Daniel Bryan Reveals When He Wants to Retire From Wrestling

Daniel Bryan has been back in the WWE wrestling full-time for more than a year now. And based on his latest comments in an interview with Sports Illustrated, he has no intention of slowing down anytime soon. Originally debuting in 1999, Bryan perfected his craft in WWE's developmental territories, Japan and Ring of Honor before finally signing with the company in 2009. After being briefly fired in 2010, Bryan ascended to the very top of WWE in terms of popularity, earning the honor of being a Grand Slam Champion along with four world championship reigns and a win in the main event of WrestleMania XXX.

After returning from his first retirement at WrestleMania 34, Bryan went on to recreate himself as the "New Daniel Bryan," and his new heel persona propelled him to yet another run as WWE Champion as well as his current tag title reign alongside Rowan.

At age 38, Bryan is no spring chicken. Yet the five-time world champion made it clear in his interview that he doesn't want to fully retire from wrestling until decades from now.

"There are people who say, 'I only want to do this for three or four more years,' or 'I only want to do this until I'm 45,'" Bryan said. "No. I want to do this until I'm 70. Months before I die, I want to be doing a wrestling show. I won't be able to do the stuff I do now, but I want to go out and do this thing I've been passionate about wrestling my entire life. I want to do that my whole life."

Elsewhere in the interview Bryan continued to campaign for the WWE's tag division to get more respect, staying somewhat in character.

"The WWE tag team division is the best that it's ever been as far as the matches," Bryan said. "The matches between the New Day and the Usos, The Bar, The Revival, they're all fantastic. But there's all this big hullabaloo about the women main-eventing WrestleMania. How come no one is talking about tag teams main-eventing WrestleMania?"

He theorized that wrestlers like current WWE Champion Kofi Kingston were the culprits for how the tag division is viewed.

"That's my goal [to main event WrestleMania in a tag team match], but none of them say that because they've followed Kofi's lead. So people just sit here and wait to be handed main-event opportunities," he said. "That is not how the WWE works."

Rowan and Bryan have not been booked for a tag match at the upcoming Super ShowDown pay-per-view, as Bryan has reportedly declined to work the event in Saudi Arabia.