WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan has been out of action for nearly a year with a diagnosed concussion. It is speculated that he has had seven diagnosed concussions, but others undiagnosed, as well. He worked on the independents for years, and there is a good chance that the medical teams there are not of great value, which means he may have wrestled with one. However, we can also say the same about WWE Superstars and Divas before much was known about concussions.
This happened in football and hockey a lot as well, and really in every other contact or combat sport. So we cannot blame WWE for being ignorant on head issues and not point to other sports leagues and not point out their ignorance on this that lasted even longer than WWE’s. With that said, WWE now faces a concussion lawsuit which happened in those other leagues, as well.
Due to this, WWE is trying to keep any concussions sustained by their talent under wraps. They tried the same with Daniel Bryan until the media made it public, which could very well be why he has been missing so much time. It was reported by PWInsider that Bryan was seeing Dr. Joseph Maroon while he was in Pittsburgh this week to talk with him about coming back. Maroon is a WWE doctor, whom they trust the reports on head issues of any kind. Bryan saw him before and he mentioned that Bryan probably would be done.
Bryan has since been to another doctor who cleared him. WWE was not swayed by this. So it makes sense for Bryan to go back to see the good WWE doctor, especially with this lawsuit over their head. Sadly, according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer , those reports on Daniel Bryan going to see the doctor are false. Right now, we’re getting the 50/50 report, so Bryan might be going and might not be. However, there is a lot of issues regarding the reports, so we will have to wait.
The Observer reporter also appeared on The LAW and pointed out that WWE has frozen Bryan’s contract, the same as they did with Rey Mysterio on multiple occasions. The idea is that since he is not working with them, they have the right to freeze his deal so that they can use him when something opens up. So, his contract was running this past summer as he did the WWE Tough Enough show, then froze again when he did not appear for WWE. The press he did was also for his book and not for WWE, so all of the times he was doing press in the Fall, it was seen as self-help and not WWE related.
This could be why Daniel Bryan spoke so candidly about things.
What all of this means is that if Bryan had two years on his deal, he most likely still has something around that and will continue to have that until he takes a role on of some kind in the WWE.
As it happens, WWE has reportedly offered Bryan several roles in the company. One of those was rumored to be a trainer for the developmental athletes at the WWE Performance Center. However, Bryan has been said to have turned down all offers that do not allow him to wrestle for the WWE fans.
All of this said, Daniel Bryan could always make his triumphant return to the ring this Sunday at the Royal Rumble . WWE does need top names going into WrestleMania 32 now more than ever, as they have lost some of their top names already. Bryan clearly is beloved and fans want him back, but will he be back in time for WrestleMania ? That is up in the air.
[Image via WWE]
