Daniel Bryan Reveals How Close he Was to Accepting Retirement

Not that long ago, we had all accepted Daniel Bryan would never wrestle in WWE again. However, Bryan's tenacity in seeking medical approval gave us one of the biggest surprises of the last decade. But Bryan's effort to get cleared almost never began.

Bryan recently joined Booker T on his podcast Heated Conversations and discussed how he nearly accepted his forced retirement.

"The weirdest thing about it is that I probably would have been satisfied and like accepted my retirement if they hadn't brought me back to be GM. Because it was so soon after I had retired and I had signed up for school. I had signed up for ASU I had signed up for a permaculture design course. I was doing all kinds of stuff," he said.

But as Bryan prepped for life outside of wrestling, he still was an active part of SmackDown as the show's General Manager—something he'd later reveal he despised. While that kept him from getting physical, he was still consuming the product from an intimate perspective, one that would lead to an epiphany.

"Okay, I'm going to transition my life into a more of a homelife and that sort of thing. But then they brought me back and it was only a couple months after I was forced to retire and I'm sitting at ringside for a Dean Ambrose/ AJ Styles match."

"I'm sitting there, I got a great reaction coming out. I'm sitting there watching the match and they're getting great reactions. I wasn't wrestling when AJ Styles got brought in to WWE and I'm sitting there thinking, 'what am I doing? I should be in there! I shouldn't be sitting here,'" he said.

Bryan would go on to launch a campaign to earn medical clearance in order to return to WWE. He'd learn that part of his injury was misdiagnosed, leaving him an opening consult doctor outside of WWE. According to Bryan, he'd earn their permission to wrestle again, but that meant nothing unless he could convince WWE's medical team. And on March 20, 2018, WWE announced that Bryan had done just that, and a few weeks later, he would compete at WrestleMania 34.

Now that we're in September, Bryan is in the middle of a highly anticipated feud with The Miz. Have lost at Summerslam and a couple's tag team at Hell in a Cell, Bryan is quickly losing ground on The Miz. However, at October 6 Super Show-Down he'll have an opportunity to beat Miz for a shot at the WWE Championship.

[H/T Ringside News]