WWE News: Chris Jericho Talks Daniel Bryan’s Retirement, Praises WWE For Not Clearing Him
The WWE Universe is still talking about Daniel Bryan’s retirement on WWE Raw last week. Just like Edge’s early departure from the company, this will be a lingering topic for wrestling fans for a long time to come. Inside Bryan’s situation was a litany of conversations that were brought up for the first time in years. For example, the concussions Bryan sustained led to other health issues that Bryan kept a secret.
On Good Morning America, Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella spoke out about Bryan’s post-concussion seizures. Like most wrestlers would, Bryan hid those ailments from his wife, the WWE, and nearly everyone. He knew that if the WWE medical staff found out about his seizures, he would have been forced to retire a long time ago.
“I was with him with one of his seizures after a concussion,” Bella explained to ABC News. “It scared me so bad. I lost it.”
“I just implored her, ‘Please don’t say anything to anybody,'” he told ABC News.
The ABC interview with Bryan and Bella put everything into perspective regarding his health, future, and the reason why he was forced to retire from in-ring competition. Even though he wanted to be released from the WWE so he could wrestle in New Japan Pro Wrestling or Ring of Honor, his last doctor’s visit made him change his mind.
Not only are wrestling fans voicing their opinion about Bryan’s retirement, Chris Jericho, on the Talk Is Jericho podcast, talked about Daniel Bryan. He praised the WWE for forcing Bryan to hang up the boots.
“He retired this week and I know some people are thinking, ‘ah, it’s just a big angle!’ It’s not an angle. It’s very real and I think we can breathe a sigh of relief, as much as it sucks that he can never wrestle again. Let’s be thankful that he got out with his wits about him.” Jericho continued, “I know there was a lot of speculation over the last few months over the WWE holding Daniel Bryan back and everyone was clearing him except for WWE doctors. We should thank the WWE and their doctors for holding out on this because they were right. Daniel went on ESPN this week and said that he has had some post-concussion seizures and he actually has a lesion on his brain caused by concussion. This is serious, serious stuff.”
Jericho is absolutely right about the WWE medical staff doing their job. For some reason, CM Punk had a hand in Bryan’s retirement. Before everyone lashes out and says that isn’t true, Dr. Chris Amann sued Punk for the slanderous things he said on Colt Cabana’s podcast. If it weren’t for that, Amann’s practices would have never been questioned.
Punk’s staph infection opened up a can of worms that the WWE wish they didn’t deal with. Was Amann wrong? That may never be cleared up. Either way, it forced the WWE’s medical team to second-guess their own practices and take things a lot more seriously. This way, WWE superstars are more protected, and the WWE’s limelight with this discussion isn’t negative.
They should be reacting to this positively. Bryan didn’t say that the WWE intentionally ignored his concussions. Dr. Joseph Maroon didn’t clear him to compete because of his health. As an employee, the WWE is lucky they care about the superstars in the ring. If not, Bryan could still be wrestling and suffer even bigger injury.
[Image via WWE.com]
