We’ve seen far too little of Daniel Bryan on WWE television over the last two years. Since his big WrestleMania moment back at WrestleMania 30 , Bryan has been absent for more months than he has been present, which is a real shame, because WWE is really lacking star power at the moment, and they could use someone like Bryan on their weekly television shows.
Bryan was injured almost immediately after he won the Intercontinental Championship at this past year’s WrestleMania , but no one really knew what the injury was, and most people just assumed he was having recurring neck issues. But we later found out that his neck wasn’t the problem, and that it was more of a concussion issue.
Back in June, WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart did an interview with Sports Illustrated , and said that Daniel Bryan is going through the same thing he went through back in 2000 with his concussion issues, and that Bryan would never wrestle again. But, Daniel Bryan says that Hart’s comments hurt his feelings, and that “The Hitman” doesn’t know his situation.
“His circumstances were different from my circumstances. It’s just one of those things where people only know their own reality. That goes for me, it goes for you, it goes for anybody. If you think you know what somebody else is going though, odds are you probably don’t. So it doesn’t hurt my feelings he said that. I just think he doesn’t know the situation.”
Bret Hart isn’t the only one who believes that Daniel Bryan will never wrestle again, as there are plenty of other people who believe that Bryan’s in-ring career is over. However, Bryan is promising that he will wrestle again, and if WWE never clears him for in-ring competition, he’ll go wrestle for someone else.
“Yes, there is that chance [WWE may never clear me to wrestle]. But I told them, regardless of them, if they won’t clear me, we’re independent contractors, in theory, and I will wrestle again. I am cleared by the neurologist in Phoenix that I’ve been going to see. It’s not like he’s a quack doctor. He was the neurologist for the Super Bowl, who has no problems in clearing me with no limitations. But you have to understand that WWE is not only looking out for my best interest, but they have to look out for their company as well, and I understand all that, too.”
“There is nothing vindictive or anything. There’s just a lot of hurdles to go through at this point with getting cleared by WWE. I had a sit-down with Vince and Hunter about this and said, `Hey, this is my passion. I understand why you guys wouldn’t clear me, but we only get, as far as we know, one life. And you’re not going to let me do my passion.’”
Bryan originally wanted to return at this month’s SummerSlam show, but it’s clear that he won’t be wrestling on the show. Now, most are predicting that he’ll return to the ring by the end of this year. But, like Bryan said, there is a chance that WWE will never allow him to wrestle again due to the amount of concussions that he has suffered during his near two-decade long wrestling career.
[Image via WWE ]