Bryan Danielson Reveals The One AEW Star He’d Pick To Join Blackpool Combat Club

If there is one faction in AEW that requires a lot to be part of, it’s the Blackpool Combat Club. Since forming in 2022, Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley, and Wheeler Yuta have prided themselves on being the best wrestlers in the world, and accept no excuses when things don’t go their way. However, if there was an opening for someone in AEW to join the BCC, who would it go to? On “The Nikki and Brie Show,” Danielson’s wife Brie asked him a question sent in by a fan who wanted to know if he could bring one person in to the BCC, who would he choose. “I really like the BCC as it is right now,” Danielson said. ” But if I had to pick one person to add, I think it would be Daniel Garcia. I like his style.”

Danielson originally named Garcia as someone who he would like to bring in to the group when he pitched the idea to Moxley in 2022, with both Yuta and Lee Moriarty also being named as guys who they could train up to be the future of AEW. Yuta proved his worth after a bloody performance against Moxley on an episode of “AEW Rampage” in April 2022, and Garcia earned Danielson’s respect following their trilogy of matches in 2022, where Garcia even picked up a victory over the American Dragon.

Moxley  has already noted that someone like Marina Shafir would fit well in the BCC as the group’s first female member, while internationally, NJPW’s Shota Umino has regularly teamed up with the BCC due to his close relationship with Moxley.

Daniel Garcia Explains One His Biggest AEW Career Regrets

Daniel Garcia believes Bryan Danielson is the greatest wrestler of all time. While he has been able to compete against him, one of his only career regrets at this point is not being able to team with him as part of the Blackpool Combat Club. It’s something that AEW did tease heavily, pushing the idea that their similar styles would work well together, only for Garcia to turn and join the Jericho Appreciation Society instead.

“In the moment, I was very, very, very, very sad about the situation,” he told “The Extreme Life Of Matt Hardy.” “I was originally supposed to be put with Bryan in the original Blackpool Combat Club when it [was] first initiated. Jericho needed me for his group, so I got taken out of that and put with Jericho.”

Garcia siding with Jericho is something that caused a genuine shock on television at the time, with AEW deciding to have him lean into the sports entertainment character. From adding his Kangol hat to introducing a popular dance, Garcia has been able to put a lot of personality into his new role. However, he admitted he reacted with a straight face when Jericho gave him the storyline news backstage, even though, in hindsight, he’s not sure he was ready to be put with Danielson at that time.

“In my mind, I knew like, ‘Damn, I know I was supposed to be put with Bryan in a couple of weeks, this is sad,'” he said. “So, once I started like, ‘Okay, this Bryan could be happening in a bigger way where I already got over a little bit, and now it could be a big payoff of a big storyline where I get put with Bryan.’ I’m like, This is really cool.'”

AEW Star Bryan Danielson Says BCC Should Never Break Up

Bryan Danielson is loving life in AEW as part of the Blackpool Combat Club (BCC) and wishes that the group never splits up.

Danielson recently spoke to “Sports Illustrated,” where he expressed his desire to keep the group intact. He pointed out that the group stuck together even when Danielson and fellow BCC member Jon Moxley faced each other in the final of the AEW World Championship tournament last September.

“I love this group. This should be a group that never breaks up,” stated the former WWE star. “Mox and I have wrestled since the BCC started, we wrestled in the championship tournament [last fall]. That didn’t cause any disturbances in the BCC. That’s the story of the BCC. When the BCC loses, we’ll shake hands and go back to training the next day.”

The BCC has run roughshod over AEW over the last year and a half and has had a number of brutal and hard-hitting matches. The group initially consisted of just Moxley and Danielson and was managed by William Regal, who joined them after his WWE exit. Wheeler Yuta was brought into the fold a few months later after facing Moxley on “AEW Rampage,” which Moxley later said was not planned. The final and fourth member added to the group was Claudio Castagnoli, formerly known as Cesaro in WWE, who joined them when he debuted at the Forbidden Door pay-per-view last June.

Konosuke Takeshita has also sided with the BCC on occasion after he turned heel at the Double or Nothing show earlier this year. The group has remained unchanged since the addition of Castagnoli, although they lost their manager, William Regal, who quit AEW in December to rejoin WWE.

CM Punk Reportedly Pitched Himself As Fifth Member Of BCC Team For AEW Blood & Guts

CM Punk as Blackpool Combat Club’s mystery partner was reportedly pitched for the upcoming Blood and Guts match between the BCC and the Elite. Moreover, the pitch was reportedly made by Punk himself. Voices of Wrestling reported Punk’s pitch, which was later confirmed by Fightful Select.

Punk reportedly made the pitch for himself as part of the match, which comes after previous interest from Punk toward working with the Elite. While it would be easy to imagine that neither team would want Punk in the match, reportedly BCC’s Jon Moxley wasn’t against the idea.

The mystery partners for both teams were reportedly already set. The Elite’s mystery man is currently rumored to be Kota Ibushi, who Kenny Omega shares a long and storied partnership with in Japan. Ibushi is reported to have been in conversations with AEW about making appearances for the company, one particularly for Blood and Guts.

There are no current indications for the BCC’s replacement for Bryan Danielson. Danielson would have been the fifth man on the BCC’s team in the match, but he suffered a broken arm during his bout with Kazuchika Okada at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door.

Konnan Has Changed His Mind On Wheeler Yuta’s Spot In AEW

Wheeler Yuta has had a roller coaster journey in AEW since joining the company in 2021. When he first arrived on the scene, he was the protege of Orange Cassidy and Chuck Taylor of Best Friends, both of whom trained him to become a professional wrestler nearly a decade ago.

But after he became the Ring of Honor Pure Champion in May 2022, he started to get the attention of William Regal and the Blackpool Combat Club.

Ever since then, Yuta became as hyper-focused and violent as his new stablemates — Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley, and Claudio Castagnoli. But the members of BCC weren’t the only ones paying attention to his evolution. Former WCW star Konnan also took notice of his progression and the veteran performer’s feelings about the up-and-coming competitor have changed over the years. 

During a bonus mailbag episode of the “K100” podcast, the lucha libre legend was asked his thoughts on Yuta’s progression in AEW so far.

Konnan said he felt like the AEW star didn’t stand out among the crop of similarly talented young wrestlers at first. However, other aspects of his presentation started to catch up to his technical prowess as he spent more time with the Blackpool Combat Club.

“At the beginning, I thought he was pushed too fast,” said Konnan. “He was over-pushed and he wasn’t ready for prime time. Plus, he reminded me of 40 other wrestlers who did the same thing. They all did the same thing [and had], the same match. 

As he adopted the more feral demeanor of the faction, Yuta began to slowly but surely ascend to the level of his teammates, according to Konnan.

“But since he’s been with these guys, he’s gotten a lot better. His work has changed. I was in San Diego in the arena, and when he won, he had a lot of heat. Now that I remember, he won at the pay-per-view and that’s smart. He doesn’t have the credibility of the other guys, right? Danielson, Moxley, and Castagnoli. But by letting him win, they’re starting to elevate him. That’s the way you make somebody.”

The 26-year-old has come a long way in his professional wrestling career, and now that he’s seemingly found experienced stars to point him in the right direction, he’s equipped with all of the tools to take him much further.

Blackpool Combat Club & The Elite Set For Anarchy In The Arena At AEW Double Of Nothing

The Elite is back together, just in time for a big showdown with the Blackpool Combat Club at AEW’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view.

Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, and “Hangman” Adam Page formally reunited on-screen at the very end of Wednesday night’s “Dynamite.” Omega was first to emerge from backstage, interrupting an interview with Don Callis, who betrayed Omega and cost him a steel cage match against the B.C.C.’s Jon Moxley on last week’s “Dynamite.” However, a large contingent of security guards blocked Omega’s path to revenge and Callis quickly escaped.

That’s when Moxley and the rest of the B.C.C. – Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta – launched an attack on Omega. Moments later, the Bucks emerged, still hobbled by a backstage attack by the B.C.C. earlier in the show. Finally, Page made his surprise entrance, and turned the tide, forcing the B.C.C. to retreat. Page had not been seen on AEW TV since Danielson targeted his eye with a screwdriver just over a month ago. Sporting an eyepatch as a remnant of that attack, Page took the microphone and announced that The Elite and the B.C.C. would meet in an Anarchy in the Arena match at Double or Nothing.

Prior to his appearance on Wednesday night’s “Dynamite,” Page returned to in-ring action in a match against Big Bill at AEW’s non-televised House Rules show in Salem, Virginia this past Saturday night.

The first Anarchy in the Arena match occurred at last year’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view. On that night, it was the Jericho Appreciation Society (Chris Jericho, Angelo Parker, Daniel Garcia, Jake Hager, and Matt Menard) who defeated the combined forces of the Blackpool Combat Club’s Danielson and Moxley along with Eddie Kingson, Santana, and Ortiz.

Wheeler Yuta Reveals The Meaning Behind His Bloody Gear

The Blackpool Combat Club has been a fixture on AEW television since its formation in March 2022. While the group had started as Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley working together under the violent guidance of William Regal, it has since become a paragon of high-caliber professional wrestling, adding Wheeler Yuta and Claudio Castagnoli as registered members. 

Yuta’s path into the group took quite a bit of work though, in order to gain enough respect to be welcomed in. After initially being put through the wringer by Danielson and Moxley, it wasn’t until he emerged from a battle with the latter on the April 8 episode of “AEW Rampage” a bloody mess that he was invited to become an official member. Around that time, he began sporting white tights with red accents on them that resemble bloodstains, something he recently reflected on during an episode of AEW’s “Hey! (EW).” “It’s partially for remembering where I came from, a very bloody place on ‘Rampage’ with Jon Moxley,” Yuta explained, pointing to that crucial match in his young AEW career.

Since becoming a full-fledged BCC member, Yuta has become a vital part of the AEW and Ring of Honor rosters, winning the ROH Pure Championship twice while also going head-to-head with main eventers like MJF. In addition, Yuta’s inclusion in the BCC also led to drastic changes in his intensity and presentation from his milder days as a part of the Best Friends. It led to his first appearance in NJPW’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament in last May where he finished with a respectable 5-4 record in block competition – not quite good enough to get him to the finals of the tourney though.

William Regal Gives This Promo Advice To Wheeler Yuta

Wheeler Yuta mounted a losing effort against MJF in his in-ring return on the October 5 “Dynamite” anniversary episode, a loss that comes after two weeks of promos between the two, which initially received negative reception after their first verbal clash on the September 21 episode of “AEW Dynamite.” Following what Yuta described on “Busted Open” as being “thrown in the deep end” against MJF on the microphone, he revealed the advice he received from an influential AEW figure backstage after the promo.

“I think the one that really stuck out to me was one from [William] Regal, where he said you have to just kind of believe more in what you’re saying,” he said, “Like the first week in New York … he said I hung with him, I delivered my lines, and I tried to do the best that I could, but it wasn’t fully me.”

Following Regal’s advice, the key for Yuta was incorporating the fighting spirit he’s displayed alongside his Blackpool Combat Club stablemates into his next promo. Rather than playing what he described as “MJF’s game,” on the September 28 “Dynamite,” Yuta tried to play things his own way.

“My game is, I want you to come out and fight me, so I’m gonna play my game. I’m gonna try to get you to come out here and fight me,” he said. “Really just having that conviction, and believing in what I was saying, and bringing it from my point of view, I think was very helpful from Regal.”

AEW’s Claudio Castagnoli Wants THIS Female In Blackpool Combat Club

With many wrestling fans pondering whether Daniel Garcia could be the latest addition to the Blackpool Combat Club, BCC member Claudio Castagnoli has suggested Serena Deeb as a potential new recruit for the group.

Speaking on the AEW Unrestricted podcast, the current ROH World Champion offered up Deeb as someone he’d like to see join the ranks of William Regal’s batch of brutal bruisers.

As Castagnoli detailed:

“I think Blackpool Combat Club could use a female. I’ll pick Serena Deeb, probably. I think she would be a good fit for the Blackpool Combat Club.”

A former NWA Women’s World Champion, Deeb has been with AEW since September 2020 and has challenged for both the AEW Women’s Title and the ROH Women’s Title.

Regarded as one of the best technical wrestlers on the planet, period, the Professor certainly fits the bill for what the Blackpool Combat Club is about. Of course, whether Claudio gets his way and Serena enters the BCC fold, that remains to be seen.

For now, at least, the Blackpool Combat Club consists of Castagnoli, Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley and Wheeler Yuta, with the aforementioned Regal and his Blackpool roots steering the ship for this fan favourite faction.

New ROH World Champion Crowned At Death Before Dishonor

Ring of Honor’s Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view kicked off with a new ROH World Champion.

AEW star and Blackpool Combat Club member Claudio Castagnoli defeated Jonathan Gresham to become the new ROH World Champion.

This win marks Claudio Castagnoli’s first ROH World Title reign. During his first run with ROH, Castagnoli held the ROH World Tag Team Championship twice with Chris Hero.

Before losing the title tonight, Gresham had been the champion since defeating Jay Lethal at Final Battle in December 2021.