AEW’s Bryan Danielson says WWE halted his other ambitions after appointing him as SmackDown’s General Manager in 2016.

In February 2016, Danielson retired due to a series of injuries, and was picked as SmackDown’s GM by Shane McMahon in July that year because of the Brand Extension.

Speaking with Wrestling Observer Radio, Danielson discussed his tenure as an authority figure, saying:

“My life would be very different if they hadn’t brought me in as the GM of SmackDown because I was forced to be around it. When I retired, I started thinking, ‘OK, what are other things that I can do? What are other things I enjoy?’, that sort of thing. I started signing up for all these things, I was enrolled in ASU for an environmental program, I had signed up for a permaculture design course that was six weeks long to do regenerative agriculture-type stuff. So, that was going to be my focus. I was like, ‘OK, I kind of have to accept this.

“Then they brought me in as the GM of SmackDown and I had to be around it every week. It also put a halt to my other ambitions. I’m not great with technology so the thought of doing classes digitally and taping SmackDown Tuesdays. Flying out on Monday, doing SmackDown on Tuesday, flying back on Wednesday, that’s missing three days of class time. So it really put a damper on other things.”

Danielson’s time as General Manager ended in early 2018 when he was cleared to compete.

The former WWE Champion joined AEW at All Out 2021 and lost to Jon Moxley at last night’s Revolution event.