What’s the story?
On the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer has reported that Daniel Bryan could be seen wrestling again in either NJPW or CMLL after his WWE contract expires.
Bryan, who has 18 months left on his WWE contract, was ruled out of in-ring action by the promotion after he suffered a succession of concussions. Bryan was subsequently appointed as the on-screen SmackDown Live! general manager.
In this week’s post-SmackDown talk show, Talking Smack, Bryan made an interesting comment when The Miz taunted him saying, “You want to be a wrestler, but you can't because of your head. That's OK.”
To this, Bryan made a prompt reply saying, “I can't or they won't let me? We'll see in a year-and-a-half and see what happens."
In case you did not know
The 35-year-old former wrestler suffered concussions atop concussions and now has a lesion on his brain that induces seizures. Thus, Bryan can't risk another head injury especially now that he's a soon-to-be father.
Although Bryan was given the green light by multiple non-WWE doctors to wrestle again, WWE remained steadfast to keep Bryan on the sidelines, as a result of recent developments in their ongoing concussion-related lawsuits as well as the death of former WWE star Chris Benoit.
The heart of the matter
Throughout the interview on Talking Smack, Bryan made clear indications that even if he's not allowed to wrestle in WWE, he would continue his in-ring career elsewhere once his WWE days were over.
Also read: WWE Rumors: Daniel Bryan expected to leave the WWE to wrestle once contract expires
Also, during the animated discussion, Bryan said that The Miz wrestled like a coward. while the Intercontinental champion teased Bryan for not returning to action.
Here’s a video of Daniel Bryan showing Sami Zayn his new move-set that allows him to protect his head while wrestling:
What’s next?
Interestingly, there are many wrestling companies that would be looking for Daniel Bryan’s signature. As per Meltzer, Bryan has two companies on his radar, one is the New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) while the other is Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL).
Meltzer has also reported that Bryan has a bucket list of goals which include wrestling for CMLL in Mexico and doing a hair vs mask match on an anniversary show there.
Sportskeeda’s take
While it was speculated that Bryan might appear at WrestleMania 33 against The Miz, it won’t be happening as The Miz has now been booked against John Cena in a mixed Tag Team storyline.
Thus, it does not look likely that Bryan would wrestle for WWE in the near future as the promotion now follows stringent policies related to serious head injuries and concussions.
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