Bryan Danielson, one of the most respected technical wrestlers of his generation, has named British legend Johnny Saint as one of his key inspirations in the ring.
Saint was a technical wizard who spent over 20 years as the world champion. He wowed fans all across the world, but most notably in the UK.
The Englishman was a fixture on Saturday afternoons on ITV from the 1970s and 1980s, wrestling all the top stars during the Golden Era of British wrestling.
Johnny Saint was given the position of General Manager of NXT UK in 2018. This made him a household name again and brought back some fond memories for Bryan Danielson.
Bryan Danielson was inspired by Johnny Saint’s technical wizardry
Speaking with the WWE on their YouTube channel, Bryan Danielson noted how he was inspired by Saint’s “technical wizardry”.
He also claimed there was “nobody better than Johnny Saint”, which is high praise from another all-time great.
“So Johnny Saint, amongst my generation of wrestlers, and guys – these are guys who grew up watching tapes and watching tapes.” Bryan Danielson said.
“This is because there weren’t a ton of veterans around to learn from.”
“When you talk about technical wizardry, and I am someone who really appreciates technical wrestling, there is nobody better than Johnny Saint.”
55 year old Johnny Saint brings some technical sorcery to Michinoku Pro! 🇬🇧🌟 pic.twitter.com/7A2ghW85XH
— Vintage Puroresu プロレス (@vintagepuro) May 17, 2023
“It’s incredibly lucky for WWE to have somebody like Johnny Saint. I wrestled him in 2009, and it’s weird. It’s a different style that’s kind of been lost. You can watch the tapes, but it’s not the same as being there and living it.”
“Those guys wrestled anywhere from 5 to 10 matches a week doing that style, and when you wrestle that style that often you become a master of it, and that’s what he is.”
Bryan Danielson wrestled Johnny Saint only once in his career
Despite making their debuts nearly 40 years apart, Saint and Bryan Danielson wrestled against one another once.
This was during a six-man tag team match in 2009. It took place in Chikara, during the 2009 King of Trios tournament.
Saint teamed with Skayde Rivera and Mike Quackenbush to take on Danielson, Cesaro and Dave Taylor.
In his book “Yes!: My Improbable Journey to the Main Event of WrestleMania!”, Bryan Danielson (who was then known by his WWE name “Daniel Bryan”) wrote about his match in Chikara with Saint.
“During this period, Chikara—an independent promotion in Philadelphia—gave me one of the coolest experiences of my career up to that point: being in the ring with Johnny Saint.” Bryan Danielson said.
“It was me, Claudio Castagnoli (Cesaro), and Dave Taylor against Johnny, Mike Quackenbush, and Skayde Rivera. Johnny had been wrestling for more than fifty years at the time and wasn’t competing in many matches.”
” Even in his sixties, though, he was still awesome. He’s an incredible English wrestler who did things in the ring throughout his career that guys can’t pull off today. “
“Lots have tried to replicate his style of technical wrestling, but they can’t. As much as you can learn a move, you can’t learn the physical fluidity that he possessed. “
“When I first met Regal in 2000, he told me that if I was interested in technical wrestling, I had to watch Johnny Saint. I had even bought a VCR that played different formats so I could watch Saint on old British wrestling tapes. “
“Those were the lengths I’d go to in order to learn something new, because our generation of wrestlers doesn’t always have an opportunity to wrestle veteran guys to learn from.”
Johnny Saint also appeared on WWE’s YouTube channel in 2016. He was invited to be a guest coach at the Performance Center, and showcased his escapology skills against William Regal.
