It's Looking Pretty Likely That Daniel Bryan Will Wrestle Again...Just Not For WWE

I absolutely hate that this is even a topic of discussion, much less something I fully believe will happen, but here we are. Daniel Bryan, my absolute favorite wrestler of all time, is very adamant that when his contract expires in 18 months, he will turn down WWE’s (probably) massive offer to keep him around in a non-wrestling role, and go to Japan or Mexico to lace up the boots once again.

Last year, when the WWE wasn’t clearing him to return to the ring, he discussed wanting to go to Mexico and wrestle in a high profile hair vs mask match for a company called CMLL. Then, he got another brain scan done, and the results were NOT good, forcing him to retire. Bryan’s actual retirement speech was probably the most real, emotional moment in the history of professional wrestling, and I haven’t even brought myself to watch it back.

The story gained massive mainstream publicity when he went on SportsCenter to talk about his CTE-related seizures he hid from the company for years, and the effect it’s had on his life. His WWE contract then froze, and he’d still be making his 2015 salary for the remainder of his life if he were to never return to TV.

He did return to TV in July, as the General Manager of SmackDown, and I immediately grew suspicious. I have mutual friends with Bryan who informed me he hated being so close to wrestling and not being able to do it, and was constantly frustrated with his job as the on-screen GM. So why was he doing this? Why put yourself through the depression?

So his contract would un-freeze. That’s why.

On Talking Smack, SmackDown’s post show, he’s had an ongoing feud with The Miz who makes fun of him for wrestling a dangerous style that forced him to retire. The segments with the two get very tense and definitely blured the line between work and shoot.

This Tuesday, they had this exchange…

Miz: You want to be a wrestler but you can’t because of your head.

Bryan: Because I can’t, or because they won’t let me? We will see in a year and a half and see what happens.

After that, Dave Meltzer came out and said he fully expects Daniel to walk away from the company in 18 months to wrestle for NJPW (Japan; known for their hard-hitting, stiff style) or CMLL (Mexico; where the rings are practically boxing rings with no support for the workers).

I may legitimately be the biggest fan of Daniel Bryan there is. He introduced me to independent wrestling in 2009, and I’ve religiously followed his career since. I’ve seen hundreds and hundreds of his matches, and cried (man card) when he won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XXX. That being said, I never want to see him wrestle again. With 18-20 past concussions and multiple doctors from the NFL and beyond saying it’d be extremely risky to his long term health, I don’t even think I would be able to enjoy his matches, no matter how good they were. I’d just sit there knowing my favorite wrestler of all time is turning his brain into pudding while his wife and baby (due very soon, congrats on the sex D-Bry) are at home.

A lot can change in 18 months, especially when the baby is born, but as of right now I think he’s planning on going out like Randy “The Ram” Robinson.