Bryan Danielson has heaped praise on his All Out 2023 opponent, claiming that Ricky Starks “carried” him through their match.
Danielson was a last-minute replacement for CM Punk, battling Starks in a strap match. He was joined at ringside by Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, and was cheered by a raucous Chicago crowd all night.
This was Danielson’s first match back since Forbidden Door, when he suffered a broken arm in victory over NJPW legend Kazuchika Okada.
Speaking in the AEW All Out post show media scrum, Bryan Danielson claimed Ricky Starks carried him through the match, before calling the former FTW Champion “a star”.
“Every time Ricky Starks gets an opportunity, he knocks it out of the park,” he said. “I will be the first one to say –- and this is outside of within our stories and what we do –- he carried me through that match tonight.
I’m good at a decent amount of things and I’m confident in saying that he was the one who carried me through that match.
“In the Blackpool Combat Club, we like to test people, we like to push people, part of that is story and part of that is real.
I have never wrestled Ricky Starks before … we have never touched, we have never done anything. I’ve always watched and thought every time I see him, that guy is a star. I’m hoping fans see him in a way now that he is entertaining, but he is also gutsy.”
Bryan Danielson is said to move on to becoming the face of AEW Collision, following the firing of CM Punk prior to All Out.