Daniel Bryan announces his retirement. Photo from WWE.com
The Yes Movement unfortunately comes to an abrupt end.
Citing health issues which have hampered his performance in the squared circle in the past two years, Daniel Bryan announced his retirement on Twitter on Monday (Tuesday Manila time) to the dismay of many pro wrestling fans.
“Due to medical reasons, effective immediately, I am announcing my retirement. Tonight on Raw, I’ll have a chance to elaborate,” wrote the 34-year-old on his account @WWEDanielBryan.
Bryan also had a chance to bid his fans goodbye on Raw in Seattle, closing the show in front of his home state Washington.
“I’ve been wrestling since I was 18 years old, and within the first five months of my wrestling career, I already had three concussions. For years after that, I would get a concussion here and there, and it gets to a point when you’ve been wrestling for 16 years and they tell you that you can’t wrestle anymore. For a long time, I fought that because this, I have loved this in a way that I have never lived anything else,” he said as he tried to hold back his tears. “But a week and a half ago, I took a test that said that maybe my brain isn’t as ok as I thought it was. I have a family to think about, and it is with a heavier heart and the utmost sadness that I officially announce my retirement.”
He continued, “If there’s one thing that I felt through these emotions, today, when I woke up this morning, I felt nothing but gratitude. I have gotten to do what I love for nearly 16 years.”
The audience, then, sent Bryan off with a rousing “Yes!” chants as his wife, Brie Bella, and the rest of the WWE crew gave him a standing ovation for a remarkable career.
Bryan, real name Bryan Lloyd Danielson, was a four-time world champion with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Through out 10 years in the independent circuit, he fought in Japan, United Kingdom, and Puerto Rico and also became a “Founding Father” for Ring of Honor (ROH), where he was known as “The American Dragon.”
Standing at 5-foot-10 and weighing only 210-pounds, Bryan was the unlikely pro wrestling superstar but made a name for himself as a submission specialist, finishing his matches with the Yes! Lock, an Omoplata crossface. He later used the running single leg high knee strike as a finisher to compliment his repertoire of kicks.
The Aberdeen, Washington native was trained by WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels at Texas Wrestling Academy and William Regal.
In his six-year run with WWE, Bryan won the United States and Intercontinental titles once, the Tag Team belts with Kane, as well as the Money in the Bank briefcase.
His crowning moment came at WrestleMania XXX in New Orleans back in April 2014, when he submitted Triple H. He then went on to win the triple threat main event match over defending titlist Randy Orton and that year’s Royal Rumble winner Batista to claim the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
Bryan last wrestled on April 2015 in a countout defeat to Sheamus on SmackDown, but a neck injury forced him to relinquish his Intercontinental Championship shortly after.
The fan favorite has repeatedly tried to gain clearance after his neck surgery, but the sensitivity of the injury, together with his concussion issues, has prevented WWE and Dr. Joseph Maroon from giving him the go signal.
Bryan’s retirement is another blow to the gutted WWE roster, which is expected to miss a number of main event players two months away from WrestleMania 32 in Dallas.