Daniel Bryan On Why WWE Asked Him To Stop Talking About The Environment

When SmackDown Superstar Daniel Bryan last held the WWE Championship, he unveiled a new hemp version of the title. He also adopted the moniker: “The Planet’s Champion.” In an interview with MySanAntonio.com, Bryan recalled his eco-movement heel, and how at one point he was asked by WWE to stop talking about the environment. He also detailed how he intends to have a range of eco-friendly merchandise created.

Daniel Bryan’s Guilt

Bryan spoke of his guilt in “the amount of stuff that I’ve specifically sold to people.” He used his “Planet’s Champion” gimmick as a reason to avoid wearing a shirt to the ring, noting how “that’s one of the things that I can criticize other people for — they’re just out there for other people’s money.”

“Now that I’m a good guy again, they’re like, ‘Well, we’d really like you to wear a shirt, and let’s get back to making T-shirts for you again.’ I was like, ‘Well, I don’t really want to do that.’ And so now I’m working with them about that, and the next Daniel Bryan shirts are going to be made out of recycled materials,” he explained. “And I think five plastic water bottles will be used for every shirt. So they’ll be made out of plastic water bottles and recycled materials and that, to me, is cool, and that’s something that’s a good-guy thing that’s also kind of environmentally friendly.”

Daniel Bryan is also lobbying for a tree planting initiative. If Bryan can achieve this, every shirt that is sold will see a tree planted. He noted how WWE was “balking a little bit on that.” Bryan stressed how he’s not interested in making money on these t-shirts, but if there has to be merchandise, he wants it to make a positive impact.

Being Told To Stop

“When I was doing the environmental thing, they actually told me to stop talking about the environment because they told me it was a political issue and we don’t want to deal with politics,” Bryan stated.

He continued, “I said, ‘It’s not a political issue. It’s a scientific issue, and the sciences pretty much prove it.’ So rather than looking at it from a right or left point of view, let’s look at it as, ‘Hey, improving the environment is a bulletproof idea to improve all of our children’s lives.’ And I think that’s also something that people can get behind, too. But how you do that in a wrestling format? I have no idea.”

Daniel Bryan is set to face off against “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt. The two compete this Sunday at Royal Rumble for the WWE Championship in a Strap match.