Yes, Bryan Danielson is part of the AEW disciplinary committee that recommended to Tony Khan that the company should part ways with CM Punk. But no, the American Dragon is not in charge of that committee, so the buzz from the last few days that perhaps Danielson played an outsized role in Punk’s firing appears to be overblown.
Clarification on this topic comes from the best possible source: Danielson himself, appearing today on the Maggie and Perloff show on CBS Sports Radio. When asked by the hosts about a Fightful Select report that first broke the news about Danielson being part of the disciplinary committee, he admitted that was indeed the case.
What Danielson wanted to explain, however, is that there are more than three people on the committee and he is not in charge of it.
“You know how the internet is, like … some people would say I was the head of the disciplinary committee,” Danielson told the hosts. “And I’m like listen. I mean there were more than three people involved in this decision, but most of them were all lawyers. To say that I was the head … I don’t even have a college degree. I’m not in there bossing people around or anything like that.”
Danielson also confirmed what the initial Fightful report stated, which is that it was a difficult decision to recommend terminating Punk’s deal, saying he had a lot of “empathy” for him.
Certainly, there don’t appear to be any hard feelings on Danielson’s end for the time both men were in AEW together.
“I’m grateful for the time he was able to spend in AEW,” he said. “He did a great job for us, and so, yeah, I wish him the best in his future, and I hope his run there [in WWE] goes well.”
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