Bryan Danielson Reveals the Unlikely 90s Star Who Changed His Career

In a sit-down interview at the Starrcast fan convention with Tony Schiavone, All Elite Wrestling star Bryan Danielson shared a surprising piece of advice he received from an unlikely source early in his career. Danielson revealed that the key to becoming comfortable in front of a live audience came from the obscure 1990s wrestler, PN News.

PN News was a short-lived character in World Championship Wrestling in 1991. He was billed as "The Rapmaster" and had a hip-hop-influenced gimmick. Known for his catchphrase, "Yo baby, yo baby, yo," PN News was one of the first wrestling personas to incorporate rapping. He briefly returned to the national scene in ECW in the late 90s before returning to local indies.

Below is the transcription of Bryan Danielson explaining how an encounter with PN News led him to start doing karaoke to improve his performance skills.

"Bryan Danielson: The reason I started doing karaoke was because I got some great advice from an older wrestler named PN News. Do you remember PN News?"

Tony Schiavone: "Oh, I sure do."

Bryan Danielson: "So, anybody who doesn't have any reference, he was, I think he was the first rapping wrestler. And he came out and he said, 'Yo baby, yo baby, yo.' And that was pretty much the extent of his rapping. But, by 2003, he had kind of been blackballed by the American wrestling scene, and, but by 2003, he was really good. And he saw me, and he was like, 'You know, you're really good, but if you want to get better as a professional wrestler, you should go out and do karaoke.'

And I was like, 'What are you talking about? What is the equivalent here?' He's like, 'It's getting up in front of a bunch of strangers and you have to put yourself out there.' Now, he had an easier task because he drank. I had to go up there stone-sober, not that I have anything against drinking, but I had to go up there stone-sober and just sing horribly."

The night prior to the panel, Danielson showed off his karaoke skills performing a duet with fellow star Will Ospreay, the Backstreet Boys hit "I Want It That Way." During the panel, Danielson revealed that Ospreay said the only way he would go up and do a song is if Danielson went up with him, so Danielson obliged.

This panel wasn't the last time fans saw Danielson during the AEW All In Texas 2025 weekend. In the main event this past Saturday, Danielson made a surprise cameo during the Texas Death Match. Dressed in a Blue Panther mask, he appeared to stop the Death Riders from interfering further against Hangman Page, allowing Page to win the title in a dramatic conclusion to the event.