WWE Latest News: Daniel Bryan's Retirement 'Not A Work'; Wrestlers React To Bryan's Retirement
Former World Wrestling Entertainment champion and world heavyweight champion made his retirement official during the most recent episode of Monday Night RAW.
The 34-year-old professional wrestler has been out of action since the middle of 2015, citing he had a "concussion-related" injury that led to him being sidelined. For the past two years prior to it, he has been plagued with other physical ailments.
While he did receive the go signal from his own doctors to get back in the WWE ring, Bryan opted to cut his career short, mainly to avoid further aggravating his condition. In a report by Deadspin, Bryan was quoted as saying that he recently took a test where the results had him admitting, "Maybe my brain wasn't as OK as I thought it was."
Get Our Latest News for FREE
He then added that he was already starting to think about settling down with a family and having children soon.
Bryan's retirement announcement on RAW still came off as a shock to everyone, leading some fans to believe that it may be part of a storyline that the WWE cooked up.
But a tweet by ESPN's Jonathan Coachman shut down possible rumors that Daniel Bryan's retirement was just another 'work' by the company.
"Let me be VERY clear. This is not a work. Not a storyline. Real life. And it stinks for one of the really good guys," Coachman said in his tweet.
Bryan was a beloved figure in the WWE, which makes his sudden early - yet needed - retirement sad for his fellow wrestlers. Many of his colleagues expressed their sentiments through various tweets.
Superstars such as Dillinger, Aiden English, Bayley, Eva Marie, and Emma simply made use of the hashtag #ThankYouDanielBryan to show their appreciation.
WWE Superstar and Executive Vice President for Talent, Live Events & Creative Triple H gave his props by posting a photo of Bryan at WrestleMania 30 holding both the WWE and World heavyweight title belts.
John Cena also gave his heartfelt message.
"#ThankYouDanielBryan for DOING what most only talk about. Challenging everything. Authority, conformity, perception. Redefining valor," Cena wrote.
