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[ElectricBlanketFire]

Part of a larger interview.

"It's interesting because I guess the real answer is no, but it's weird,” Bryan said when asked if he’s come to terms with how things have unfolded. “I don't necessarily agree that there's something wrong with me, right. The whole issue with concussions is so subjective.”

Bryan himself exhausted every avenue to keep wrestling, not for the money, or the fame, but for the sheer love of the business. You’d be hard-pressed to find a kinder, more articulate and passionate interviewee in the business than Bryan, who truly wears his heart on his sleeve.

He saw specialists, experts and doctors, underwent test after test, seeking clearance to resume his surefire hall of fame career. And he was cleared, by some, to continue wrestling.

“It's hard because I was cleared by concussions specialists in Phoenix and cleared by concussion specialists at UCLA, like a team of doctors. And I kept trying to go to different places to try to get more and more people to clear me so that all of the evidence would be on my side,” Bryan said of building his own case to continue with WWE.

Throughout the entire process, he said, he was open and transparent with WWE, whose medical staff would not clear the then 34-year-old.

“I was completely honest with the WWE about all of it and the idea of, 'Hey, if I get a bad test result, I let you know.' ”

Ultimately, a test in New York City proved the final hurdle Bryan wasn’t able to clear, signifying the end was near.

“When I told them that I was taking this test in New York City, they said, 'OK, well let us know the result.' Well, the test hasn't been peer reviewed, and I'm not saying it's a bad test, all I'm saying is this is not something that they're using the standard medical facilities,” Bryan added, his skepticism evident even today.

Alas, something showed up in the testing that WWE didn’t like.

“It showed a little something and then that becomes the automatic no and I'm just like 'uhhh,' ” the emotion of that moment still evident in his tone as he recounted it.

This makes me really nervous. I can see him going to another promotion who will clear him and put his life in danger.

 

[McDougles]

That's what someone with a warrior's spirit and way too many concussions would say.

 

[yanipheonu]

The whole issue with concussions is so subjective.

I don't know what this sentence means.

 

[Sephzilla]

Bryan, please, let it go.

 

[OldRoutes]

I don't know what this sentence means.

If you read further, he explains it :

“It's hard because I was cleared by concussions specialists in Phoenix and cleared by concussion specialists at UCLA, like a team of doctors. And I kept trying to go to different places to try to get more and more people to clear me so that all of the evidence would be on my side,” Bryan said of building his own case to continue with WWE.

 

[MC Safety]

It's for the best.

The guy got out unscathed. A lot of wrestlers don't quit until it's far too late. I expect Bryan will thrive in the non-combatant role he's been given with WWE.

Edit: Not probably. It is for the best.

 

[Loxley]

Concussion deniers? What a beautiful world we live in.

 

[BearPawB]

Doesn't he have some other weird political views?

 

[jwhit28]

I don't know what this sentence means.

You can't get doctors to agree on what is and isn't concussion and the dangers of having one going forward.

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

Concussion deniers? What a beautiful world we live in.

Coachman had 38420482048 concussions and he thinks he's fine

but then he also thinks that the wwf looks after older wrestlers lol

 

[Aiii]

I don't know what this sentence means.

I think he means that there is no consensus on how many concussions is too many, or how much a brain is influenced by a concussion, or the type of concussions.

Basically some doctors tested his brain and set, yeah, brain looks fine, you're good. Other doctors looked at his history and said that it would be unwise to have more concussions and take more bumps and I'm sure there were tests done on his brain that did prove his brain was damaged, but that those tests are experimental (as he mentions they're not peer reviewed).

All in all Bryan lived for wrestling his entire life and he's obviously having a very hard time coming to grips with never wrestling again, guy's entire life fell apart, basically.

 

[TimeEffect]

How can you not feel so bad for someone who wants to wrestle just because he loves it?

I can almost be certain Bryan will wrestle again when he's done with WWE, maybe 5 or 10 years down the line.

 

[The Elite]

Dude really wants to wrestle. I'm sure there are feds out there that will clear him but I don't blame the WWE for not taking the chance.

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

How can you not feel so bad for someone who wants to wrestle just because he loves it?

I can almost be certain Bryan will wrestle again when he's done with WWE, maybe 5 or 10 years down the line.

Tons of athletes are told they should stop playing a sport, Prince fielder just last week, and it's a hard reality they have to come with.

Unfortunately most people will not feel too "go get em Daniel!" here because concussions and the long term effects are so scary. If he is being told he should stop then he needs to stop.

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

How can you not feel so bad for someone who wants to wrestle just because he loves it?

I can almost be certain Bryan will wrestle again when he's done with WWE, maybe 5 or 10 years down the line.

I absolutely feel terrible for him but I could in no way support him returning to wrestling.

 

[Frustrated_Grunt]

He left while he was one of the top faces in the company, and with no longterm health problems. I feel bad for him, but it could have been much worse based on the history of wrestlers who didn't know how to quit.

 

[Sephzilla]

WWE will never clear this man to wrestle again in fear of him even remotely doing something that invokes the name Chris Benoit

 

[SlipperyFishes]

Didn't he say that his last scan imaged a lesion on his brain?

 

[bigkrev]

Meltzer talked about this last night and surprisingly somewhat agreed with Bryan. Said that the test he had was something that you are supposed to follow up on to track the progress to see if there is improvement, but that WWE wasn't having him get follow up testing and considered the issue resolved. He said that its "probably 70%" the right call by WWE, but also criticized them for not giving this test to the entire roster.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

The one time Vince does the right thing, he gets raked over the coals.

It's tough to tell a guy on the prime of his life that he can't do what he loves anymore, but you can't ask them to knowingly put you in a position that might permanently damage your brain.

 

[Anth0ny]

he should go work shibata in new japan

 

[sajj316]

Honestly D Bry .. I'm completely fine with you not wrestling ever again. I say this with great pain. You are a good human being that deserves to live as many years on this earth as possible. There is much more he could do as a mentor and a role model for that locker room.

 

[Foggy]

Oh boy...

 

[Razorskin]

Someone ask him about vaccines

 

[Aiii]

Someone ask him about vaccines

Razorskin
------ -----
(Today, 04:08 PM)

New tag incoming?

 

[Nemesis121]

I really think they should banned all hits to the head in wrestling, even repeated mild concussions will lead to CTE

 

[kiguel182]

As much as I want to see Bryan wrestle again I hope he is smart about this and doesn't do it. It's his life passion and it's obvious that he wants to do it but it's not worth risking permanent brain damage.

 

[Fury451]

This is one of those threads that immediately shows who read the article closely or not.

He's basically saying that concussion severity can be quite different depending on the situation and individual and doctor opinion/recommendation reflects that- for some one concussion may be so severe they're benched forever, while other little minor ones may add up later. Some doctors didn't see enough to bench him and cleared him, others did not.

He thinks personally that as of now it's not so severe that he can't wrestle and tried to get doctors to support that, and while some did, the WWE ultimately didn't, so he has to accept reality. You can see it in the wording, he's still in denial.

It sucks when you can't do something you truly love.

 

[Raw64life]

he should go work shibata in new japan

Mainly why I think Daniel Bryan should never wrestle again. If he came back and just wrestled Heath Slater every night he'd be fine, but the only match left for him to do in WWE was with Brock and it would kill him.

I'd also love to see him in NJPW, but wrestling that style would also kill him.

 

[Squalor]

Are we to expect him to have an educated opinion on concussions or anything outside of the soap opera that is wrestling?

 

[The Kree]

Meltzer talked about this last night and surprisingly somewhat agreed with Bryan. Said that the test he had was something that you are supposed to follow up on to track the progress to see if there is improvement, but that WWE wasn't having him get follow up testing and considered the issue resolved. He said that its "probably 70%" the right call by WWE, but also criticized them for not giving this test to the entire roster.

They might go out of business if they gave that test to the entire roster.

 

[BlazinSkatinAxel]

D Brine is this close to going full Noob Sabot.

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

Are we to expect him to have an educated opinion on concussions or anything outside of the soap opera that is wrestling?

Why shouldn't he?

 

[XenoRaven]

He wants to come back and he's trying to rationalize it. I hope the people close to him prevent him from doing something dumb.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

There's always the Impact Zone, Daniel.

 

[Gutek]

It's for the best.

The guy got out unscathed. A lot of wrestlers don't quit until it's far too late. I expect Bryan will thrive in the non-combatant role he's been given with WWE.

Edit: Not probably. It is for the best.

I don't know about unscathed. I'm sure they'll find CTE in his brain eventually.

 

[Kaladin]

Imagine if you found your dream job and one day you were told you couldn't do it anymore, but you still felt 100% capable of doing it.

That's the spot he's in. It's hard to let something like that go that has consumed your life up to this point.

 

[platocplx]

Kinda crazy how people down play mental issues like this because its not a visible thing, then in the same breath they have a total faith and belief in God etc but cant comprehend stuff like this.

 

[bjork]

On how he coped with it: “I needed to get away from all of that and just get out to be by some trees. It’s hard for me. I don’t do really well in cities, which is crazy given that we’re flying in and out of these major cities every week. Brie describes it as anxiety. And she would be accurate. I get this anxiety in cities and places like that. When you grow up in kind of a small town and when you grow up around a lot of green and trees and nature and that sort of thing, sometimes I think it’s a little mentally disconcerting to be around this concrete.”

Get out to be by some trees, Danielson

 

[wenis]

I feel for the guy. Being denied what you feel like you were born to do and having to sit in the sidelines, but as a fan I'd rather he didn't continue to put himself in jeopardy. He's already given so much and wrestling fans in general have lost so many favorites over the decades before we had these tests and conclusions on the physical and mental health of wrestlers.

I could easily see him getting back into an international circuit down the road, but I don't think I could support him in that endeavor.

 

[IdreamofHIME]

WWE will never clear this man to wrestle again in fear of him even remotely doing something that invokes the name Chris Benoit

I'm surprised he's even an employee of the company with remarks like this.

 

[Hycran]

There's always the Impact Zone, Daniel.

WHAT IS BRANIEL "THE AMERICAN KOMODO" DYINSON DOING IN THE IMPACT ZONE?

 

[Sephzilla]

I'm surprised he's even an employee of the company with remarks like this.

He's probably still employed so he can't go to another promotion and really screw himself up. Because, even if it happens in a different promotion, WWE would still get a lot of backlash.

 

[The Albatross]

I'm surprised he's even an employee of the company with remarks like this.

I don't see how anybody can fault him for saying this in an interview... Asked whether he's come to terms with his retirement, he says no, and then believes he can wrestle because some doctors say he can and some say he can't, and his company (rightly from my point of view) is airing on the side of caution. Most athletes who have their careers shortened due to injury, but still want to compete, try to do the same... It's all they've done for most of their lives, so it's a hard thing to accept.

But I can imagine how that's a difficult thing for anybody to grasp, especially in an industry that has historically expected its stars to "rub some dirt on it and keep going."

 

[Sblargh]

One of my favorite human beings, please don't die. Just take that WWE money and retire peacefully.

 

[JDMC13]

That was my fear about bringing him back. Being away it would have been probably be easier to leave it all behind, but being next to it every week, he probably wants to come back.

 

[Sephzilla]

That was my fear about bringing him back. Being away it would have been probably be easier to leave it all behind, but being next to it every week, he probably wants to come back.

It also doesn't help that he still gets some of the biggest pops

 

[Sweeney Tom]

I'm surprised he's even an employee of the company with remarks like this.

If they release him he'll sign with another company and do a match with 20 headbutts that same week

 

[jmdajr]

All because of the current lawsuit right?

Plus, is WWE really that scared of D. Bry going Noob Saibot?

 

[erlim]

Not the biggest pro wrestling fan, I have tremendous respect for the physical feats these guys do---250 lb guys falling on their knees and backs and doing stunts for thirty minutes---that's incredible. My question is, why can't he stay on as a persona and behind the scenes guy like Stone Cold or something? I saw him wrestle live once at summer slam and he really lit the staples center up.