Bryan Danielson: I Would Still Be Retired If WWE Hadn’t Made Me The SmackDown General Manager

Bryan Danielson loves pro wrestling, but it’s hard for him to be around the industry without getting into the squared circle.

When Bryan Danielson, then Daniel Bryan, had to retire in 2016, it appeared that one of the true modern Superstars was having their career cut short just as it was hitting its peak. In the ensuing months, Bryan’s struggle with depression following his passion being taken away from him was chronicled through the first season of the Total Bellas reality show.

Eventually, Daniel Bryan would be placed back on WWE television as the general manager of the new SmackDown Live brand as WWE was once again looking to split the brands and create its own competition.

Speaking on WEEI’s Twitch, Bryan Danielson now says he’s not sure if he would have returned to professional wrestling at all if WWE did not make him the general manager of SmackDown, and he questions if the itch to return would have still been there if he pursued another career, such as farming.

“It was really hard because I think I would still be retired if WWE didn’t have me come back and be the general manager. I really love wrestling and I didn’t want to have to retire, I was forced to retire. They brought me in as a general manager and I was around it every single week. I think I would have gone off and started my own little organic farm or something. I would have been like, ‘Okay, I had a great time wrestling, but now I’ve transitioned into this other part of my life,’ but being around it but not actually being able to do the thing I love was really really hard. Then I started doing all these different medical treatments that are a little bit out there and a little bit wild and a couple of years later I ended up getting cleared. My passion for wrestling is so deep that if you put me around it too long, I will want to get in there.”

Danielson would, of course, come back two professional wrestling in 2018 and now, he is a new member of the AEW roster just a handful of months after headlining WrestleMania 37.

Elsewhere in the interview, Bryan talks about needing to do fewer matches in AEW because he believes he “goes too hard.” Learn more here.

If you use any of the quotes above, please credit the original source with a H/T and link back to Fightful for the transcription.