Given Daniel Bryan‘s improbable return to WWE, you’d think Vince McMahon and Co. would ride that wave of goodwill into the Money in the Bank ladder match. However, Bryan won’t compete in the high octane event for humanitarian reasons.
According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio, WWE decided to keep Bryan away from the briefcase bonanza due to the high-risk nature of the match.
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“Joe won a three-way over Daniel Bryan and Big Cass (whose second knee injury was not legit, and was just playing off a storyline at the London tapings) to take the final spot. It’s just as well that Bryan isn’t in that match because ladder matches increase both the chances for neck injuries and for concussions,” he said.
While we all wish we could watch Bryan climb the ladder and enter the WWE Championship picture, it’s quite the selfish fantasy. Bryan was forced out of WWE for three years thanks to head and neck injuries and him being in stuck in a match featuring 12 ladders just doesn’t sound logical, or moral.
Instead, Bryan will likely step in the ring with Big Cass, his post-WrestleMania dancing partner. That match has yet to be booked, but consider it a lock for the Jun 17 show.
On Wednesday, a report surfaced asserting that WWE would limit Bryan’s opportunities until he signed a new contract. There’s no telling how much truth there is to the story, but we couldn’t blame WWE for slow playing a guy who has the ability to leave the company.
However, imaging Bryan jetting out of WWE, after all that’s happened, just seems silly. Bryan himself discussed his terminating contract during an interview with Al Arabiya.
“No, no. I had somebody say that to me on my Twitter. They said, does your contract expire on September 23rd? And I was like, how do people even know that. But no, my contract actually runs out September 1st, which is actually the day of the All In show, but it’s funny because that doesn’t compute. I was in the Bahrain Comic-Con the last two days, and we did Q&As, and at each one, somebody asked me about that. They said, ‘are you going to be at All In’? I’m not. I don’t know what to tell you. But yeah, my contract is up September 1st,” he said.
We’ll keep an eye on Bryan’s contract situation, but expect it to be resolved sooner than later. We have no idea if it’ impacting his status, but we’re confident The Beard will return to the WWE Championship picture before 2018 closes.
[H/T Ringside News]
