Daniel Bryan has talked about coming back to the ring many times in the last year and a half since he retired in February 2016. We know the main reasons why he retired: concussions. Bryan accumulated a lot of concussions over his 17 years of wrestling and he was told by doctors to stop wrestling. However, Bryan is doing everything he can to deal with those issues; he’s seeing a lot of doctors and has no problem telling us about it. Bryan has also been very open and honest in telling us why WWE doesn’t want him to wrestle too.
This past weekend, Bryan appeared at WWE Night hosted by the New Jersey Devils NHL team, which also meant he did a lot of interviews with different outlets including the popular Busted Open Radio show.
During his discussion with Busted Open, Bryan offered up some percentages in terms of how likely it is that he will wrestle again and how likely WWE might be to clear him.
“I think there is an 85 percent chance that I will wrestle again, and a 20 percent chance that WWE will clear me to wrestle.”
It’s not that common for Bryan to throw out numbers like that, so I think it’s a case of him telling the fans that he really thinks he’s going to be allowed to wrestle again. If it’s not in WWE then it will probably be a company like Ring of Honor (where Bryan spent many years before WWE) or perhaps New Japan Pro Wrestling, which is gaining steam in the US and obviously has a big following in Japan.
Bryan also re-iterated that the tests with doctors have gone so well that “not only am I good, but better than your average person who’s never had any concussions.”
It was also mentioned during the discussion that Bryan wrestled 223 matches for WWE in 2013. If he did return, he would be on a reduced schedule. I assume if that happens then he wouldn’t work many live events at all just to be safe.
#SDLive GM @WWEDanielBryan says if a test told him he couldn't wrestle he wouldn't because his family is his top priority, but right now the tests are showing he's healthier than most. pic.twitter.com/1qSymkvKcG
— SiriusXM Busted Open (@BustedOpenRadio) November 13, 2017
In 2013, #SDLive GM @WWEDanielBryan wrestled 227 matches for the #WWE. He says if they were to clear him, they'd likely give him a lighter schedule, but is only 20% confident that he'll be cleared. pic.twitter.com/IiQoowWDjT
— SiriusXM Busted Open (@BustedOpenRadio) November 13, 2017