Bryan Danielson says he broke his arm during Forbidden Door main event

Bryan Danielson says he expects to be out 6-8 weeks after injuring himself during an elbow drop by Kazuchika Okada at Forbidden Door.

Fans watching the second annual AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door card from Toronto on Sunday night were concerned about the health of Bryan Danielson during the main event. While his twitching on the mat turned out to be just a way to lure in Kazuchika Okada, the American Dragon really was injured in the course of the bout.

It wasn’t Danielson’s neck, which earlier in his career had caused his retirement for several years, that was the issue in Toronto. During the media scrum after the event, Danielson said he broke his right arm before his eventual victory over Okada (h/t Daniel Yanofsky of The Sporting News).

Danielson was notably favoring his left arm late in the match, with the announcers noting that his right arm appeared to be hurt. He also had trouble applying his submission hold of choice, the LeBell Lock, due to his ailment.

Instead, Danielson pivoted to use his legs to work over Okada, eventually trapping both of the New Japan star’s arms behind his back. When Okada tapped out, it caused a crowd that had been hot all night to quiet down quickly out of sheer surprise.

If Danielson is on the money with his assessment of how long he’ll be out, it would put his participation at AEW’s next big card, All In London, in jeopardy. That show is slated for Wembley Stadium on Aug. 27, and it’s widely presumed AEW will want as many top names in action as possible for what will be the biggest live audience it’s had to date.

Ironically, CEO and GM Tony Khan just mentioned during his media call ahead of Forbidden Door that one difference between this year’s show and the inaugural event in 2022 was how much healthier the AEW roster was. He may have jinxed himself just a bit with Danielson, so here’s hoping for a speedy recovery for the American Dragon.