Longtime professional wrestling star Daniel Bryan won’t be competing at WrestleMania 34 , according to WWE rumors, and it may be because he is choosing not to. The speculation of Bryan returning to the ring for a match had been raised to another level during his recent storyline involving Shane McMahon, Sami Zayn, and Kevin Owens. It continued to gain traction when Bryan was involved in a match last year. However, it appears based on the latest WWE WrestleMania 34 rumors that Bryan has refused to compete at the upcoming WrestleMania event due to the way in which he was going to be booked on “the grandest stage of them all.”
A report from Dirty Sheets (via WWF Old School ) indicated that there was a planned match involving Daniel Bryan teaming up with SmackDown Live Commissioner Shane McMahon. The duo was originally scheduled to take on the heel team of Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens, which has been a long-running storyline on SmackDown and at the various pay-per-views. However, the word is that apparently, Bryan was going to be booked to stand on the apron for 95 percent of the match, meaning there wouldn’t be much action for him in the ring.
Due to that, the former WWE Champion refused to take part in a match at the big PPV. Instead, as recently reported here at Inquisitr , Shane McMahon could end up going one-on-one against Dolph Ziggler. Bryan will be watching from backstage or in the arena, or maybe even from a different location.
That’s bad news for fans hoping to see Daniel Bryan compete again for WWE. There has been ongoing speculation that once he’s done with the latest contract for WWE, he’ll head to a different wrestling organization. The top rumored destination is Ring of Honor, with New Japan, and TNA Impact Wrestling/GFW also mentioned in speculation.
Daniel Bryan last wrestled for the WWE back in April of 2015 on an episode of SmackDown . That match had him teaming up with John Cena to defeat then-WWE tag team champions, Cesaro and Tyson Kidd. He would go on to announce his eventual retirement in February of 2016, but ever since there had been growing speculation over him finding doctors that would clear him to compete again.
Bryan took part in a match at the SmackDown branded pay-per-view Clash of Champions last year . However, that was only as one of two special referees in a match involving Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens vs. Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura. Once fans saw that take place, it only added to the rumors that he might be preparing to get back in the ring for WWE for an actual match.
With that said, WWE already has a big card planned for WrestleMania 34 . They’ll have newcomer Ronda Rousey teaming with Kurt Angle to take on Triple H and Stephanie McMahon in what could be the main event. Also, there is speculation that John Cena will battle The Undertaker in what really may be the final match for the “Deadman.”
While it’s unfortunate that Bryan won’t be a part of that big card, it’s also understandable that he’d want to be able to do more in the ring for the fans, just based on how much he enjoys professional wrestling.
