Bryan Danielson Broke His Orbital Bone Before AEW Dynamite Storyline

Highlights

• Bryan Danielson suffered a real injury, breaking his orbital bone, during his match with Andrade on Collision, not during his match with Okada on Dynamite.
• Despite the injury, Danielson continued to wrestle on Dynamite but will now be out of action for the rest of the year.
• With multiple injuries accumulating, there are concerns about how much longer Danielson can continue wrestling and whether he may retire completely when his contract expires next year.

On last Wednesday's AEW Dynamite, the show came to an awkward end when Bryan Danielson fell to the mat clutching his face following his tag team match with Claudio Castagnoli against Kazuchika Okada and Orange Cassidy. Immediately, fans wondered if it was a storyline, but it was revealed to be a real injury. Danielson had broken his orbital bone, which looks to keep him out of action for the rest of the year. It was horrible news, as he had just come back from a broken forearm suffered at Forbidden Door against Okada. Dynamite showed Okada mocking Danielson's eye injury, setting up a storyline for when he returns, as he looks to get revenge on the man who injured him twice.

In reality though, Okada did not injure Bryan Danielson during their Dynamite match. While the injury is very much real, it occurred at a different time, specifically during his match with Andrade on Collision the Saturday before. Wrestling Observer Radio's Bryan Alvarez said, “Bryan Danielson was in fact not hurt last Wednesday, but he was hurt in the Andrade match and went into last Wednesday's match with a broken orbital bone."

Meltzer added, “I guess he went in with a black eye. They didn't know how serious it was, but obviously, he worked on it and they shot the angle to take him out during the match. So the injury took place when they bonked heads. So it was a total fluke. It was one of those things that wasn't like he got hit too hard or anything. Andrade was doing a spinning elbow and Danielson said he was in one place and his head was in the wrong, you know, place, and they bonked heads. And that happens in fights and things like that fairly often, actually.”

Alvarez replied, "Yeah. So apparently, the feeling was after the Andrade match that they were hoping it was like nothing serious would need surgery. And I think we mentioned yesterday that he had surgery. I'm not sure he's had surgery yet. I think it's still up in the air. But regardless, he was definitely hurt going into the match. He was definitely hurt coming out of the match. And there's a chance that he's going to need surgery, but I think they're hoping that maybe he won't need surgery. So I guess we'll see. I broke my orbital bone once. It sucked, and I seem to remember that.” (h/t WrestlingNews.co)

RELATED: 10 Facts Fans Should Know About Bryan Danielson's Injuries

How Much Longer Will Bryan Danielson Keep Wrestling?

Bryan Danielson has shown how truly tough he is multiple times this year. He continued his Forbidden Door match with Okada despite having a badly broken arm, and he wrestled on Dynamite despite having broken his orbital bone just days before. With his injuries piling up, you have to wonder how much longer Danielson can keep wrestling. He was meant to be the face of Collision, replacing CM Punk, but now he will be out for multiple months yet again. When his contract expires next year, will he decide to just retire completely instead of hanging on as a part-timer?