That sound you hear is the Internet’s heart soaring.
According to multiple reports, Daniel Bryan is set to appear on the February 8 edition of WWE Raw, live from Seattle in Bryan’s home state of Washington. Not counting Total Divas, this would be Bryan’s first appearance on WWE TV since the end of Tough Enough.
No word on what he’ll be doing, as the saga of Bryan being cleared by specialists, but not cleared for in-ring competition by WWE has been going on for nearly a year. Nearly two, if you count everything from 2014. To make things even more interesting, Bryan recently popped up on Instagram with a haircut and a trimmed beard, which could suggest a “letting go” of his WWE image or a return to American Dragon greatness depending on your level of optimism.
Maybe WWE will turn Bryan’s story into on-screen drama and say WWE would only clear him if he got rid of the goat face and agreed to play ball with Triple H and The Authority? Scott Hall had a great idea for WrestleMania involving Bryan in a non-wrestling role as a special guest referee, and that’d be a fun way to start it. Or who knows, maybe he’s just there to shill Tide. No matter what, it’ll be nice to have him back. Let’s hope this is a formal return to television, for better or worse, and not just Bryan leaning in to give us bad news.
UPDATE: The sound you hear is the Internet’s heart falling out of the sky and hitting the ground. It looks like Bryan’s retiring, and using Raw to explain why. Here’s what we know.
