WWE introduced the new Wild Card Rule a few weeks ago which allows some top stars from Raw and SmackDown Live to make appearances for both the brands.

Now it appears that this rule is not limited to the weekly shows only as the company has confirmed that a pair of Raw stars will be challenging the current SmackDown Tag Champs at the upcoming Money In The Bank PPV.

The Usos were involved in a handicap tag match on this week’s episode of Raw and the duo teamed up with Roman Reigns to face Shane McMahon, Elias, Daniel Bryan and Rowan on the show.

After this bout, the company confirmed that the twin brothers, who originally belong to the Raw roster will be challenging the new SmackDown Tag Team Champions Bryan and Rowan at the pre-show of the upcoming PPV.

Updated Money In The Bank Match Card

After this announcement, here is the updated match card for Money In The Bank taking place this Sunday from the XL Center in Hartford, CT:

WWE Universal Championship: Seth Rollins vs. AJ Styles

WWE Championship: Kofi Kingston vs. Kevin Owens

WWE RAW Women’s Championship: Becky Lynch vs. Lacey Evans

WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship: Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair

Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Sami Zayn vs. Ricochet vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Baron Corbin vs. Randy Orton vs. Andrade vs. Finn Balor vs. Mustafa Ali

Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Alexa Bliss vs. Natalya vs. Naomi vs. Dana Brooke vs. Mandy Rose vs. Bayley vs. Ember Moon vs. Carmella

Steel Cage Match: The Miz vs. Shane McMahon

Roman Reigns vs. Elias

WWE United States Championship: Samoa Joe vs. Rey Mysterio

WWE Cruiserweight Championship: Tony Nese vs. Ariya Daivari

SmackDown Tag Team Championship (Pre Show): Daniel Bryan & Rowan vs. The Usos

WWE champ-champ Becky Lynch and Daniel Bryan decided to stop by the home of former UFC champ-champ Conor McGregor while touring Ireland this week.

On Thursday, WWE posted photos of Lynch and Bryan working out at Straight Blast Gym (SBG) Ireland, the gym that McGregor calls home, as they worked with the Irishman’s head coach John Kavanagh.

Lynch has actually worked out with Kavanagh previously when she was back at home in Ireland.

Both McGregor and Kavanagh have often shown support of Lynch during her professional wrestling career. In fact, McGregor sent out a special congratulations to Lynch after she reached ‘champ-champ’ status following her win in the WrestleMania 35 main event.

“The Man’ Becky-Two Belts, the champ-champ is here at SBG, the place that breeds the champ-champs in Ireland,” Lynch said. “Now I’m not saying this is the sole reason but I started training with John Kavanagh about this time last April and since then it’s been nowhere but up.”

Lynch even did her best McGregor impression as she copied his strut walking through the gym.

Meanwhile, Bryan is an avid mixed martial arts and Brazilian jiu-jitsu enthusiast who has trained alongside former UFC champion Benson Henderson at the MMA Lab in Arizona in the past as well.

WWE is currently on tour in Europe with a stop in Ireland this week where Lynch and Bryan took the time to get some extra training in with one of the top teams on the Emerald Isle.

Bryan has brushed up against more than a few fighters in his career as well.

Bryan famously engaged in a short war of words with welterweight competitor Mike Jackson after he dismantled former WWE superstar CM Punk in his second UFC fight.

He also fired off a few social media messages at reigning UFC flyweight champion Henry Cejudo after he went on a viral campaign hoping to catch the attention of Bryan’s sister-in-law, Nikki Bella.

Now it appears Lynch and Bryan are getting in a little extra training and sparring under Kavanagh and his team at SBG before stepping back into the ring during the WWE European tour.

“The Planet’s Champion” Daniel Bryan and his tag team partner, Rowan, defeated the Usos this past Tuesday to become the new SmackDown tag team champions. The championships were relinquished by The Hardy Boyz, due to Jeff Hardy’s injury and subsequent need for knee surgery.

Now, the duo has promised that WWE will undergo a tag team evolution, much in the way the company experienced with the recent women’s revolution.

Tag Team Jokers

Speaking backstage, Daniel Bryan took issue with how previous champions have treated the titles as though they were a “joke.” He then ensured the WWE Universe that will never be the case while he and Rowan are champions.

“[…] speaking of jokes and speaking of the tag team division, think of The Usos, right? What were they doing on RAW last night? Joking around as if the tag team division is some sort of joke. And what about Heavy Machinery? Joking around as if the tag team division is some sort of joke. And what about The New Day? Joking around like being the tag team champions is some sort of joke.”

He proceeded to claim an oncoming evolution for the SmackDown tag division is coming, saying:

“You know, they talk about a women’s evolution, about women main eventing WrestleMania. Do you know who’s never talked about main eventing WrestleMania? It’s the tag team division and do you know why? Because for years, they’ve been led by jokers like the New Day, like the Usos, like Heavy Machinery, and they go out there and they do Thanksgiving turkey fights, and they’ll do Halloween contests.”

“We are not those kind of tag team champions—and speaking of which, do you know what? There’s going to be a tag team evolution, and this isn’t going to be one dictated to us by The McMahons, no.”

Self-Led Evolution

Bryan then said that the evolution would be self-led by himself and Rowan. He highlighted that, unlike the New Day and the Usos, they aren’t satisfied with just being a “great” tag team. Instead, they want to become the greatest of all time, promising that they will be going on to main event WrestleMania as The Planet’s Tag Team Champions.

Daniel Bryan introduced a new eco-friendly belt for the WWE Championship earlier this year after he won the title and it appears that he will be doing the same with the SmackDown Tag Team Championships as well.

We noted before how WWE had announced that Shane McMahon will be crowning the new SmackDown Tag Champions on this week’s episode of the show.

This segment took place halfway through the episode and Shane tried to award the Tag Titles to Daniel Bryan and Rowan before being interrupted by the Usos.

The Usos claimed that they have worked too hard to put the SmackDown tag division on the map for McMahon to give the title away like this and the whole thing led to a tag team championship match between the two teams for the vacant titles.

The match was won by the team of Bryan and his intellectual peer, officially making them the new champions. This duo was interviewed backstage after the show went off the air.

In the interview during their photo shoot as the new champions, Daniel mentioned that he will be switching the straps of the current belts because they disgust him:

There is no word yet on when or where Daniel Bryan and Rowan will introduce the new belts for the tag titles but the next week’s episode of SmackDown Live appears to be the most likely destination.

There are new WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions and that’s Daniel Bryan and Rowan.

During Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live in Louisville, KY at the KFC Yum Center, Bryan and Rowan beat The Usos (Jimmy & Jey) to win the titles that were vacant.

For those who are wondering, while The Usos are technically on the Monday Night RAW roster, they did appear and compete on the blue brand as part of WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon’s Wild Card Rule.

Back on the April 30th episode of SmackDown Live, The Hard Boys (Jeff & Matt Hardy) had to vacate the straps after they beat The Usos on the post-WrestleMania 35 episode of Smackdown Live in Brooklyn, New York. The reason for this is due to Jeff undergoing surgery on his right knee that will keep him out of action for a long time.

It appears that Bryan wrapped up his program with WWE Champion Kofi Kingston during the main event of Monday’s episode of RAW. Bryan is now a tag team player while Kingston will make his next title defense against Kevin Owens.

WWE has yet to announce if Bryan and Rowan will defend their titles at the Money In The Bank pay-per-view event on Sunday, May 19, 2019 in Hartford, CT at the XL Center.

Daniel Bryan has not only made his return to WWE television but also the flagship show of the company, Monday Night RAW.

During Monday’s episode of RAW in Cincinnati, OH at the US Bank Arena, the former WWE Champion made an appearance in the opening segment with Vince McMahon and Roman Reigns. This is where Bryan explained that for the past month, he’s been in solitude. WWE Champion Kofi Kingston would then walk out with Bryan calling his WrestleMania win a fluke.

McMahon introduces a “wild card” rule where three members of RAW and Smackdown can appear on the other brand. Regarding the wild card rule, McMahon didn’t elaborate any further on it. We hope to have more details shortly. Drew McIntyre would proceed to walk out and trade words with Reigns. This all led to McMahon booking McIntyre vs. Reigns and Bryan vs. Kingston for the WWE Title later in the night.

This marked his first appearance on WWE programming since dropping the WWE Title to Kingston at the WrestleMania 35 pay-per-view event in East Rutherford, NJ at MetLife Stadium on the WWE Network. He’s been out of action due to an unknown injury.

Bryan was supposed to make his return to in-ring action at the scheduled WWE live event on Monday night in Corbin, KY at the Corbin Arena. However, WWE decided to postpone the show. The new date for the show is Thursday, October 17, which will be one of the first Thursday night live events for the blue brand.

As of this writing, Bryan doesn’t have an opponent lined up for the Money In The Bank pay-per-view event on Sunday, May 19, 2019 in Hartford, CT at the XL Center.

Daniel Bryan has reportedly been cleared to return to the ring after his injury scare at WrestleMania, however, what’s surprising is that no details on the reason behind his absence have been revealed.

During the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer talked about Bryan’s absence from WWE programming and speculated that he might have suffered a concussion during the Show Of Shows.

This report is not confirmed but with WWE keeping the details of his condition under wraps and considering Bryan’s history, all signs seem to be pointing towards the same.

Though Meltzer explained that concussions are inevitable in wrestling and it’s encouraging that Bryan has had one 13 months after his return to the ring instead of going through one only days after his comeback.

As we noted before Daniel Bryan was expected to continue his program with Kofi Kingston and face the new WWE Champion for his title at the Money In The Bank PPV before he was taken out.

Now after his clearance, Bryan is expected to join the title picture again and it’s very much possible that he ends up joining the announced match between Kofi and Kevin Owens at the upcoming PPV, making it a triple threat.

Daniel Bryan was recently interviewed on Jimmy Jacobs’ podcast and during the interview, he talked about the one regret that he had about WrestleMania 30.

This is an event that is this is considered one of the best moments in Bryan’s career in the pro wrestling business. WrestleMania 30 took place in 2014 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana and saw him beat Batista and Randy Orton in a triple threat match to win the WWE World Heavyweight Title that served as the headliner.

“The worst part about WrestleMania 30 itself is that my wife didn’t get to come to the ring.” He would continue by bringing up how he was going to marry Brie Bella just a few days after this show but WWE officials told her not to come out to the ring after she asked. 

Bryan made it known that he’s not somebody who likes to relive life through pictures but did enjoy seeing himself, his sister and niece all in the ring at this show. He admitted that he doesn’t remember what he did in those matches but does remember hugging Conor, seeing his family in the front row and Brie and William Regal in the backstage arena.

“It’s interesting, seeing that gave me more emotion than the actual thing and the actual fanbase and all that. My biggest regret is that I didn’t get to celebrate in that moment, with the confetti coming down, with my wife.”

H/T to 411Mania for the transcription

Daniel Bryan hasn’t wrestled since WrestleMania when he dropped the WWE Championship to Kofi Kingston. Bryan was reportedly injured during his bout with Kingston but the nature and extent of his injury was being closely guarded.

According to a recent report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, however, Bryan has been medically cleared to return to the ring.

“We don’t know what the issue was, but Bryan was at TV on 4/30 in Columbus, OH and medically cleared and will be written back into the storylines, perhaps as soon as next week,” wrote Dave Meltzer.

Daniel Bryan Cleared To Return

The report would continue to state that had Bryan been cleared earlier, Kevin Owens would not have turned and become Kofi’s challenger at Money in the Bank.

“If this happened a week earlier, or for sure two weeks earlier, Owens wouldn’t have turned,” he continued.

Owens vs Kofi at Money in the Bank was made official this week on Smackdown.

Daniel Bryan Talks Depression In Cities

Bryan recently appeared on Jimmy Jacobs’ podcast. He talked about how he finds cities depressing and enjoys the open natural areas of his home state of Washington.

• Daniel Bryan Discusses Suffering Depression In Cities

“When I’m in cities around a lot of non-living things, I am more likely to be depressed than I am when I’m in Washington when I’m around trees,” Bryan admitted on the show.

Jimmy Jacobs, who is a former writer for WWE and current Impact Wrestling talent, is the latest wrestler to produce a podcast.

Entitled, “Jimmy Jacobs Doesn’t Know,” the first guest on his show will be none other than the former WWE Champion, Daniel Bryan.

“I’m Having A Mental Breakdown”

Jacobs has released a preview clip of the episode in which Daniel Bryan openly recounts his struggle with depression—something that becomes more acute for him when he has to be in cities.

“When I’m in cities around a lot of non-living things, I am more likely to be depressed than I am when I’m in Washington when I’m around trees,” he admitted.

“When I finally accepted, after I was forced to retire, that, like, I’m having a mental breakdown, I went to…this wasn’t the right thing to do, to leave,” Bryan said. “I said to Brie, I said, like…’I have to go to Washington.'”

“She still had other things that she had to do, I said, ‘I have to go.’ And she met me there like a month later, but I spent a month in Washington, just with my mom, with a couple of my friends, and just like, walking in the woods, like, just this really…like, being. I believe in the healing nature of trees, like, it’s a weird thing, but then I’ve also read a book about it, so it’s like, it makes me a little more justified as opposed to me being some weird mystic or something, you know?”

Former WWE Champion, Daniel Bryan, hasn’t been on WWE programming since his loss to Kofi Kingston at WrestleMania 35. WWE’s decision to do so, keeping the nature of his potential injury a closely guarded secret in the process, has sparked speculation over the extent of Bryan’s current injury.

Daniel Bryan remains out of action. The former WWE Champion has not appeared on television since his loss to Kofi Kingston at WrestleMania.

Bryan was not backstage at SmackDown this week. According to PWInsider, he has not been backstage since WrestleMania. There have been reports that he is injured, but he nor WWE have addressed the situation publicly.

Daniel Bryan Injury Being Kept A Secret

It was reported last week that those in the know regarding the situation are doing their best to keep information from leaking. Considering Bryan’s past history with head injuries, the secrecy surrounding his current injury has led some to speculate his injury could be concussion-related. That is only speculation, however.

Bryan was pulled from live events this weekend. He had been scheduled to appear on Smackdown last night at one point as well but was not backstage and did not appear on the show.

Daniel Bryan Not Allowed To Talk About The Environment

Daniel Bryan told the Cheap Heat podcast before WrestleMania that WWE was no longer allowing him to talk about environmental issues as part of his character.

“There’s a lot of things that I’m not allowed to talk about on television and it’s weird because if you noticed the last several months, I haven’t said much about the environment because they have told me I’m no longer allowed to talk about the environment,” Bryan said on the show. “Why? Because they say that the environment is a political issue. You know what? The environment is not a political issue, it’s a scientific issue and saying it’s a political issue makes it stupid. What an idiotic idea!”

• WWE Closely Guarding Details Of Daniel Bryan’s Injury

WWE Closely Guarding Details Of Daniel Bryan’s Injury

We noted before how the former WWE Champion Daniel Bryan suffered some sort of injury during WrestleMania. He was sent home after the show, and the former NXT Star has not been on the road since then.

Now PWinsider is reporting that WWE is closely guarding the details of his status and people who know about him are trying to prevent any information on the situation from coming out.

Considering Daniel Bryan’s history, his status being kept secret is not a good sign. We’ll keep you posted if any other details regarding his condition come to light.

Another Star Injured

Former WWE Champion Sheamus is dealing with an unknown injury and this is the reason why he didn’t appear on this week’s episode of SmackDown Live, according to Pwinsider.

Sheamus wrestled at last week’s episode of the show where the Bar teamed up with Drew McIntyre. However, this week’s episode saw his partner Cesaro teaming up with Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura, with no mention of the Celtic Warrior.

So far there is no word on how serious his injury is or how long the former Champion will stay out of action but we should get a better idea about his health in coming days.

It looks like WWE could have another high-profile injury on their hands after WrestleMania. According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio, Daniel Bryan might be dealing with an injury. Bryan dropped the WWE Championship to Kofi Kingston at WrestleMania 35 from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Sunday.

Meltzer notes that Bryan was waiting to be examined this week, however, the word going around is that the now-former champ is dealing with an injury. As a result, Bryan was sent home early this week and was not backstage for Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

There are currently no specifics on the type of injury Bryan is dealing with, or when it may have happened. We’ll keep you updated as more becomes available.

Injury History

Obviously, any injury concern surrounding Bryan makes fans hold their breath. The 37-year-old’s in-ring career was nearly ended several years ago due to concussion-like symptoms. Thankfully, after a few years sidelined due to medical suspension, Bryan was able to get cleared to make his return to the ring.

Hopefully, Bryan’s injury concerns from WrestleMania are not related to his past neurological issues, and we see him back in the ring again soon.

What did you think about Bryan and Kingston’s match at WrestleMania 35?

TMZ Sports caught up with Kofi Kingston in New York City this week where they asked him about the support that he has received from fans regarding his next match under the WWE banner.

Kingston is slated to challenge WWE Champion Daniel Bryan for the title at WrestleMania 35 this Sunday night on Sunday, April 7, 2019 in East Rutherford, NJ at MetLife Stadium.

Kingston called it amazing and didn’t realize how much they wanted him to have this as much as he wanted it. He called the support unreal and thinks the best way to pay them back is by beating Daniel Bryan this Sunday and becoming WWE Champion.

Kingston was also asked if he feels like the match with Bryan should be the main event of the biggest show of the year instead of the planned headliner, which is WWE RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch vs. WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair.

“Honestly, I’m just happy to have a match at WrestleMania,” Kofi said. “For me to get on here, for me to complain about, ‘Oh, well I got a singles match for the WWE Championship, I’m not in the main event!,’ Like, nah, it’s not about that at all. And the women have done such an amazing job, they deserve everything that they are getting right now. To be in the main event, Ronda Rousey, arguably. I mean, she might’ve been the one that actually started the whole ‘Divas Revolution’ by being so awesome in UFC. And you have Charlotte, the daughter of Ric Flair, who does amazing things in the ring. You have Becky Lynch, who has grinded for so long and so hard, and now the people are behind her so hard. To have them in the main event is an amazing thing. I’m so proud of all of them and I can’t wait to watch.”

H/T to Wrestling Inc for the transcription

Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live was the final stop before this weekend’s WrestleMania 35 event in New Jersey. Closing out the show, Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston held their contract signing for their WWE Championship match. Bryan will defend his title against Kingston in one of the more highly-anticipated bouts of this weekend’s card.

After the show went off-air, WWE held their 205 Live tapings. Afterward, a dark match main event between Bryan and Kevin Owens was being advertised. However, upon making his entrance, Bryan refused to square off with “KO” so close to his big match at “The Show Of Shows.”

Instead, Rowan took his place in the contest. Just as Owens began to get the upper hand, Bryan hit the ring to attack the former Universal Champion, costing Rowan the match via disqualification.

You can check out some photos from the segment here:

WrestleMania 35 goes down live on the WWE Network from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Kingston will get his first one-on-one match for a WWE World Title against Bryan at the show.

After months of the WWE Universe getting behind him, hopefully Kingston can bring it home against Bryan on “The Grandest Stage Of Them All.”

What do you think about Bryan refusing to wrestle so close to WrestleMania?

WWE has announced that there will be a contract signing this Tuesday. The Daniel Bryan vs Kofi Kingston match for WrestleMania will be made ‘official’ on Smackdown Live. The WWE Championship match for WrestleMania has been locked in for quite some time backstage, but on television Kingston has been made to work for it.

Kofi was added to the Elimination Chamber match earlier this year when Mustafa Ali was unable to compete in the structure. Fans rallied behind Kofi who appeared to once again be in his “good hand” role for the evening. Kingston had stolen the show in a gauntlet match on the Tuesday night prior. The winner of that bout would be entered into the Chamber last, Kofi was eliminated by AJ Styles after an incredible showing. Randy Orton went on to win the bout and enter the Chamber last, but fans were right behind Kingston.

This spot had originally been slated for the aforementioned Ali, who if reports are to be believed would’ve faced Daniel Bryan at Fastlane. Kevin Owens would then have gotten the Championship bout at WrestleMania. Owens ended up facing Bryan at Fastlane, giving Kofi the opportunity to challenge for the belt at WrestleMania.

What is intriguing is that Kofi is one of the only performers who could’ve had this run. Ali, whilst an impressive performer does not have the tenure that Kingston has, not even close. Kingston is also in that class of ‘never used to their potential’ in WWE and he has seen many Superstars come and go. Kofi is the ‘Royal Rumble spot guy’ and nothing more…until the fans got right behind him.

Kofi Kingston is headed to WrestleMania 35 to challenge for the top title on the blue brand.

The longtime WWE star has received the confirmation by WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon that he’ll be challenging Daniel Bryan for the WWE Title at this show. He got this match booked after Big E and Xavier Woods won a tag team gauntlet match on Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live.

WWE presents the WrestleMania 35 pay-per-view event on Sunday, April 7, 2019 in East Rutherford, NJ at MetLife Stadium that will air on the WWE Network. Here is the updated card:

Updated WWE WrestleMania 35 Card

WWE RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair – Triple Threat Match

WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins

WWE Champion Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston

Batista vs. Triple H – No Holds Barred Match with Triple H’s career on the line

Kurt Angle vs. Baron Corbin – Angle’s Farewell Match

Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles

Shane McMahon vs. The Miz – Falls Count Anywhere Match

Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre

WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Bayley & Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax & Tamina vs. Beth Phoenix & Natalya vs. The IIconics – Fatal 4-Way Match

WWE United States Champion Samoa Joe vs. Rey Mysterio

WWE Intercontinental Champion Bobby Lashley vs. Finn Balor

WWE Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy vs. Tony Nese

6th Annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal: Braun Strowman, SNL’s Michael Che and Colin Jost

What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? Sound off in the comment section.

One of the most highly-anticipated matches at WrestleMania next month has yet to be made official. It’s expected that WWE Champion Daniel Bryan will defend his title against Kofi Kingston at “The Show Of Shows.” However, Kingston has been screwed out of every opportunity to punch his ticket to WrestleMania by Vince McMahon.

Although it’s still expected that the match will happen, with just two weeks to go until WrestleMania, the bout is not yet confirmed on TV. However, WWE seems to already be advertising Bryan vs. Kingston for the WWE Title at MetLife Stadium. One fan shared on Twitter an advertisement from WWE that shows a graphic for Bryan vs. Kingston for the WWE Title:

• Kofi Kingston Talks Which WWE Star Who Should Be Pushed More, Praises 205 Live

Also, WWE Hall Of Famer Kurt Angle shared a WrestleMania poster that shows Kingston and Bryan opposite one another:

View this post on Instagram

2 weeks from today…. I end my farewell tour with my final match at #wrestlemania35 #farewellmatch #itstrue

A post shared by Kurt Angle (@therealkurtangle) on Mar 24, 2019 at 10:28am PDT

Perhaps tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live will finally clear things up. There’s a chance Kingston is able to punch his ticket to New Jersey and get past Vince McMahon’s roadblocks once and for all. Or WWE could decide to hold off on making the match official until the go-home episode of SmackDown Live before WrestleMania.

What do you think about WWE advertising Bryan vs. Kingston at WrestleMania before the match being made official?

The current WWE Champion, “The New” Daniel Bryan has been dominant on SmackDown Live ever since turning heel late last year. He would win the championship from AJ Styles, resorting to dirty tactics in order to do so. This strategy, however, has seen him hold onto the belt since November 13th, as he continues to berate the WWE Universe for their fickle nature and wasteful attitudes.

Nikki Bella, Daniel Bryan’s sister-in-law, had some thoughts on his recent attitude change. Speaking with Jim Alexander from Reel Talker, she would open up on Daniel Bryan’s heel turn and current run, commenting on how he’s taken aspects from his real-life personality and infused them seamlessly into his current WWE persona.

“I love it because there is so much truth to it. When your character has that foundation of truth of who you are, there’s so much passion and you feel the passion, so then you get invested and you’re connected to it. And that’s the thing, ‘cause everything Bryan is saying is how he truly feels. […] You invest. You naturally invest. Him changing the title, like what a heel thing to do. It’s hilarious. It’s him, I love it.”

Kofi-Mania

Daniel Bryan, who is now also known as “The Planet’s Champion” successfully defeated Kofi Kingston last night during SmackDown’s Gauntlet match. If he had been successful, Kofi would have faced Bryan for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35.

With fans desperate to see Kofi-Mania finally take place in April, it will be interesting to see how Kofi and The New Day respond to yet another obstacle thrown in the path of this Superstar and his championship aspirations.

Daniel Bryan retained the WWE Title in his latest defense. He beat Kevin Owens and Mustafa Ali at the WWE Fastlane pay-per-view event in Cleveland, Ohio.

This wasn’t the original opponent for Bryan at this show. Kofi Kingston was supposed to challenge for the strap but that all changed on a recent episode of SmackDown Live when WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon announced that Owens would replace Kingston during a contract signing.

At Fastlane, although McMahon told Kofi he would be added to this contest, he lost to The Bar in a handicap match earlier in the night and couldn’t compete. Thus, the reason Ali was added at the last minute.

If you think @FightOwensFight can win the #WWEChampionship, give him a "HELL YEAH!" #WWEFastlane pic.twitter.com/5rVcfRqmr3

— WWE (@WWE) March 11, 2019

#TheNew @WWEDanielBryan has taken a BEATING in this #WWEChampionship Match. #WWEFastlane pic.twitter.com/80rjvMOTcV

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) March 11, 2019

Owens had been sidelined due to him suffering a knee injury and getting surgery. He was last seen in action on pay-per-view when he teamed with Elias in a losing effort against Bobby Lashley and John Cena at the Super Show-Down event.

Bryan won the title on November 13, 2018, in St. Louis, Missouri, on an episode of SmackDown Live by defeating AJ Styles, which marked his fourth reign as champion.

The belief is that Bryan will defend his title next against Kingston at WrestleMania 35. Time will tell whether this comes true or WWE decides to add Owens into the mix in order to make it a triple threat match.

• WWE Fastlane 2019 Results & Live Coverage

What are your thoughts on Bryan retaining the title? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.

For those of you hoping Daniel Bryan will defend his WWE Title against Kofi Kingston at WrestleMania 35, we have some bad news. Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter reports that, as of yesterday (Tues. February 19, 2019) the plan is for Bryan to face the returning Kevin Owens in New Jersey:

https://twitter.com/jeremybotter/status/1097991241990590464

This makes sense considering a previous report from Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer, who suggests Owens will be returning as a babyface. Owens has been out-of-action for the past several months due to injury. WWE has been teasing his return with selfie promos in recent weeks.

On last night’s episode of SmackDown Live, Shane McMahon confirmed Bryan vs. Kingston for Fastlane. The New Day member has risen tremendously in popularity as of late. He was one of the final two, along with Bryan, in the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match this past weekend.

Unfortunately, Kingston came up just short of his first-ever World Title in WWE. However, he’ll get a one-on-one shot at Fastlane from the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio on March 10, 2019. As always, plans change frequently in WWE all the time. With that being said, perhaps there’s still hope Kingston will get his WrestleMania moment after all.

What do you think about a possible WrestleMania match between Bryan and Owens?

WWE Champion Daniel Bryan has received an opponent at the next pay-per-view event for the company. During Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live n New Orleans, LA at the Smoothie Center, it was confirmed that Bryan will make his next title defense against Kofi Kingston at Fastlane.

Longtime pro wrestling reporter Dave Meltzer first reported the news on Tuesday morning. In the report, it was noted that WWE already had plans in place for both Fastlane and WrestleMania which did not involve Kingston on Monday morning.

However, plans changed once Kingston put on an impressive performance in the Elimination Chamber Match at Sunday’s pay-per-view event against Bryan, Jeff Hardy, Samoa Joe, Randy Orton, and AJ Styles. Kingston and Bryan were the final two stars in this match. As a result of this performance and the praise he received, WWE changed plans.

As of this writing, there’s no word yet on if this change of plans will affect the original WWE title plans for WrestleMania 35 as Bryan was scheduled to face someone making a return.

WWE presents the Fastlane pay-per-view event on March 10, 2019 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio that will air on the WWE Network. WWE will be announcing more matches for this show in the coming weeks.

Following his impressive showing on Smackdown Live and the Elimination Chamber it seems that Kofi Kingston may still be in the WWE Championship picture.

According to Wrestling Observer Radio, Kofi was originally not in line to get the shot at Fastlane. However, plans as of Monday afternoon alluded to Kofi being heavily considered as the front runner for the WWE Title match. Dave Meltzer mentioned that Kofi’s performances in the Gauntlet match and Elimination Chamber essentially forced WWE’s hand.

The Q Arena has been advertising a Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship at Fastlane in local markets. This match would’ve seen AJ Styles and Samoa Joe joining Daniel Bryan in the main event. There’s currently no information on what Styles and Joe will be doing at Fastlane as of writing.

There’s currently no concrete plans on how Kingston vs Bryan will affect WrestleMania. Kofi has impressing over the past few weeks. However it is highly unlikely that he takes the title off of Bryan this close to the big event. WrestlingINC have been reporting that Bryan is scheduled to face someone not on the full time roster. There’s no confirmation on who this may be, however the likes of Batista could be on WWE’s radar.

Daniel Bryan retained the WWE Title in his latest defense. He beat AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Randy Orton, Jeff Hardy, and Kofi Kingston in an Elimination Chamber Match at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.

What else will these men do to each other?!#WWEChamber @TrueKofi @WWEDanielBryan pic.twitter.com/0IrHwtbcSF

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) February 18, 2019

Taking things to the EXTREME.@JEFFHARDYBRAND has officially entered the Elimination Chamber on @WWENetwork! #WWEChamber pic.twitter.com/alGUiYBqb3

— WWE Network (@WWENetwork) February 18, 2019

Nothing FICKLE about that.#TheNew @WWEDanielBryan has ELIMINATED @JEFFHARDYBRAND! #WWEChamber pic.twitter.com/X3ekKgy57E

— WWE (@WWE) February 18, 2019

The finish of the match saw Kofi going for a splash off the top of one the pods but missed and Bryan hit the running knee strike for the win.

Bryan won the title on November 13, 2018, in St. Louis, Missouri, on an episode of SmackDown Live by defeating AJ Styles, which marked his fourth reign as champion.

It will be interesting to see where they go with the booking of Bryan heading into the Fastlane pay-per-view event on March 10, 2019 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

WWE has already booked Bryan against Styles three straight times at PPV events over the last few months. It appears that WWE will pick a talent from this match to challenge Bryan for his title at Fastlane and then have a new program heading into WrestleMania 35.

What are your thoughts on Bryan retaining the title? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.

WWE Champion Daniel Bryan is sticking around longterm.

On this week’s episode of the E! Network reality series Total Bellas, Bryan and wife Brie were talking about his future. Brie was encouraging Bryan to take advantage of social media more often, which can be used to develop his brand and lead to new business opportunities. Bryan said he’s not interested in being a businessman and revealed that he had recently signed a new 3-year guaranteed contract with WWE.

The episode was filmed around September of last year, which would keep Bryan with the world’s premiere sports entertainment company through around September 2021.

Daniel Bryan WWE Status

Daniel Bryan won the WWE Championship back on the November 13th, 2018 episode of Smackdown. He turned heel the same night by kicking AJ Styles low and winning the title by less than sportsmanlike means. The win would also mean Bryan would face Brock Lesnar at last year’s Survivor Series World Champion vs World Champion match, which Lesnar won.

Since then, Bryan has introduced a new environmentally-sustainable hemp WWE Championship belt. That title will be on the line this Sunday at WWE Elimination Chamber.

• SmackDown Star Will Be Removed From Elimination Chamber Match