Daniel Bryan

Newly signed AEW star Bryan Danielson thanked WWE in an open letter written for The Players' Tribune on Tuesday.

Danielson specifically thanked WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, the wrestlers and crew members he worked with in WWE and the WWE fans in the letter.

Regarding McMahon, Danielson wrote: "Thank you to the Big Man, who I know hates to be acknowledged. I won’t say much, but thank you for the conversations, the life lessons (about both what to do and what not to do), and the best hug I’ve ever received. I wish more people could see you how I see you."

Danielson wrote the letter on the eve of his debut match for AEW, which will see him face world champion Kenny Omega on AEW Dynamite at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York City.

Wrestling under the name Daniel Bryan, Danielson became one of the top stars in professional wrestling during his stint with the company from 2009 to 2021.

He was a five-time world champion, held countless other titles and competed in the main event of WrestleMania twice, including earlier this year when he faced Roman Reigns and Edge in a Triple Threat for the Universal Championship.

Danielson would have one more match for WWE against Reigns before becoming a free agent and setting the wheels in motion for him to sign with AEW.

The 40-year-old veteran made his AEW debut at All Out earlier this month by confronting Omega and The Elite, and he will clash with Omega in a non-title bout on Wednesday night in what is a dream match for many wrestling fans.

While many wrestlers who have left WWE for AEW have chosen to take potshots at WWE, that hasn't been the case for Danielson.

Even before writing the open letter, Danielson made it clear in interviews that he loved his time in WWE and had nothing but good feelings regarding the company.

After giving thanks to so many, Danielson concluded his open letter with the following:

"I loved my time in WWE. Needless to say, it changed my life. I met my wife, had unbelievable experiences and made great friends. Some of you, I may see again…. and I hope that I do. But these last two years have taught us not to take that for granted. So I just wanted to tell you all how much you've meant to me. I'm grateful that you allowed me into your lives, and that you came into mine. I'll cherish these memories forever. Thank you for reading—and most of all, thank you for caring."

As much as Danielson enjoyed his time in WWE and his rise to the top of the wrestling business, he has expressed his desire to take on new challenges.

Danielson referred to Wednesday's bout against Omega as the "biggest match of my career" and called the first wrestling event at Arthur Ashe Stadium a "dream setting."

With Danielson clearly still on good terms with WWE, one can only assume the company will welcome him back with open arms one day, even if for just a well-deserved induction into the WWE Hall of Fame.

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Now would be a good time for All Elite Wrestling to put a soft rule in place for the rest of 2021: no more former WWE stars. 

It might seem like a silly stance to take, especially after stunning AEW debuts for CM Punk, Daniel Bryan and Adam Cole. Why not keep adding more and more talent to what is already one of the best pro wrestling rosters of all time? 

Because AEW—and fans—need time to breathe. 

It's impossible to find fault with AEW for the acquisitions so far, of course. Acquiring can't-miss talent is a no-brainer for a fast-rising company with a near-unlimited ceiling. This sort of "soft" rule goes out the window if, say, a Brock Lesnar or Charlotte Flair somehow slips their way to the free-agent market (and never say never given, well, Punk, Bryan and Cole). 

But AEW does run the risk of oversaturating the roster with former WWE stars who want a slice of the main-event scene, and even the mid-card scene. Other promotions—who we won't name—quickly established reputations as realms for WWE castoffs, and it cost them dearly in the long run. 

AEW isn't anywhere close to having that sort of reputation, obviously. The company is very, very good at getting deserving faces screentime and noteworthy feuds. 

But even a company with a stellar track record isn't immune to stumbles. The last thing AEW needs to do is feel like a mini-WWE in the way it lets Superstars who deserve so much more toil in mid-card purgatory. Think about some of the guys who helped get things off the ground, like Joey Janela or the Dark Order. 

At some point, this is just the natural growth of things after AEW elbowed its way into the space, created a must-see alternative and attracted major Superstars. But the balance is a delicate, precious thing to find—and to the company's credit, establishing a Friday show like Rampage helps with these potential long-term issues. 

Temptation on AEW's part is understandable, though. Names like Braun Strowman and Bray Wyatt are still out there. Somebody like Kevin Owens could be soon, too. We could spend hours and hundreds, maybe thousands of words on fun fantasy debuts and booking scenarios with those three names alone. 

But we could spend even more on the current crop of talent. Punk just had his first mini-feud. Bryan and Cole are only just starting. The Hangman Page thing continues to cook in the background. Jon Moxley is going international. We want to see can't-miss things like Punk and MJF squaring off on the mic. The list is almost endless.

This hasn't mentioned a ton of other talent for the sake of time and space. AEW will never match the sheer quantity and star level of WWE's current roster (WWE hoarded talent and needed to make so many cuts recently for good reason), but it's a stunningly great roster with a superb main-event scene, the best tag scene on the planet and a fast-rising women's division with critical storytelling elements not necessarily found elsewhere. There's only so much airtime per week to make it all work. 

A rule like this would serve doubly in another critical way—shock value. Letting some of the big-name WWE castoffs toil on the market for a while will only make an eventual debut that much better—like the waiting game with Punk, but on a much smaller scale.

Fans have almost come to expect former WWE guys to show up in AEW right away once news about a contract expiration comes out. AEW can leverage that in brutally smart ways to create unforgettable moments that kick off dream-match storylines. 

With that theme in mind, the period of leveraging major former WWE names to gain headlines and shock value is over. AEW has the big names now and the fans responded, and the viewing numbers are huge and will likely stay that way. Now it's time to let things breathe. Show those new fans how the recently acquired, beloved talent will get used, not hamfist more former names into the company for the sake of it. 

Again, we wouldn't suggest this if, say, Punk was still out there or a can't-miss name hits the market. But those are exceptionally rare circumstances at this point. And to AEW's credit, the way it has handled 95 percent of things, learned from mistakes (early Dark Order, for example) and treated legends tactfully only inspires confidence that this is already an idea making the rounds at the promotion. 

Still, other promotions struggled with this. Behavior and habits from the big kid on the block keeps fans cautiously optimistic, but they are not just blindly throwing faith into pretty much anything. With some smart maneuvering on this front, AEW can reassure fans that things really are different now. 

After All Out shocked the wrestling community with a series of top-tier matches and several surprising debuts, All Elite Wrestling fans have turned their attention to the promotion's November pay-per-view, Full Gear, and the feuds for top stars heading into the show.

With CM Punk looking to feud with the entirety of Team Taz, The Elite squaring off against Bryan Danielson and his face cohorts and Ruby Soho coming for Britt Baker and her AEW Women's Championship, the storylines coming out of All Out should be unforgettable.

Here are the best possible storylines for the biggest names in AEW over the next two months.

CM Punk vs. Team Taz

After defeating Darby Allin at All Out and earning the respect of Sting, CM Punk has moved on to his next possible feud, this time with Taz and every member of his faction. On Wednesday, Punk verbally sparred with the former ECW champion and called out Ricky Starks, Will Hobbs and Hook.

Punk mentioned on several occasions how excited he was to be working with younger stars, and he will get that opportunity against Team Taz. To kick off the in-ring aspect of the storyline, the Best in the World should be attacked by the whole group next week before picking them off one-by-one.

First, Punk should decimate Taz's son Hook, which would give this angle the personal edge and pure vitriol that should help create memorable promo battles. After destroying Hook, Punk should turn his attention to Powerhouse Hobbs.

The in-ring wars between the two men would be incredible, but the former WWE champion should eventually earn a victory before turning all of his attention to Starks. As one of the best talkers in AEW, the battles between Punk and Starks will be as good on the mic as they would be in the ring.

The feud should lead to Punk vs. Starks at Full Gear.

The Elite vs. Daniel Bryan, Christian, Frankie Kazarian and Jurassic Express

Among the reasons All Out 2021 will go down as one of the greatest PPVs of all time were the debuts of both Adam Cole and Danielson. Now the two former WWE Superstars will go head-to-head as the members of The Elite are challenged by a newly formed faction.

Along with Danielson, the likes of Christian, Frankie Kazarian and Jurassic Express have also had their issues with the Young Bucks, Kenny Omega and the rest of the heel stable. With at least eight people involved in the storyline so far, this angle screams for a Blood and Guts match.

With the ability to tease multiple feuds within one larger storyline—such as Danielson looking to challenge Omega and Jurassic Express challenging the Young Bucks—this program could be one of the biggest in all of wrestling history, putting over so many people as it rolls along.

Eventually, Danielson should be the one to challenge Omega for the AEW World Heavyweight Championship at Full Gear, only to lose the match after interference from The Elite.

As Danielson and the other faces are being decimated by the heels, one man should make the save and his triumphant return to AEW programming. Leave it to Hangman Adam Page to rescue the good guys and set his sights on Omega and the title heading into 2022.

Ruby Soho vs. Britt Baker

There will be a plethora of six-woman matches and tag team battles before Ruby Soho stands toe-to-toe with Britt Baker, but the company finally has the marquee battle that can save the women's division.

For too long, AEW has not treated the women's division with the importance it deserves, but boasting two megastars in Soho and Baker should be the catalyst for change. In addition to the heel doing everything in her power to avoid fighting Soho, Baker should weave an intricate series of challenges to weaken her eventual opponent.

Soho is a great in-ring worker and a stellar promo, which should create entertaining segments on Dynamite and Rampage every week. If AEW's creative team wants to take advantage of the momentum, they should get as many people involved in the storyline as possible, as seen with the six-woman tag on Rampage and the Casino Battle Royale.

Over the next two months, Baker should do everything she can to avoid Soho, but the time should run out at Full Gear, when the two talented women finally face off one-on-one for the AEW Women's Championship.

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A stagnant, oversaturated product isn't just causing WWE and Vince McMahon to lose big-name Superstars to competitors like All Elite Wrestling—it's also causing some on the payroll to speak out. 

And as always, industry legend Mick Foley is spot on with his analysis. 

Foley recently noted that WWE has a serious issue on its hands because it is "no longer the place for talent to aspire to."

It's hard to disagree on that front. It was AEW, not WWE, that lured CM Punk out of retirement after a seven-year hiatus. Adam Cole, the main face of NXT and surefire main-roster star for WWE, instead left and joined AEW during the recent All-Out pay-per-view that also featured the debut of Daniel Bryan, back under his old-school name, Bryan Danielson. 

Danielson himself even told fans on a broadcast that he loved his time with WWE and was thankful, but that what was happening in AEW was just that much more exciting.

Foley noted in his comments that part of the issue is AEW is just that good of a pro wrestling product. But he also heaped blame on WWE for a litany of reasons. According to Mat Men's Andrew Zarian (h/t Cageside Seat's Randall Ortman), there are those in WWE who are "very unhappy" with Foley's comments. 

Those same folks in WWE will need to get mad at Booker T then, too. While reviewing All Out on the Hall of Fame podcast, he agreed with Foley (h/t Chris Siggia of Wrestlingnews.co): 

"I want to talk about those comments because I think there's a lot of validity to those comments that Mick Foley made. It was critical in a constructive criticism way. I can't disagree with Mick Foley on anything. He's a smart dude, and he's very, very intelligent as well. He knows his stuff. He's been there. He's done it, so coming from Mick Foley, you have to take it and say, 'OK, let me look at this.' ... I agree with Mick Foley 100 percent. We need to get our ass in gear, bottom line."

Sometimes the truth hurts, right? And funny reality check: The worst WWE can do to either of these guys is cut them loose from legends contracts. They'd then probably be free to make appearances in AEW (and boy would it be fun to see Foley against Jon Moxley, sorry), where legends like Arn Anderson and Sting get spectacular usage when on television—but that's just one of many issues with WWE right now. 

To say this problem has been building for WWE for a long time is an understatement. Contentment leaves even the biggest of companies vulnerable to legitimate competition, and that is what's happening here. The television contracts are fat and the social media numbers huge, but poor, if not lazy decisions have left WWE in a bad spot. 

Where to even start at this point? Cole split at least in part because most NXT call-ups to the main roster end in disaster. Karrion Kross is merely the latest example, but look at Keith Lee or Aleister Black. The latter split after WWE made him a shocking cut and is already prospering with the creative freedom AEW allows. 

Speaking of surprising cuts, don't forget Braun Strowman, Bray Wyatt and a huge chunk of NXT as McMahon himself takes over the broadcast again and completely gives it a facelift. Even Ric Flair got let go. Ric. Flair. 

That NXT debacle stings, too. While pretending AEW wasn't competition, WWE threw NXT on to the same night as AEW's Dynamite, largely got walloped over time, moved back over to another night and now has elected to completely rebuild from the ground up.

The fine details are a big problem, too. While AEW was building up to the Punk debut and other feats, WWE was off having its second-biggest event of the year, SummerSlam. That featured 54-year-old Goldberg in a title match, an advertised Sasha Banks match that morphed into a weird Becky Lynch return that buried Bianca Belair and a rough-looking Brock Lesnar return to set up yet another feud with Roman Reigns. 

Make no mistake, some of the above can still work. The talent is certainly great enough. But continuity and meaningful matches don't happen often in WWE. The company is way too focused on individual moments (like Lynch's return, instead of the long-term impact on Belair) and WrestleMania booking. It makes everything else feel like placeholders or stuck in a holding pattern. 

Revisit this in six months or so. The odds are Belair doesn't come out any better from the odd Lynch return that felt like WWE overreacting to Punk's debut elsewhere. Little likely comes from Finn Balor's feud with Roman Reigns because he's cannon fodder until Lesnar shows up. Goldberg, despite repeated losses, gets another unquestioned title match at a show in Saudi Arabia. 

It's on WWE to prove that sort of thing wrong. Long-term booking has to be a priority. Building up the next generation of stars is a must. What's hair-pulling frustrating is that the social media numbers and television deals the company adores would come either way—go check the numbers on Punk's debut or the Lucha Bros finally winning tag titles. 

The best hope fans can have is that some of that energy WWE might spend getting mad at a Foley or Booker instead gets put into the problems they rightfully brought up in the first place. Because if not, fans easily have the ability to choose to look elsewhere. 

One glance at the ratings shows AEW keeps gaining momentum while WWE holds steady, which suggests names like Punk and the sheer fun that is AEW keeps bringing aboard lapsed fans. But at some point, AEW, especially with major star power aboard now, can start poaching from the bigger company. 

Some of the Superstar poaching was inevitable because WWE had hoarded the most talented roster in the sport's history. But more recent names going over tell a different story, one Foley explained to perfection. The fan poaching comes next. And while none of it is a guarantee McMahon and Co. pull a swerve and actually start to change (they've really only done it once—in response to WCW), the pressure is palpable. 

Either way, pro wrestling has competition and is fun again. The Superstars past and present can feel it, and so can fans.