During Wednesday's Dynamite, when Bryan Danielson revealed he wouldn't be medically cleared to compete at Forbidden Door this Sunday, social media exploded with speculation as to who he might have found to replace him both for the pay-per-view and the following Wednesday at AEW Blood and Guts. Names like Cesaro, Johnny Gargano, Jonathan Gresham and others were the first names mentioned, but one star is running away with the odds.

During Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com said that there are clues as to who Danielson may have chosen. Meltzer reports, “I think the betting line guy is Claudio Castagnoli [Cesaro]. I don’t know that as a fact. I mean, the way Bryan Danielson talked sounded to me like the way he talks about Claudio." Meltzer added, "So, Claudio’s in AEW, I guess, if it is him."

While a two-match contract doesn't guarantee Cesaro (or whoever is revealed to be the mystery replacement) sticks around, there is also speculation that if it is Claudio (Cesaro), he will be inserted as a member of the Blackpool Combat Club. Meltzer added, "There’s possibilities it’s somebody else, but I can’t think of anyone else that would be in that spot that’s available right now where people wouldn’t crap on it, and you know Tony Khan doesn’t want people to crap on his mystery guys. It’s just one of those unfortunate things that, you know, he’s out.”

Related: Bryan Danielson Not Cleared To Compete At Forbidden Door Or Blood And Guts

Danielson Has A History With Claudio (Cesaro)

The way Danielson talked about the person he's chosen is the same way he's talked about Cesaro in the past. Stating Cesaro loves to "wrestle" and that he was one of the most active stars in WWE at the time, he said their relationship dated back 15 years. Specifically, when they worked together on SmackDown and Daniel Bryan was trying to get Cesaro over as a major player in WWE, he would use some of the same adjectives to describe his close friend.

(h/t to RingsideNews.com for the transcript)

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