US wrestling superstar Bryan Danielson ridicules ‘silly’ Aussie sport
An American wrestling superstar experienced NRL and AFL footy for the first time on the weekend and had a blunt assessment of Aussie Rules.
An American wrestling superstar has given his take on NRL and AFL – and Australia’s indigenous sport did not fare well.
Bryan Danielson is a legend of professional wrestling, winning a swag of titles in the WWE and later the rival AEW over a career spanning more than two decades.
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The 44-year-old from Washington is semi-retired these days, wrestling occasionally and also providing commentary for AEW.
He formerly wrestled under the names American Dragon and Daniel Bryan and is in Australia for a promotional tour ahead of AEW’s live shows in Australia early next year.
Danielson, who is married to former wrestler Brie Bella and has 3.3 million followers on Instagram, attended last Friday’s NRL game between the Roosters and the Rabbitohs before taking in GWS’ elimination final defeat to Hawthorn the following day.
During an appearance on SEN radio, the wrestling superstar was asked which game he preferred watching for the first time.
“Oh rugby, 100 per cent,” he replied.
“Rugby is something, I watched it and thought ‘oh, this is a better spectator sport than anything we have in America’.
“To me, it’s better than the NFL, it’s better than the NBA, for my tastes, definitely better than baseball.
“And what it is, the game keeps moving, it’s very physical, it’s like there’s a lot of action going on and I was just blown away by the athletes in general.”
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Danielson said he watched from right by the field to start the game and was asked if he could hear the sounds of the match.
“The NFL, they’ve got all the pads and everything so you hear the clunk,” he said.
“If you go to ice hockey, if you’re close to the thing you get to hear (the contact).
“The problem with ice hockey, it’s a continual movement game, but the puck is small, it’s very hard from a live perspective to follow.
“I loved the rugby league game.”
The conversation then changed to AFL and Danielson had a funny reaction to what he saw while trying to understand the unique game.
“This is what I thought about the Australian Rules football game,” he began.
“It seemed like they had some rules, like a good set of rules, and then they let a bunch of five-year-old’s go in and change it up.
“So it’s like ‘yeah that’s good, but what if instead, when the ball goes out of bounds, the referee turns his back and then he throws it in’.
“And you can kick the ball to the other player, but if you want to use your hands, you can’t pass it. You have to make your hand into a fist and then go boom like that.
“It’s like what? Who made up these rules? These are silly.”
For someone watching AFL for the first time, it was a pretty fair interpretation of a sport that is unlike any other.
It brought a strong reaction from those watching the interview, hitting a nerve with a number of AFL fans who replied to a snippet of the interview published on X by league content page NRL Central.
X account Slim Pickens tweeted: “Clearly too many head knocks for the American Dragon. AFL is far superior.”
@bennyshelts wrote: “Aussie Rules is for Aussies. Rugba league is for yanks.”
Jet Mahler said: “Wait until he watches another game and realises it is the same as the first. And so will the next 100. Haha. Australians vote with their feet, the debate is over.”
@truthindanger stated: “When you are a simple person then a simple game is best for you. AFL moves too quickly for simple people who are slow and intellectually challenged. Tackle tackle kick. Rinse and repeat.”
War Kangaroo suggested: “Can tell he’s had a dangerous amount of concussions.”
There were some league fans replying too of course.
Ex-panda wrote: “I guess fumbling and points for missing just isn’t impressive for some reason.”
Greenbelt Bobby said: “Prefer a sport with running the ball and penetrating a defence. Rugby league has more structure, Aussie Rules is like chickens running around without heads.”
Travelgeez declared: “The man speaks sense, if rugby league can make it to the States it would be unbelievable and take the game to new levels, possibly even take over rugby union’s international dominance.”
Another account wrote: “Perfect summation of AFL which I’ve always said is a game you’d only invent if rugby and football had already been invented and used up all the good bits.”
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