Update on Daniel Bryan After Scary Botch From SmackDown Live
Even though 'New' Daniel Bryan is insufferable, we're all still secretly concerned about his [...]
Even though "New" Daniel Bryan is insufferable, we're all still secretly concerned about his health. So when Mustafa Ali missed his landing from the top rope and drove his knee into Bryan's neck, the WWE Universe collectively held their breath.
It was clear the crash landing hurt Bryan, and you could hear Ali immediately apologize to the WWE Champion while pinning him. Bryan was helped to the back in a manifestation of everyone's nightmares. But despite how bad it looked, Fightful.com says Bryan is "OK."
This is what happened. Mustafa Ali hits Daniel Bryan with the knee up high.
— GIF Skull #SDLive Is The A-Show (@GIFSkull) December 19, 2018
(Slow motion, angle 2) #SDLive pic.twitter.com/lbEoSUdUds
Per the report, Bryan was adamant backstage that he avoided significant injury. The alarm was put to rest when Bryan participated in the Christmas Day pre-tape episode of SmackDown that immediately followed the December 18 episode.
Daniel Bryan comes out to interrupt. He’s fine y’all. #SDLive pic.twitter.com/I0ejKpFEQ0
— boss of tomorrow (@TheNextBlGThing) December 19, 2018
It looks like Bryan avoided catastrophe, but the botch serves as a cold reminder of how small the margin for error actually is. While mistakes are unavoidable, Bryan's brush with another head injury was the exact scenario we were all wary of when he announced his return to WWE. After a slew of concussions and a significant neck injury, Bryan was forced to retire from in-ring competition. However Bryan always believed he was misdiagnosed, and during his hiatus from wrestling, he embarked on a quest to get medical proof that he was fine.
Bryan eventually convinced WWE he was healthy and made a seemingly miraculous return to WWE just before WrestleMania 34, where he competed in his first match in nearly three years.
"Saying goodbye to the ring was one of the hardest moments of my life. But thanks to the amazing people supporting me, I was able to keep fighting for my dream. This moment feels surreal and I'm glad to be able to talk to you all at the beginning of #SDLive tonight," Bryan tweeted after news broke of his return.
Luckily, Bryan will walk away from this scare, but for a moment it seemed like we'd have to watch him relinquish the WWE Championship on a future episode of SmackDown. That won't be happening, though as Bryan looks like he'll carry that title in the March to WrestleMania.