Daniel Bryan's Uncertain Future Has WWE Making Big Plans

Not long ago, Daniel Bryan's contract was a harmless forgone conclusion. No one imagined his September 1 expiration date would actually become a pressing matter—but apparently, it has.

WrestlingStandard, formerly PWStream reports that WWE is making preparation to be without Daniel Bryan. Per their source, WWE is giving Bryan a 'farewell tour' with matches against the likes of AJ Styles, Samoa Joe and now his reuniting with Kane. The logic being that WWE is trying to squeeze the most out of this current chapter before Bryan could leave the company.

The meatiest part of this report says that Bryan's much-anticipated feud with The Miz is slated for SummerSlam. WWE will reportedly have Miz ruin Team Hell No's championship opportunity at Extreme Rules thusly setting up a match in Brooklyn between him and his old rival.

However, it's worth noting that all of this is predicated on Bryan actually leaving WWE. Even though Vince McMahon and Co. are prepping for him to jet, that doesn't make his departure a guarantee. Wrestling Standard writes that Bryan is using John Cena's agency for negotiations and that extensive bartering process is why Bryan has yet to re-sign.

Every day Bryan isn't locked up to a multi-year deal will feed speculation that he'll actually leave the company. However, outside water-cooler rhetoric, there have been no signs that Bryan would wrestle somewhere else. Instead, it's clear Bryan wants to remain with WWE but prefers a lighter workload an said as much during an appearance on the Gorilla Position podcast.

"Actually, the biggest thing is that I don't want to be on the road as much. Like, that's one of the big things." Bryan explained.

He continued, "You don't realize how long you're away until you're away because we never had to think about it before. Like, when I was gone before or when Brie was gone before, I'd miss her, but we can Facetime and we can talk, so it's nice. But when you're away from your baby, it's a completely different thing and it hurts your heart. And she, so I will be home for a span of three days out of a month because it was like 10 days for the Saudi trip, 18 days here [on Europe], and only home three days, so that's 31 days and I'm home for three-and-a-half days. A baby grows a lot in a month. Like, she'll do things when I get back that she wasn't doing when I left. And some things that she was doing, she'll no longer be doing. And that kind of stuff makes me sad."