The latest hint of a Daniel Bryan comeback in WWE has hit the web.
According to Ringside News, WWE has pulled Bryan from the WrestleMania AXXESS event on April 8, the same day as WrestleMania 34. This comes as a surprise to fans, given that historically talent that appears at AXXESS on that day doesn’t have anything planned for the WrestleMania show that night.
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Bryan was originally scheduled to appear with Dean Ambrose, who has been out of action with an injury.
Bryan was forced to retire from professional wrestling on Feb. 8, 2016 following a series of medical issues brought on by a string of concussions he sustained from his time both in the independent wrestling circuit and WWE. However, rumors of the SmackDown Live general manager’s return to the ring have been spreading for well over a year with Bryan training, undergoing medical treatments to help heal any concussion-related damages and being cleared by multiple doctors outside of WWE.
“I assume that if I don’t wrestle by WrestleMania, I probably won’t be wrestling with WWE at all,” Bryan said in an interview with Sports Illustrated. “That’s my assumption. It’s not a black and white answer,” said Bryan. “There are a lot of issues with me getting cleared by WWE. They have a very strict protocol, which is a good thing, but the timeline of all that happening was not the best for me. It’s an interesting situation that will develop.”
Triple H commented on Bryan’s potential return in January.
“There can be no exception, medically, if the belief is that he’s not healthy enough and it is a risk for to perform, then I don’t know why we would ever allow him to step in the ring unless it can be proven otherwise,” Hunter said.
Bryan’s return rumors popped up against as recently as the Royal Rumble, with experts speculation over whether or not he could make a return and win. He did not compete at the event.
It’s also speculated that if Bryan does not get cleared by WWE’s doctors prior to his current contract expiring later this year, he’ll leave the WWE and compete in independent promotions.
