Given his status as a future WWE Hall of Famer, you’d think Daniel Bryan would have some pull backstage. And while he still might, Bryan says most of his creative pitches are denied.
During an appearance on the Gorilla Position podcast the 4-time World Champion explained that even though he speaks up when he disagrees, WWE typically operates as if he never objected.
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“If I see stuff on the show that I don’t like, right, I’ll be like, ‘okay,’ for me, for my stuff, I’ll go in and I’ll say, like, ‘hey, I don’t like this because of this, this, and this. Here’s my idea of how to fix it, how I think it’s better,’” Bryan said.
“And 95% of the time, nothing changes, but I’m not like, ‘you need to do this’ or ‘you need to do that’ or whatever it is. It’s like, ‘hey, this is my opinion from my experience within this business and this is how I think it would work better both for me and who I’m working with.’ But I don’t fight for it because I’m happy to be back,” said Bryan.
Not long ago, it unlikely, if not impossible for Bryan to ever enter a WWE ring again. A litany of concussion-related injuries seemed to disqualify his future in Vince McMahon’s company, but a few weeks ahead WrestleMania, news of Bryan’s medical clearance swept the wrestling world. Given the miraculous turn of event, Bryan is just thankful to be an active WWE superstar again.
However, Bryan cited advice he once received from Shawn Michaels about fighting for the opportunities he wants.
“So Shawn Michaels once showed me.” Bryan recalled, “he told me, but he showed me. He said, ‘look at John over there.’ He’s talking about John Cena. ‘He is constantly fighting every week to make sure that his segments are the best possible segments that they can be.’ Right? And so, like, that’s a gift that you have to fight every week. And I have to re-get, get back into that mindset of fighting for that and I don’t know that I’m mentally at that place yet. Now I’m just mentally grateful for being back,” he said.
There have been rumors about WWE holding off on extending juicy opportunities to Bryan. Becuase his contract expires in September, WWE may not feel comfortable putting him on a big stage with the threat of him leaving the company being real. However, all indications point o Bryan signing an extension but is said to be negotiating a less demanding schedule.
So it appears like Bryan and WWE may be in a holding pattern until a new deal is inked. But once that happens hopefully we can see Bryan start to chase WWE gold.
[H/T Wrestling Inc.
