Daniel Bryan is by far one of the most successful and popular superstars to ever step into a WWE ring or any wrestling ring for that matter. Unfortunately, he’s dealt with a number of injuries that have limited his in-ring time over the course of the last two years. Now, doctors still aren’t clearing him to return to action, and with his health in question, it may not be too far-fetched for him to retire from wrestling entirely.
Back in July, Bryan was cleared by a doctor out in Arizona, but couldn’t get cleared by WWE doctors to return to the ring. Since then, a second doctor wouldn’t clear him to return to the ring either, and it became a bit more frustrating for the former world champion.
Bryan spoke with Pro-Wrestling and talked on a number of topics, but mostly his injury. He did confirm that it has nothing to do with his neck. He went on to say that “my neck is completely fine. It’s more of a concussion issue.” With that being said, he was asked if there was a chance he wouldn’t ever be cleared to wrestle in WWE again.
“Yes, there is that chance. 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 also 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 of 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?”
This is the same thing that Daniel Bryan talked about in the middle of the summer when rumors of his retirement came up. He said that he knows there is a risk he won’t be cleared to wrestle in WWE again, but he knows for a fact that he’s going to wrestle again in life.
IGN reported that Bryan would be open to wrestling in the Indies again and he wouldn’t even mind wrestling in Mexico again. He is a huge fan of Lucha Libre and thinks there would be a lot of fun with “Hair vs. Mask” matches and more.
The situation here is that he has been cleared by one concussion doctor. With WWE’s doctors not clearing him, his concussion history could keep him out of the ring. WWE has a very strict concussion policy and if there is any possibility of Bryan getting injured again, they won’t let him wrestle again.
With that being said, Daniel Bryan said that he’s not going to put his well-being or life at risk.
“If they send me to a third neurologist who’s also highly respected in the concussion field and they say literally no, then is it really smart to go against two doctors?”
If it actually gets to the extreme point of Bryan not being able to wrestle again, he is open to working as a commentator or even an on-air manager. Daniel Bryan is one of those stars that was seen as the future of WWE and if he is forced to retire due to injury, WWE needs to figure out a way to keep him around because losing him would be huge.
[Images via WWE]