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What's the story?
Despite claiming he would make a “career-altering announcement” on the July 16 episode of WWE SmackDown Live, Daniel Bryan walked to the backstage area after not saying a word during a two-minute 'promo' segment.
Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp has allayed fears about the former WWE champion’s status by confirming that he is not currently injured.
In case you didn't know…
Daniel Bryan & Rowan lost the SmackDown Tag Team titles to Big E & Xavier Woods in a Triple Threat match, also involving Heavy Machinery, at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view on July 14.
Following the event, Bryan mentioned in a WWE.com interview that he was unable to achieve his goal of headlining WrestleMania in a tag team match because SmackDown Live’s tag division is “mediocre” and “unelevatable”.
WWE then advertised after Monday’s episode of Raw that the one-time WrestleMania main-eventer would make a “career-altering announcement” on SmackDown Live.
However, after interrupting The New Day, Bryan teased his much-anticipated announcement multiple times before dropping the microphone and walking to the back, leading to the arrival of Samoa Joe on the stage area.
The heart of the matter
Given that Daniel Bryan has been forced to vacate two titles (World Heavyweight Championship and Intercontinental Championship) and announce his retirement in the past, this week’s storyline development has led many people to speculate whether “The Planet’s Champion” is suffering from an injury.
Speaking on Fightful Select, Sean Ross Sapp clarified the situation and confirmed that the segment on Tuesday’s SmackDown Live was simply part of the story.
“It’s not about an injury, we’re told. Bryan didn’t end up making an announcement, but we’re told that there’s not any worries on that front as of right now.”
What's next?
After this week’s promo-that-never-was, fans will have to check out SmackDown Live again in the coming weeks to find out whether Daniel Bryan will make his “career-altering announcement”.
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