Daniel Bryan is doing a very good job as the WWE Smackdown General Manager, but he wants to wrestle. You know that and I do too. Unfortunately, Bryan had to retire from in-ring competition in February 2016 (I’m still crying about it) due to concussion issues. Since then, Bryan has talked openly about wanting to wrestle again.
Back in June, Bryan teased a future match with Cody Rhodes after Cody became Ring of Honor Champion. In September, Bryan mentioned wanting to wrestle Shinsuke Nakamura leading to Nakamura responding “somehow someday.” Both matches sound great, but they may not happen because of the concussions.
Bryan appeared at “WWE Night” for the NHL’s New Jersey Devils the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on Thursday night as the Devils hosted the Edmonton Oilers. While he was at the game, Bryan talked to The Trentonian about how he is trying to get cleared to return to the ring.
“I’m trying to get cleared as we speak. All my tests have come back fantastic, better than people who have never had any concussion-type stuff. But it’s a weird thing. We’re in a weird situation politically with the climate around concussions; right now, it’s very difficult. WWE would love to have me back, but is that the smart thing for me as a business to bring me back? If I was to come back, and they let me back, would they get a lot of flak for it? They have a ton of stockholders that they’re responsible for. It’s more than just, ‘Is he healthy to do it?’”
Bryan also did a good job of pointing out why WWE would be hesitant to ever clear him to return to in-ring action even if some doctors believe he can do it.
“There’s more than that to the whole situation. All the concussion doctors think that I’m healthy enough to do it, and that I should be able to do it — well, I don’t want to say all of them, I’m sure there’s somebody out there who doesn’t think that — but there’s a lot more than goes into it than just that. That’s the unfortunate situation with giant corporations and big business in the United States.”
As Bryan previously noted on Twitter, his WWE contract expired on September 28, 2018, leaving the 36-year-old free to wrestle elsewhere should WWE continue to keep him out of the ring.
