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I want Daniel Bryan to return to the ring. You want Daniel Bryan to return to the ring. Everybody wants it. Bryan himself wants it more than anyone, but no matter how much he trains or how many doctors clear him, WWE doesn’t seem interested in making it happen. Maybe they’re worried about bringing him back just to lose him again. Maybe they’re cutting their losses and moving on.
(Maybe it’s a swerve to convince us he’s never coming back, so we’ll be surprised when he does?) (Trying to be optimistic here.)
You keep expecting the news to get better, but it doesn’t. According to the latest report from Ye Olde Observer, the story now is that WWE is straight-up telling Daniel Bryan he’ll never wrestle again, and that they aren’t clearing him. Ever. Even if Shinsuke Nakamura is there. Bryan reportedly went to the top and talked to Vince McMahon about the situation, and while Vince was supposedly “hopeful” about finding a solution, all roads lead to non-wrestling roles in the company.
As we know from the past two years of wishing this was all a dream, Daniel Bryan rumors are cyclical. We hear about him wanting to come back and training lucha libre or MMA in the interim to keep sharp, and then we’re brought down by “sorry, not happening” followups. All we have to keep us hopeful are our conspiracy theories, and the knowledge that even 50% strength Daniel Bryan is one of the best wrestlers in the world.
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Well, that’s utterly depressing. I would guess it has to do with their lack of faith in Bryan being able to remain uninjured, but I can’t help but speculate if they’re also concerned of Bryan throwing a wrench in their current plans. Total conspiracy theory, yes, and baseless at that, but it still resonates to a large degree.
This whole situation definitely has my spider-sense tingling. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if that’s entirely the case.
Not a huge deal. I mean, Hideo Itami, Shinsuke, and Bryan are all pretty much the same wrestler. It’s like having three three point specialists on your basketball team. It’s all about depth!
I’d rather have 5 guys draining threes than 5 Shaqs dunking and getting gassed by halftime.
I would think that until everyone got injured
That’s fine, they can Bryan off the show and I can continue to keep my eyes off their mediocre program. Lucha Underground’s back anyway. (Bryan vs Fenix, please (I’d go Pentagon, but I don’t need Bryan gone again))
Is there any word on how much is left on his contract? Wherever he goes, I’ll follow. It’s a shame really. I understand he’s had a lot of concussions, but I also understand Tommy Dreamer and The Dudley’s are still wrestling. Something just doesn’t add up.
Unless WWE pulls on Bryan what they tried with Mysterio, and keep him locked up due to his injury time.
If they won’t clear him to wrestle and he has no interest in a non-wrestling role, then they’d be adding missed time onto the back end of his contract that he can literally never work off. To pull a Mysterio on him is to agree to pay him to do nothing for the rest of his life. That’s not happening.
Tommy Dreamer and the Dudley Boys aren’t doing flying headbutts, getting into headbutt wars on ladders or asking Luke Harper to drop them on their heads with suplexes to test out their necks.
Devon Dudley is literally doing a flying headbutt every night. WSUUUUUUP with that bad reference?
I stand corrected on D-Von, though D-Von obviously is not actually smacking his head I
Into anyone’s balls and instead takes the majority of the bump on his arms and body. Bryan took the majority of the bump on his head to make it look good.
@NOT AN FBI AGENT My point about Dreamer and the Dudley’s wasn’t about what they do now. It’s about how with their time in ECW and Attitude Era, they’ve probably had more concussions than Bryan over the course of their career. Not to mention they’re much older.
Bryan and Nakamura are going to wrestle like Rocky/Apollo 3. No one in arena, Bryan “rings the bell”, they lock up and it fades into Eye of the Tiger.
Surely they’d lock up and it would fade to The Final Countdown?
:(
My exact reaction to this news
Hey Bryan, there is this awesome show coming out of Boyle Heights. Ditch the E and come to the Temple.
It turns out Brian Danielson and Son of Havoc are long lost brothers!
Please just release the guy from his contract so he can wrestle somewhere else. That’s the only way we’re ever going to see him wrestle again, I’m afraid.
“Will he/won’t he return to WWE” is clickbait territory at this point, and I’m officially tapped out here.
Not surprised by this given what we have heard the past few years….I rather see Bryan go on to lead as much as healthy life than risk serious and permanent injury (which seems to be what the WWE wants as well). But, if he feels like his career is not at the end of road, the more power to him to pursue his interest (curious if he would look for a buyout of contract of some sorts to go wrestle in other promotions)…
The mania match vs triple h and then the main event made me a believer. Why wouldn’t they want him back? I get his injured but if he wants to risk it let him. Or release him…
Because he’s the guy that the Authority legitimately want to keep away from the title, as opposed to all the guys they’re trying to convince us are underdogs. His reality doesn’t fit into their “Reality Era.”
A angle where they try to keep him out would be good. Authority telling him to stay the hell away but he just wont quit. That would be excellent.
OK, seriously you have to realize that “The Authority” is not an evil-doer out to get the guy you really like. Separate the character from the people. If you’ve ever watched any behind-the-scenes WWE special in the past two years (the ESPN is a good example) you will know that WWE has been seriously concerned about head injuries. When you get a concussion, you are far more susceptible to getting another if you keep going at a breakneck speed. Or at a normal speed. Or at a slow speed. Remember when Daniel Bryan started head butting Dolph Ziggler over and over again? Yeah, that was really really stupid. When you hit certain points with concussions you either stop doing what you’re doing or you risk permanent damage. WWE will not allow its Superstars to risk that permanent damage. It’s what put Corey Graves permanently out of action. If they let Daniel Bryan come back and something horrible happens, then they are liable for that. It doesn’t matter if he really wants to or the fans really want him to, if he goes and gets hurt, WWE has to foot the bill for him needing therapy and medical care for the rest of his life.
Head trauma is a REAL PROBLEM. I know Daniel Bryan is fun to watch. Chris Benoit was fun to watch too.
Better that Bryan never return to a WWE ring than clear him, let him wrestle risky matches for the IC or US titles, then have us wake up on a random 2018 morning to the news that he killed Brie Bella and himself the night before.
From WWE’s perspective, an overabundance of caution here beats the hell out of the alternative.
THANK YOU
I hate having to hang my hopes on conspiracy theories but so much of this doesn’t make any sense. The more other doctors clear him, the more it makes it look like WWE is running their own agenda. Which…fine, but why be so mysterious about it? If you don’t want to take a chance on him then say that and let him go! No one is winning with this interminable wait and veil of secrecy.
FWIW, I just bought a YES Movement shirt off the clearance rack at Hot Topic yesterday. Only WWE shirt being discounted.
Want a conspiracy theory back? WWE’s recent quarterly profits have largely been boosted by licencing income from networks for programming they have a talent and production hand in. Daniel Bryan is being kept on WWE contract for his importance to Total Divas.
I bought 2 different kids DB shirts at KMart for the RR last weekend for $5 each. They….uh didn’t work.
@signor I would, and this is not exaggeration, put up one of my nuts on a bet that you are correct.
I know he’s been cleared by a handful of doctors, and it’s a morbid comparison to make, but stories like this make me very okay with WWE saying no, given Bryan’s history with concussions. [www.nytimes.com]
Maybe they’re being hypocritical in some respects, but if it keeps Bryan from risking himself further, I’m honestly not complaining.
Yeah, yeah… here is the thing though. The doctor for WWE, Joseph Maroon, is a quack. Total corporate shill guy for the NFL and WWE.
[www.cagesideseats.com]
For an example. But also just go to Frontline and listen to his interview on League of Denial. Dude is not trustworthy as a doctor. At this point, I think Bryan’s lack of clearance is entirely a result of factors not related to his health.
If they keep tacking onto his contract just to keep him out of the other promotions, I think he would have a legal fight he could win. Look what Punk did. Bryan is probably just hanging around for Brie at this point because he knows she isn’t going anywhere else, and saw how the Fed treated AJ.
Even if he left, Brie will be fine. Brie’s brother-in-common-law is kind of a huge deal in the WWE.
Pardon my ignorance, but why doesn’t he just go wrestle somewhere else?
Contract.
I am not buying it, He would ask for his release if they have told him it is not ever going to happen
What’s Bryan Danielson doing here in the Temple? He’s challenging Mil Muertes!
Nah he needs to be Son of Havoc’s brother, He’s got the swell beard already
I just don’t f***ing get it. What does WWE gain from not letting him wrestle? Don’t tell me they’re more concerned about his health than independent doctors.
I was strongly in the “this is a work” camp from day 1, but now I’m beginning to have doubts. Only thing that keeps me thinking that is that something doesn’t add up
I’ve wondered if the lawsuit from Aman against CM Punk has something to do with it.
More likely the lawsuits by Billy Jack Haynes, Big Vito and Adam Mercer over neurological damage.
My crackpot theory is it’s because of both of these lawsuits. They will probably not take ANY chances with brain injuries or the medical staff until both those are resolved.
If he’s not back by the Raw after Mania, then I no longer think it’s a work and the WWE is legit afraid of another Benoit incident, or having a suicide incident like that Giants player
@Z-Pak Chopra I’d believe that too, except for the fact that Paige just suffered a concussion and returned to TV in the last couple weeks. If it was the concussion lawsuits keeping Bryan grounded, she likely would have been grounded for the duration of the lawsuits as well.
Combine it with “Joseph Maroon, the WWE doctor, is notorious for not believing in CTE’s existence”…and suddenly, it actually seems like the most realistic answer possible that “Oh shit, WWE is openly holding Daniel Bryan’s career hostage and internally made it clear that they won’t clear Bryan to return until the fans accept Roman Reigns as THE star”.
And yet they keep sending Wade Barrett to ringside.
Barrett doesn’t have a long history of concussions, unless doctors are worried about the long-term mental effects of arm injuries.
Right over your head.
Neck injuries aren’t anything to play with and he’s punched that card twice. Fans just need to accept that a return is not happening. Do you really want to see him cripple himself or die in the ring? I guarantee WWE doesn’t and, just my guess, either would TNA or Lucha. Okay, maybe TNA.
If he was released from WWE’s contract, every wrestling company in the world, possibly universe, would be offering the highest possible amount of money they could to him. Outside of WWE, he could literally do whatever he wanted in wrestling.
You would think that Daniel Bryan wrestling part-time would be the ideal situation for both parties. Have his schedule limited to keep him healthy and from risking concussions.
If I were to take a guess, I’d think the WWE may be holding him out until after Mania, when the WWE reboots their storylines and he doesn’t take away from the match everyone is dying to see between Triple H and Roman Reigns. . . .*fart*
Hell, they could even make this a storyline where the Authority is purposely holding Daniel Bryan back from joining the roster.
TL/DR: This is Benoit’s fault
Wrestling part time doesn’t mean the bumps damage you half as badly. The risk is still there.
No, I don’t want to see him back and I question the character of anybody who does want to see him back.
Do wrestlers literally have to wrestle themselves into a wheelchair before we’re like “okay, maybe they can stop” what’s wrong with you people?
Have you seen his RoH stuff? Did you see him go all out 300 days a year for WWE?
Remember when he won Observer Match of the Year basically for finishing a (really great, though not MOTY) main event with a guy who weighed 100 pounds more than him when he had suffered a detached retina in the match? It wasn’t part of the story. He just played through the pain because of his respect for the business.
I love DBD. But he’s been a pro wrestler for almost 17 years. He was 18 years old when he went on his first tour of Japan, and the same age when he first wrestled in front of a WWF audience. He’s been a star of exponential degrees since he was 20. He HAS lived the dream. It truly was only downhill from WM XXX.
He’s a magnificent talent. But he’s also insane. He is, by far, absolutely the last person whose opinion I want to hear regarding his future in wrestling.
What’s truly sad is that I would want him to wrestle again, except that I don’t trust him enough to work a safer style. He can talk about wanting to go to Mexico to have maestros mat classics with Atlantis and Black Terry and Blue Panther and Virus, but I know that he’ll go headfirst into a Corona fence on a tope with the first chance that he gets. It’s who he is. He can go to EVOLVE and wrestle Gulak and Riddle and Thatcher and he’ll STILL find a way to get dropped on his head to impress Gabe Sapolsky. It’s just who he is, ultimately.
Maybe I could not give a shit and let things play how they will if I have some faith that things will all work out. But I simply do not have that faith in Bryan.
Daniel Bryan…in his prime was probably the best wrestler in the world. From pure technical ability to charisma to character work to intensity, the guy just was spectacular at every part of wrestling.
But…Mick Foley was 35 in 2000…his brain might have already been scrambled by then, but did we really need to see him wrestle up until 2011? Foley himself asks whether all the shit he did was worth it.
If Benoit had retired at 35, it would’ve been 2002, his neck was yet to be broken and he might still be alive, along with Nancy and Daniel.
I’m not saying that Daniel Bryan will kill Brie, I’m saying that when people deprive us of our favorite talents we pout in the same breath we condemn WWE for Owen Hart and Droz.
We still hate CM Punk for having the balls to say “I’m fucking hurt and I don’t want to do this anymore” we’re still calling Sin Cara a pussy for breaking his finger and no longer wrestling. We cheered Sting for finishing a match that could’ve paralyzed him. Fucking Misawa, who in my opinion was the greatest ring worker ever, died because we just can’t tell these guys to…stop.
I know that wrestling is a descendant of gladiatorial combat, but do we really need to see more of these guys cripple themselves? Bret Hart can’t get into planes. Edge is lucky he can walk. Harley Race can’t.
There’s more guys out there, Daniel Bryan has nothing to be ashamed of, and if he really loves wrestling, he’d do far more good to it by stopping now than dying in some Pennsylvania gym.
It is not WWE, nor our responsibility to ensure the health and safety of Daniel Bryan. It is solely the purview of Bryan Danielson. A man I respect as hard working, skilled, and intelligent enough to determine his own fate and future. Neither we the fans nor the company he works for have any business trying to adjudicate his fate. He knows his body and has talked to doctors about his physical condition, and I think he’s more than capable of making this decision, and the best one for him and his family. And he has far more information to make that decision than Foley or Benoit ever did.
Bret Hart isn’t just done because of Goldberg’s kick, he also had a motorcycle accident and stroke.
One doesn’t have to be old or have a history of injuries to get badly injured or die in this. That was proven last year. If the risk of permanent egregious injury is that serious a concern, then the whole business may have to be shut down. Especially when you consider the list of injuries put up in 2015. If it isn’t safe enough for Bryan, it may be at a point that it needs to be dialed back for everyone.
“It is solely the purview of Bryan Danielson.”
Fuck that.
It is the responsibility of every single person that has power in a given situation to make sure that situation doesn’t go through.
By your logic, because Misawa was of “sound mind” nobody should’ve stopped him from wrestling? I really don’t know if his neck was any more jacked up than Bryan’s, do you want to see DB asphyxiate to death in the middle of the ring off of a belly-to-back suplex bump?
He’s had a great career, and it’s time for it to be over.
If he is cleared by a doctor physically and not impaired psychologically, it IS HIS CHOICE. @Phrederic I like your comments and think they are thoughtful and intelligent, but I just don’t agree with you here. I appreciate where you are coming from, I do. I care about the man’s life, but I just care about his freedom of choice as a sane adult. If he wants to Randy The Ram his life away I don’t want to see it, and I hope he does not, but it is ultimately up to him. And as I said elsewhere WWE can’t hold him forever, and the second he’s out of contract every other wrestling promotion on the planet will be throwing Scrooge McDuck money at him to come wrestle at their shows. If he wants to wrestle he will.
Nobody’s life is their own, he’s married, he’s trying to have kids, he’s a voice and an icon in wrestling and a role model to a shit-ton of wrestlers. He’s got another person in the ring with him, their life is in his hands too.
Plus, he’s wrestling in Vince’s ring, being shot by Vince’s cameras, being directed by Vince’s refs, and being showcased on Vince’s show. Vince has power and responsibility here.
So…yes, it is trivially true that Bryan can go out there and wrestle if he wants to. He has the ‘freedom’ to die in the ring. I’m sure some skeezy promoter will give him that chance.
But it would be unethical of Daniel Bryan to do so. And it would be unethical of everybody involved that could stop him to not do so.
Here is what Daniel Bryan should do…
Quit WWE go to Lucha Underground, Get an underwear mask and wrestle as Son of Havoc’s Brother. He already has the wicked awesome beard. Just saying…
This information would be a lot more palatable if WWE’s refusal wasn’t coming from Dr. Maroon. That galls me every time, that it is that guy who is making these decisions.
Daniel Bryan on Lucha Underground as Havoc Jr.’s brother… El Drago Americano