Wrestling legend Bryan Danielson (also known as Daniel Bryan during his time in the WWE) has claimed that rugby league is better than any American sport.

One of the legends of the wrestling business, Danielson, who is in Australia ahead of a pair of upcoming AEW shows, attended the Sydney Roosters' clash over the South Sydney Rabbitohs on Friday evening, before also heading to an AFL game on Saturday.

The wrestling star, who spent many years in the WWE before shifting to AEW, said rugby league was a far more entertaining sport than the Aussie Rules counterpart, and went as far as to claim it was better than anything American sports had to offer.

"Oh Rugby [league]," Danielson said on SEN Radio when asked by host Brian Fletcher what was more entertaining.

"100 per cent. I watched it, and I think this is a better spectator sport than anything we have in America.

"To me, for my tastes, it's better than the NFL, it's better than the NBA, it's definitely better than baseball.

"What it is, is that the game keeps moving, it's very physical. There is a lot of action going on and I was just blown away by the athletes in general.

"In the NFL, you hear sounds, they have all the pads and everything. In ice hockey, if you're close to the thing you can hear, but the thing with ice hockey, it's a very continual movement game but that puck is so small and it's very hard to follow.

"Anyways, I loved the rugby league game."

The wrestling legend was then asked for his thoughts on the AFL, and comically admitted that he couldn't get his head around the rules that were used.

"My thoughts on the [AFL] - it's like they had some rules, and then let a bunch of five-year-olds go in and change it up. It's like, that's good, but what if instead when the ball goes out of bounds, the referee turns his back and then throws it in, and 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 do this," he added when asked to compare the two sports he had viewed during his time down under.

The comments come as the NRL continues to try and gain a foothold in the American market, with the St George Illawarra Dragons, Canterbury Bulldogs, Newcastle Knights and North Queensland Cowboys set to travel to Las Vegas for the third edition of the overseas season-opening games in 2026.