The wrestling world is still recovering from Daniel Bryan’s retirement. The wear and tear of wrestling an intensely physical style for years culminated in neck injuries and concussions, forcing him to stop doing what he loved most.
In a recent interview with former WWE announcer Jonathan Coachman for ESPN SportCenter’s ‘Off The Top Rope’, Bryan admitted to having suffered multiple concussions over his 16-year career, at least 10 of which were documented.
He went on to confess that he was afflicted with post-concussion seizures that he hid. “I have had post-concussion seizures that I have hid, for a long time. There was never any evidence to see why I would have these seizures, but then finally we found some.”
That reason, according to WrestleZone, was revealed when Bryan underwent an EEG in New York recently. The test showed “a small, subacute lesion” and slowing of brain activity in the portion of the brain that is known to trigger seizures.
Word spread like wildfire and the Universe is rife with speculation about Bryan suffering a seizure towards the end of the match that would be his last in the WWE. Bryan faced Sheamus on the April 21st , 2015 episode of SmackDown and took a Bullhammer from Wade Barrett who was ringside. A prone and bleeding Bryan is seen apparently convulsing following the shot, at around the 2:20 mark of the below video:
Wrestling pundit Dave Meltzer contradicted these claims, saying that Bryan’s chronic issues with seizures notwithstanding, he hasn't suffered one in four years. According to WrestleZone, Meltzer said, “The last time he [Bryan] had a seizure was four years ago. Obviously I don’t know who he hid it from and who he didn’t hide it from, but what I can tell you factually is that every single doctor that he talked with knew about it. He didn’t hide that from any doctors.”
