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What's the story?
WWE has recently announced on their official website that current Smackdown Live General Manager Daniel Bryan will get the chance to officiate a title match on the December 26, 2017, episode of Smackdown Live when the blue brand lands in Chicago, Illinois.
In case you didn't know...
There has been a lot of rumours that have gone viral lately, which suggest that former WWE World Champion Daniel Bryan might finally come out of retirement and make his return to the squared circle in 2018.
It has been reported by many notable sources that Bryan might be cleared by the WWE medical team and could be on his way back into the wrestling world in a big way.
The heart of the matter
WWE is looking to end the year 2017 in a big way as they're all set to host two big shows for both their brands of Monday Night Raw and Smackdown Live in Chicago, Illinois.
On this year's Christmas, Monday Night Raw will host the first of the two big shows of the week and the red brand will be followed up by the blue brand of Smackdown Live, who will host a show in the same city on 26th December.
WWE is currently advertising a WWE Title match between AJ Styles and Jinder Mahal, with Daniel Bryan set to be the special guest referee for the match, on 26th of December. The match between Styles and Mahal is apparently being advertised as the dark match of the show come December 26.
However, respected Pro Wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer has reported that Bryan officiating a WWE Title match at the end of the year has nothing to do with an in-ring return in 2018 and according to him it may be a while before we see the 36-year-old make his official in-ring return.
What's next?
As of right now, Daniel Bryan continues to do his job as the General Manager of Smackdown Live, however, with Bryan set to officiate a title match there might very well be a slight chance that WWE officials might clear him for an in-ring return.
WWE has also been teasing a sort of rivalry between both Bryan and Smackdown Live commissioner Shane McMahon.
Author's Take
I think despite all the reports, there is definitely a good chance that we might finally get to see Daniel Bryan make his wrestling return and he could do it in a big way by entering the Royal Rumble 2018 as a surprise entrant, that being said if he is cleared to wrestle by that point of time.
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