Former SmackDown writer discloses why he wasn't happy with Daniel Bryan's return storyline in 2018 (Exclusive)

Daniel Bryan's return to the ring in 2018 and his first match back was a tag team bout alongside Shane McMahon against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn at WrestleMania 34. But a key backstage figure Brian James (fka Road Dogg) wasn't happy about the return story.

Road Dogg was a part of WWE SmackDown when Bryan made his in-ring return. It has been two years since Bryan stepped into the ring and spent most of that time as the General Manager of SmackDown, while Shane McMahon was the Commissioner of the show.

On the latest episode of The Wrestling Outlaws, Brian Road Dogg revealed to Vince Russo and Dr. Chris Featherstone that the tag team match at WrestleMania 34 wasn't his ideal story to bring Daniel Bryan back:

"It wasn't my ideal match or story to bring him back in but it involved Shane [McMahon] so I knew they were going to put time into it and it involved Kevin [Owens] and Sami [Zayn] and they're great, so what I thought was 'We need to get past this guy who is a great wrestler.'"(1:30-1:55)

You can watch the full video below:

Daniel Bryan was already among the best in the world upon his return

It didn't take long for Daniel Bryan to re-establish himself as one of the best in the world. He initially had a feud with the returning Big Cass, who was released soon after. He even began his dream feud against The Miz - one that was hardly delivered.

In November 2018 right before Survivor Series, Bryan shocked the world with his heel turn on SmackDown, ending AJ Styles' year-long run with the WWE Championship.

It kickstarted perhaps one of the best runs of his career - one that was cut short in 2019. However, by that point, he was fully acknowledged in the world of wrestling.

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