An American wrestling superstar in Australia for a promotional tour has taken a huge swipe at the AFL while claiming the NRL is a better sport than the NFL, NBA or Major League Baseball.
Bryan Danielson carved out a famous career in the WWE and later the rival AEW over more than two decades and was asked for his opinion on the football codes while on a visit to Australia.
Speaking on SEN radio on Monday, he told former NRL stars Bryan Fletcher and Joel Caine that the NRL was not only Australia’s best footy code, but it trumped American football.
‘I watched it (rugby league) and I thought this is a better spectator sport than anything we have in America,’ he said.
‘To me, it’s better than the NFL, it’s better than the NBA, for my tastes, definitely better than baseball.
‘What it is, is the game keeps moving, it’s very physical, there’s a lot of action going on and I watched it and was blown away by the athletes.’
American wrestling superstar Bryan Danielson was very impressed with the physical nature of rugby league after watching the Roosters and Bunnies (pictured)
Danielson couldn’t understand why players used the handball as a method of ball distribution and felt they should just pass it
The 44-year-old from Washington, who has more than three million followers on Instagram, was at last Friday’s NRL game between the Roosters and the Rabbitohs before he attended the GWS Giants’ elimination final defeat to Hawthorn the following day.
And while he was able to relate to and enjoy rugby league, he found Aussie Rules difficult to watch.
‘It seemed like they had some rules, like a good set of rules, and then they let a bunch of five-year-olds go in and change it up,’ he said.
‘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?”‘
He felt some of the AFL rules didn’t make sense, particularly around ball distribution.
‘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,’ he said.
‘It’s like, what? Who made up these rules? These are silly.’
His comments on the pro-rugby league show drew a reaction from the AFL community.
Danielson (pictured) copped backlash from AFL fans while being praised by the rugby league community
The American wrestler loved hearing the big hits when he attended last week’s Roosters v Souths match in Sydney
‘Clearly too many head knocks for the American Dragon. AFL is far superior,’ one person posted on X.
‘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,’ another said.
Rugby league fans loved Danielson’s critique of the AFL and they chimed in online to back him.
‘I guess fumbling and points for missing just isn’t impressive for some reason,’ one person posted.
‘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,’ another said.
Danielson is signed to AEW, where he performs on a part-time basis and also serves as a colour commentator for its flagship show, Dynamite.
He watched the NRL match at ground level and said he was impressed with the physicality and sound of the big hits.
‘I loved the rugby league game,’ he said.
Despite Danielson’s harsh view of the AFL, it’s clearly been a more popular sport, in terms of crowd figures, than rugby league.
The NRL’s average crowd this season was 20,525, while the AFL attracted, on average, 31,959 fans through the gates.
The NRL has claimed, however, that more people watch rugby league when TV ratings are taken into account.
