After giving an emotional speech last week thanking his wife (and fellow WWE Superstar) Brie Bella for motivating him to try to get medically cleared to compete again, former champion and current Smackdown Live General Manager Daniel Bryan made it clear he wanted to be in the ring as soon as possible. But before that, he had to make a difficult decision: firing Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn after they brutally attacked Smackdown commissioner Shane McMahon the week prior. Zayn and Owens’ response was to take down Bryan next, wrecking the GM so severely that he was carted out of the ring in a stretcher.
So when Bryan came to the Smackdown stage this week, he made a major announcement: Zayn and Owens will face off against Shane and Bryan himself at WrestleMania 34 in two weeks. If Zayn and Owens win, they will be reinstated to Smackdown.
But while he may have spent two years as GM, Bryan made it clear that he wasn’t going to make it easy: “I’m sick of meetings. And I’m sick of paperwork, and I’m sure as hell sick of these blazers,” throwing off his jacket to raucous applause.
Bryan ended his speech in a way that leaves little room for interpretation: “I’m the Daniel Bryan who’s going to kick Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens at WrestleMania! I’m gonna kick their ass!”
It’s a major victory for Bryan. Last week, WWE announced that Bryan has been once again cleared to compete after being forced to retire early in 2016 due to repeated concussions. As of last week, Bryan has been given the green light by a number of renowned neurosurgeons and concussion experts after they had reviewed his current medical and neurological condition, WWE.com reported.
The WWE Universe heard the message loud and clear.
This will be Bryan’s first WWE match since 2015, where he teamed up with John Cena to face Cesaro and Tyson Kidd. During his career as a superstar, Bryan was a force to be reckoned with, winning three different champion belts during his career. Longtime fans are ecstatic to finally see their hero in the ring once again.
Wrestlemania 34 will air live from New Orleans on the WWE Network on April 9th.
