Daniel Bryan Explains What He Wants in New WWE Contract

One of the biggest stories going around professional wrestling right now is Daniel Bryan's contract with WWE expiring on September 1.

Bryan, as of this writing, has still not renewed with WWE, and that has lead to WWE not making any long term main event plans for the man who is arguably the most popular competitor on the active roster. So far, the two sides have not been able to meet in the middle on a new deal, with Bryan playing a little bit of hard ball for the first time really in his career.

Given his leverage since returning to the ring, Bryan has every right to look out for his best interests. One of the big things that Bryan wants in a new deal is less dates on the road, which is understandable given the fact that he now has a young daughter at home.

Bryan spoke about wanting a reduced workload in his next deal during a recent discussion 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."

While the prevailing wisdom is that WWE will eventually find a way to meet in the middle with Bryan on his demands, there's no doubt he'd have a wealth of options should he hit free agency. Prior to WWE clearing him for competition this past March, Bryan was looking hard at wrestling for AAA in Mexico, as well as New Japan Pro Wrestling and Ring of Honor, when his WWE contract expires.

If Bryan ends up unable to reach a deal with WWE, there's no doubt that you'll be seeing him work elsewhere. That being said, WWE certainly doesn't want to see that happen and will likely find a way to put together an acceptable contract offer.

[H/T to Wrestling Inc.]