bryan.
One with Ring of Honor, through which we noticed him being the very best wrestler on the earth for a decade.
The opposite was with WWE, through which his versatility allowed him to shine in each position he was given, even when the corporate didn’t need to push him.
And the opposite with AEW, through which we noticed Danielson attain the final chapters of his profession reaching each single dream he had.
We noticed the American Dragon breathe a brand new hearth within the trade and provides us actual Dream Matches. If I’m allowed to be tacky, we have been allowed to dream with him and see him towards the likes of Kazuchika Okada and Blue Panther.
Even in his title matches, Danielson had the concept of a miracle current in all of them. The miracle I’m speaking about is the concept of Bryan with any sort of gold, however we don’t know if we’re going to be fortunate sufficient to expertise it once more. We’d like it greater than we imagine. And for me, no less than, 2023 was the yr through which I began praying for Danielson to win the AEW World Title, not due to a “bucket checklist” however as a result of it solely feels proper for the GOAT to win. Was it laborious to come back to that conclusion? I wouldn’t use “laborious,” however I’ll admit I used to be nonetheless repressing that thought even after Danielson’s run with the BCC.
I believe the second I knew I used to be watching absolutely the GOAT walkout was once I noticed him popping out to Remaining Countdown for the primary time. As a 19-year-old youngling, I couldn’t stay Danielson’s peak in ROH as a result of I used to be merely three years previous when he was battling the likes of KENTA, Takeshi Morishima, and Nigel McGuinness. As I stated earlier than, the concept of Danielson being thought-about the GOAT has to do with individuals who lived it greater than I did, and to be trustworthy, I may have been on the identical bandwagon, however I didn’t really feel okay mendacity to myself, pretending I knew why this man was the best of all time once I simply lived his second peak in WWE and his third in AEW.
When AEWxNJPW Forbidden Door 2023 occurred, although, I needed to fake no extra as a result of I had seen it. I noticed the GOAT in his third prime, popping out to HIS theme track as soon as once more.
I used to be shaking, screaming, and crying as a result of it was as magical as folks presumed it to be. I didn’t see a video of it; I used to be residing it. I used to be residing in Bryan Danielson’s period, and as he entered the ring, all my doubts went out the window like previous ideas that shall by no means be introduced again.
It’s 2024, and as we get nearer to All In, it solely feels proper to say that I would like Bryan Danielson to win.
Not as a result of he HAS to win. If he retires after his match towards Swerve Strickland, I might nonetheless contemplate him the GOAT and I might nonetheless be pleased to have lived within the current the place Danielson reaches the tip of his story. However I need Bryan to win extra so as a result of I need to stay one other miracle. I need to attain the ecstasy I as soon as felt once I noticed a fellow GOAT attain the sky.
I don’t know if Bryan desires to win the title, as a result of one factor we knew in his AEW run is that he was the whole lot however egocentric, and in professional wrestling is tough to get someone like that in your organization. I all the time query myself once I beg for Danielson to be extra grasping as a result of one shouldn’t attempt to awaken a cardinal sin in a person, however wrestling is bizarre, and possibly I ask that of Danielson as a result of I need to stay within the good previous days he preached about in Dynamite, the place he reaches the height of the mountain once more and stands because the AEW World Champion in entrance of a packed Wembley Stadium.
Possibly it’s as a result of I don’t need to see him go but.
Possibly it’s as a result of I’ve reached 10 years of watching wrestling, and the primary reminiscence I’ve of it’s watching Bryan with the WWE Title.
I need Danielson to win at All In as a result of that can give my internal youngster a smile, the one factor that wrestling followers ought to by no means lose.
Is it innocence?
Is it disbelief?
Or am I a delusional human being for wanting Bryan Lloyd Danielson to win a World Title in a scripted sport, once I completely defined why defining a GOAT case round titles doesn’t make any sense to start with of this text?
I don’t know.
However one factor I do know is that I would like Bryan to defeat Swerve Strickland in Wembley.
I need to stay lengthy sufficient to see that with my very own two eyes, similar to lots of my pals and friends lived sufficient to look at him come out to Remaining Countdown in ROH.
I need to stay what they lived.
I need to be taught from these tales I heard.
I need to see the legendary determine of the American Dragon on the peak of his bodily situation.
I need to see the very best wrestler of all time, and I need to give closure to the ten years I’ve invested in watching this sport and believing in it.
10 years of selecting ignorance over logic.
10 years of selecting magic over routine.
10 years of selecting moments over numbers.
10 years of selecting feelings over spreadsheets.
10 years of selecting tales, over star rankings.
10 years of selecting miracles, over no matter stands towards them.
10 years, through which I lastly selected Bryan Danielson because the Best of All Time.