WWE News: Daniel Bryan Announces His Retirement — Is This Real Life? [Breaking]
Everyone has been waiting for WWE superstar Daniel Bryan to be cleared by doctors and return to the ring, but some have been wondering if it would ever happen. Well, they may have to wonder no more, as it’s been revealed that Bryan will be announcing his retirement on Monday Night Raw this evening, and WWE has confirmed it.
Due to medical reasons, effective immediately, I am announcing my retirement. Tonight on Raw, I’ll have a chance to elaborate. #gratitude
— Daniel Bryan (@WWEDanielBryan) February 8, 2016
About half an hour after Daniel Bryan put that announcement up on Twitter, WWE followed suit with their own announcement on Twitter.
BREAKING: @WWEDanielBryan retires from in-ring competition. https://t.co/IPltGIywD1 #ThankYouDanielBryan pic.twitter.com/ppkZ407VX6
— WWE (@WWE) February 8, 2016
Tonight’s episode of Monday Night Raw is looking like it is going to be a big one. It was going to be already, but now even more so. Daniel Bryan’s retirement from in-ring action is something that no one really wanted to see coming but thought it was on the way soon.
WWE.com quickly put it up on the main website as well, but there is a lot of talk going around. Is this real or a swerve?
This announcement doesn’t necessarily come out of nowhere, as Bryan has been out of in-ring action since May of 2015. His neck injuries, shoulder injuries, and concussion issues have put a lot of doubt on whether or not he’d ever wrestle again.
Multiple doctors have cleared him outside of WWE, and one was even a former specialist with the NFL. Those doctors believed he was in a place where he could wrestle safely again in the ring and continue his career. Unfortunately for him and the fans, WWE thought differently.
Ever since Bryan got injured, his contract has been frozen. A clause that is typically in WWE contracts is for time to stop on their deal if they miss significant time in the ring due to injuries. That is why it’s being reported that he tried to give his notice to WWE, but they rejected it, according to WrestleZone.
It’s very much like the situation that Rey Mysterio was in. Eventually, he got his release, but it took a long time. Bryan could try to get out, but it would likely entail him taking them to court, which could be a lengthy and expensive process.
If Bryan was released, he would easily find work with TNA, GFW, ROH, or NJPW.
Numerous outlets have picked up on Daniel Bryan’s tweeted retirement, including Fox Sports, which sincerely hopes it isn’t true. Even TV Line is reporting Daniel Bryan’s retirement “due to medical reasons.” In addition to talking about how shocking it is, the site mentioned when to tune into Raw tonight to watch it happen.
WWE is getting a gigantic amount of press in a short amount of time since Bryan tweeted out that he would be retiring from the ring. Now, the thing is that his tweet said he would simply be “announcing my retirement” and it would be “tonight on Raw.”
He also states that he will “elaborate” at that time. It makes fans wonder exactly what else he is going to say. With all of the press that his tweet is getting, WWE is going to likely have a huge audience for tonight’s episode of Monday Night Raw.
Maybe he’s going to retire. Maybe he’s going to announce he’s retiring from sitting on the sideline and has now been cleared to return to the ring and he’s coming back. Anything is possible, and it’s hard to know what WWE may have planned even when they spell their plans out.
It’s just kind of hard to imagine that Daniel Bryan would announce his retirement from WWE about six hours prior to announcing it live on Monday Night Raw. Maybe it’s to drum up a bigger audience or maybe it’s really happening. The only thing that anyone can do now is to tune in and see what the superstar does.
[Image via WWE]
