The opening of this week’s episode of SmackDown Live saw the former Diva’s Champion Brie Bella returning to SmackDown Live and attacking the duo of Miz and Maryse.
After this, it was revealed that General Manager Paige has made a mixed tag team match between Miz and Maryse and Daniel and Brie official for the upcoming Hell In A Cell PPV.
Following this announcement, both Bryan and Bella were interviewed backstage where they talked about their upcoming match and what advantage they have over their opponent. You can check out their full interview in the video below:
Injured Star Returns To Action
We noted before how SmackDown Live Star Tye Dillinger appeared to have suffered an injury last week while he was competing in a Live Event match with Shelton Benjamin.
Dillinger was knocked out during the bout. The referee then threw the X sign indicating that he was injured for real and the former NXT Star had been away from ring ever since.
Tye made his in-ring return during a Live Event this Monday Night. He teamed up with The Usos to defeat Shelton Benjamin and The Bar and so it seems like his injury was nothing serious.
Daniel Bryan has given the latest update on his future with the WWE and where things stand regarding him signing a new contract that would see him compete in the WWE for years to come.
The former WWE SmackDown GM spoke with Foxsports.com.au to talk about various topics. It’s been well documented that his contract is slated to expire on September 1st, 2018.
His New Contract
Bryan noted that a few things play into his decision to re-sign as he wants to spend time with his family but also for the first time in his career, he hired a lawyer to look at a contract, which is the reason that it’s taking longer than usual.
“My last contract I think I signed in 2012. So then, I wasn’t married – Brie and I were together, but I wasn’t married – so you’re just trying to get all of your ducks in a row, especially because I’m older, and married, and have a baby. It’s the responsibility and it’s crazy because a lot of us as WWE superstars, we end up not getting lawyers to look at our contracts, we just look at it and go ‘oh, ok, what’s this number, what’s this number? Oh fine, whatever,’ without reading the fine print.”
Facing The Miz At SummerSlam
Bryan is slated to take on The Miz in a singles match at the upcoming SummerSlam pay-per-view event. When asked about this match taking place at SummerSlam rather than WrestleMania, Bryan noted that a lot of people have told him that. He stated that Royal Rumble and SummerSlam are considered as the second-biggest for WWE throughout the year. He pointed out that there are other big events in Australia and Saudi Arabia with thousands of fans in attendance.
“And they’re hoping for 70,000 people in Australia. So at what point does SummerSlam or Royal Rumble no longer become the second-biggest show of the year, and now why wouldn’t you say, ‘why don’t you save this match for Australia, in front of 70,000 people, the first time we’re doing a show of this size in Australia’? So there’s always room to say ‘you could have saved it for this, or saved it for that’.”
Bryan added that he thinks SummerSlam is a perfectly acceptable place for it to happen because as a kid, he liked SummerSlam more than WrestleMania and has history at SummerSlam.
Our staff has released their predictions for the SummerSlam show, which you can read here.
Daniel Bryan spoke with ESPN’s Arash Markazi to promote the upcoming SummerSlam pay-per-view event that takes place this Sunday (August 19, 2018) where he’ll be facing The Miz in a singles match.
His Future In Wrestling
Bryan did talk about how long he plans to wrestle for which is to when he’s 70-years old as he noted that’s a goal to people that sounds insane, but pointed out there’s a MMA trainer, Firas Zahabi, he trains Georges St-Pierre and he was on Joe Rogan’s podcast and loved what he said which is that he wants to live to be 90 years old. Bryan noted that he loves doing this so much he wants to physically be capable of doing it until the day before he dies because it brings him joy and that’s how he feels about it.
“For me, my goal is to enjoy this moment that I have in the WWE spotlight because that doesn’t last forever. That really has taken hold since I was forced to retire. You have to appreciate every moment of this, but I also have to transition my style in a way that I could still be wrestling when I’m 70 years old. I want to transition my style slowly to something that’s a little bit easier on my body.”
Post-SummerSlam Opponents
Although he has yet to reach a new contract with the WWE, he does have some names in mind as potential opponents after SummerSlam such as AJ Styles, Goldberg, Johnny Gargano, and Roderick Strong. He also stated that he wants to wrestle Shinsuke Nakamura and Andrade Cien Almas. He pointed out that Andrade is a true luchador, who main evented arenas in Mexico as a luchador and wants to go there for the match.
“I have all these dream scenarios in my head where I would love to do this and that. I think that’s one of things that’s makes me so passionate about wrestling — the variety.”
Our staff has released their predictions for the SummerSlam show, which you can read here.
Daniel Bryan has been vocal about his frustration with the WWE creative team in recent interviews and there have been conflicting reports about his contractual status with the company. With Chris Jericho wrestling for various promotions around the world while remaining a WWE guy, many have wondered if Bryan could follow a similar path.
During a recent interview with YouTube personality TonyPizzaGuy, Daniel was asked if we can see him following Jericho in future and wrestling in indie circuit time to time while he continues to work for WWE. The former World Champion said that the wrestling world currently is not “open” enough for this. The good news is that Bryan has many potential dream matches awaiting for him in WWE.
“Yeah, I would like to see the wrestling world be a little bit more open and I think Chris Jericho has kind of done that in a sense. He is still in good terms with WWE but he wants to go do these things that are creatively fulfilling to him because he loves wrestling. But the way wrestling world is right now you can’t do that and luckily I have a ton of dream matches I wanna do in WWE.”
Earlier this week, Daniel Bryan told Sam Roberts there is a 90-plus-percent chance that he will re-sign with WWE. However, we can still dream about the prospect of him working with guys like Kazuchika Okada and Zack Sabre Jr.
Check out Daniel Bryan’s interview with TonyPizzaGuy below:
Daniel Bryan says he will almost certainly sign a new contract with WWE in the near future. The former WWE Champion appeared on the Sam Roberts Wrestling podcast this week to promote SummerSlam. It has been widely reported that his contract is expiring in September, which has fueled speculation about what would be next for him.
During their discussion, Sam Roberts addressed the topic of Bryan’s future with the company. The upcoming WWE 2K19 video game features a Daniel Bryan Showcase mode. Since the game is being released in October, Roberts sees this as a positive sign regarding his future.
Daniel Bryan was asked point blank what the chances are that he will re-sign with WWE. He gave an answer that will please WWE fans across the world. “I think at this point it would be 90-plus percent,” Bryan said. “It’s very likely I’ll re-sign with WWE.”
He continued, “The reality is that’s the probability. I have not re-signed yet but it could happen as soon as the end of this week or it could be a couple more weeks. It’s very likely.”
Bryan explained that a major factor of his negotiations with WWE is his schedule. At this stage of his career, he has “no interest” in working 200+ dates a year. Thankfully, WWE has been very understanding in that respect. Ideally, he would like to work 50-100 matches per year. He sounds confident they will come to terms.
Earlier this year, Daniel Bryan was medically cleared to return to action after several years on the sidelines. He stated in multiple interviews that he would wrestle elsewhere if WWE did not give him the green light to wrestle again. The prospect of Daniel Bryan joining another promotion such as New Japan Pro Wrestling was intriguing. For now, fans hoping to see a dream match like Daniel Bryan vs. Kenny Omega will have to settle for a simulated battle in WWE 2K19.
Daniel Bryan will face The Miz this Sunday at WWE SummerSlam.
Daniel Bryan is gearing up for his match against The Miz as they will finally do battle on a big stage for the first time in years.
The former WWE World Heavyweight Champion spoke with GameSpot.com to promote the upcoming SummerSlam pay-per-view event. This interview was purely dedicated to his feud with The Miz.
Breaking Point
When asked when he thought was the breaking point between him and The Miz. Bryan noted that they’re polar opposites and do have a legitimate dislike of each other as some people backstage know that there’s always been that tension. He believes the breaking point where people actually care about is Talking Smack episode then it escalated from there.
“Miz starting to do my moves, really rubbing it in my face in a way that at the time nobody thought I was gonna get cleared again. So, there was no payoff to this. It’s just heat, for heat, for heat’s sake. So, I think that’s where everything–where the current incarnation, where people are really excited to see that–I think that’s where that comes from.”
Fan Reaction
Bryan touched upon when he felt the reaction from the fans of WWE to that Talking Smack segment. The former SmackDown Live GM noted that he was hoping that it would inspire WWE officials to look at his case to be cleared again more closely as he thought if they would clear him then maybe they could headline WrestleMania. However, that hope slowly faded.
“No. That’s what I was thinking. I was thinking in terms of like, “Wow, this could really benefit.” And [WWE creative] started using it a little bit on the show, and then what happened is people really wanted to see the match, and then they backed off of it because they had no plans of doing the match. So, that’s when I realized like, “Oh, man. They’re not gonna budge here.”
What are your thoughts on Bryan’s comments? Sound off in the comment section.
Daniel Bryan is attempting to achieve the goals that he has set out to do with the second part of his career as an in-ring performer now is underway.
The former WWE Champion spoke to IGN to talk about his career being featured in the 2K Showcase mode in the upcoming WWE 2K19 video game that is slated to be released on October 9, 2018 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. In this interview, Bryan touched upon his goals in the WWE and butting heads with the WWE creative team. “So they’re not along the lines of ‘Okay, time to main event WrestleMania 35!’ It’s not stuff like that. Creating goals like that are very difficult in WWE and can often leave you disappointed because you don’t have control over a lot of things.”
Bryan continued by saying that the only thing that he does have control over is his performance. He also has artistic goals that he’s trying to reach and places he wants to go with his wrestling and character. By doing that, he admitted that sometimes he has to go up against the creative machine and what they want for you vs. what you want for yourself.
“That’s a constant whirlwind and back-and-forth trade-off and whatnot. So I do have those types of goals but they’re not main eventing WrestleMania or winning the Rumble or things you don’t have any say in.”
Bryan is slated to take on The Miz in a singles match at the upcoming SummerSlam pay-per-view event that takes place this Sunday (August 19, 2018) in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center on the WWE Network.
What are your thoughts on Bryan’s comments? Sound off in the comment section.
WWE 2K19 will hit stores this October and when it does fans will have the ability to relive Daniel Bryan’s career. Showcase mode will return to the video game series after being left out of last year’s version.
To help commemorate the return of Showcase Mode to the WWE2K series, Bryan made a surprise appearance at his old high school today.
Bryan’s story is one of the most unique in wrestling history. WWE 2K19 released the following trailer for Daniel Bryan’s Showcase mode earlier today:
The mode features 11 historic matches from Bryan’s career. Already confirmed for the mode is his 2003 match on Velocity against John Cena. This likely means a 2003 version of Daniel Bryan will be created for the game (and likely Cena as well). This would resemble the Bryan Danielson of Ring of Honor more than his modern look today would.
WWE 2K19 Ric Flair Collector’s Edition
WWE 2K19 has also added a new Towers mode and are offering a deluxe version of the game celebrating the career of Ric Flair. Customers who purchase this edition of the game will receive a plaque with a piece of one of Flair’s robes and bonus in-game content.
Bonus in-game content for Flair’s version of the game include:
“Rowdy” Roddy Piper character (1980s)
Dusty Rhodes (1980s)
Rick “the Dragon” Steamboat (1980s)
“Macho Man” Randy Savage (WM8)
The Undertaker (2002)
Ric Flair (WM24 attire)
Charlotte Flair (WM32 attire)
NWA Starrcade 1983 Arena
The following pre-order bonus content is also included in the collector’s edition:
The Miz has shared a rare photo from his days on the indy scene.
Before embarking on his professional wrestling career, Miz (real name Mike Mizanin) got his start as a reality TV star on MTV. He appeared on “The Real World” in 2001 and appeared on several seasons of the show’s spin-off, “Real World/Road Rules Challenge.”
In 2003 he began his pursuit of a career in professional wrestling. He trained and performed under the Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW) banner for a year. In 2004 WWE scooped The Miz up and signed him to a developmental deal. He has remained with the company ever since.
Currently on SmackDown Live, Miz is involved in a feud with former WWE World Champion Daniel Bryan. The pair will go on-on-one at SummerSlam later this month. Miz has been poking fun at Bryan’s indy background and urging him to return to the “bingo halls.”
He recently shared a rare picture of himself from his early indy days. Check it out here:
The Miz has been a regular on WWE programming for the past several years. He has blossomed into one of the industry’s best heels throughout his career. Miz is a former WWE Champion who has main evented WrestleMania opposite John Cena.
He is also an eight-time Intercontinental Champion, a six-time WWE Tag Team Title winner, and a former Money In The Bank (MITB) winner. Earlier this year Miz also won the first-ever Mixed Match Challenge tournament with Asuka.
Miz frequently appears on E! Network’s “Total Divas” reality show, alongside his wife Maryse. The couple also have their own reality show on USA Network, “Miz & Mrs.”
The Miz thinks Daniel Bryan’s WWE return has been a “100 percent bust.”
Bryan once thought his in-ring career with WWE was over. After suffering several concussions and seizures throughout his career, he was medically suspended from ever competing for WWE again.
WWE retained Bryan on television by making him General Manager of SmackDown Live. Despite this, Bryan never gave up on his hopes of one day returning to the ring. That all finally paid off earlier this year.
Bryan was reinstated as an active WWE competitor just in time for WrestleMania 34. He passed several tests from WWE-recommended specialists that allowed him to be cleared. He teamed up with Shane McMahon to defeat Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn at WrestleMania 34.
When it was announced Bryan had been cleared to return to WWE action, fans knew a match with The Miz was inevitable. WWE seems to be heading in that direction right about now. Bryan has continuously challenged Miz to a match at SummerSlam later this month.
Miz, however, continues to deny Bryan of his challenge. The former Intercontinental Champion claims he’s above a match with Bryan at this point in his career. He points to the success of his film career and brand new reality TV show “Miz & Mrs.” on USA Network. Miz thinks he deserves a bigger match-up than Bryan at “The Biggest Party Of The Summer.”
The Miz Calls Daniel Bryan’s WWE Return A Bust
Miz and Maryse recently did an interview with E! News. WWE released a portion of the interview on their YouTube Channel. During the interview, The Miz calls Daniel Bryan’s WWE return a bust:
“Do you think Daniel Bryan’s return from injury has been amazing or has been a bust? A complete 100% bust. Everything that I say is the truth and nobody else seems to understand that and I don’t get it.”
Last week on Smackdown Daniel Bryan challenged the Miz to a match at SummerSlam. The Miz responded via titantron and denied Bryan’s request. The Miz is keeping up kayfabe by continuing the angle on Twitter.
The Miz and Daniel Bryan have a history that dates back to the first season of NXT where The Miz was Bryan’s “pro” and continued to berate Bryan up until his elimination. Last year their feud escalated as Bryan called Miz’s wrestling style “too safe” and the Miz retaliated by bringing up the fact that it was because of Bryan’s unsafe style is the reason why he wasn’t cleared to wrestle at the moment.
It has been rumored that the two will face each other at SummerSlam with an added stipulation.
Matt Hardy’s Health Scare
Recent reports have indicated that Matt Hardy’s time in the ring may be limited due to an undisclosed health condition. Recently on twitter Hardy let the fans know what the condition is.
This maneuver was called EVENT OMEGA..
And is most likely the reason that I’ve recently learned that my lower back & pelvis have started fusing together. https://t.co/FzYebvIIc0
According to the Miz, he will not face Daniel Bryan at this year’s SummerSlam. Bryan challenged Miz to a match at the biggest event of the summer but Miz told him this week on Smackdown that elite talent like him can’t just be goaded into a match.
Miz just recently responded conclusively that he will not face Bryan at SummerSlam. He posted the following to his Instagram:
The Miz vs Daniel Bryan at SummerSlam Not Happening
“I’ve heard his challenge, I’ve seen your questions, and my answer is no, no, no,” Miz said.
“I deserve better than a match with Daniel Bryan,” Miz continued. “So, the answer is no.”
Last week, Daniel Bryan also crashed the premiere party for Miz’s reality TV show “Miz and Mrs.” Bryan will likely have some response to the Miz next week on Smackdown.
SummerSlam 2018 Lineup
Without Bryan vs Miz on the event, there are 9 confirmed matches.
Universal Championship
Brock Lesnar (c) vs Roman Reigns
Raw Women’s Championship
Alexa Bliss (c) vs Ronda Rousey
WWE Championship
AJ Styles (c) vs Samoa Joe
MITB Briefcase Match
Braun Strowman (MITB) vs Kevin Owens
Intercontinental Championship
Dolph Ziggler (c) vs Seth Rollins
Smackdown Women’s Championship
Carmella (c) vs Becky Lynch vs Charlotte Flair
Cruiserweight Championship
Cedric Alexander (c) vs Drew Gulak
United States Championship
Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs Jeff Hardy
While almost everybody expects Daniel Bryan to resign with WWE, the fact that he hasn’t done it yet is surprising to many and is slowly becoming a topic of discussion.
Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that Bryan has not re-signed with the company as of this week and his current contract expires on September 1st.
He has also been removed from some Live Events in near future to lighten his schedule which Bryan had asked for and the officials are working with him to make him happy.
However what’s interesting to note here is that according to Meltzer, the promo Miz cut on him during this week’s episode of SmackDown is proof that the Officials are not happy with Daniel for not resigning yet.
Not only that but while the Wrestling Journalist himself expects the former World Champion to resign, he says that “there’s a lot of weird stuff going on”. Though he didn’t explain this comment further.
Daniel Bryan is currently involved in a rivalry with the Miz and while it hasn’t been announced officially yet, it’s very likely that these two will meet each other in a match at SummerSlam.
It’s believed that the outcome of this bout will be heavily dependent on Bryan’s contractual status and so we should get an idea about his future with the company from how they handle this bout at the PPV.
Daniel Bryan Calls Out The Miz For Match At SummerSlam
On last night’s episode of SmackDown Live, Daniel Bryan challenged The Miz to a match at SummerSlam. Bryan called out Miz for his attack on him last week on Tuesday night. He also mentioned how Miz tortured him for two years when he thought Bryan couldn’t ever wrestle again.
Bryan said once Miz heard that he had been cleared he knew he couldn’t beat him in a fight. Miz appeared on the big screen and claimed to be on location for his Miz & Mrs. show. He also said that he’s done with Bryan. Miz said that if Bryan really wants a match with him to call his agent.
Bryan then belittled Miz’s acting career and said he’ll never be a real star like The Rock and John Cena. Check out the segment here:
Curt Hawkins On How He Relates To The New York Mets
Last night Curt Hawkins’ beloved New York Mets were destroyed 25-4 by the Washington Nationals. It’s rather poetic considering the losing spell Hawkins currently finds himself in as well.
Hawkins recently addressed this when a fan confronted him on Twitter about last night’s game. He said he and The Mets were made for each other:
So how does it feel to be a Mets fan right now? @TheCurtHawkins
Smackdown and 205 Live will emanate from the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida tonight. 2 matches have been confirmed for Smackdown, including the 2nd semi-final match in the Smackdown tag-team tournament. Just one match has been announced for 205 Live tonight.
Smackdown Live 7/31 Preview
Jeff Hardy Confronts Randy Orton
Jeff Hardy wasn’t on Smackdown last week. He was out selling his injuries from Orton’s attack the previous week. 2 weeks ago on Smackdown, Orton attacked Hardy and tried to rip open his stretched earlobe. Last week, Orton cut a scathing promo on the WWE Universe and promised to end Hardy’s WWE return.
Jeff Hardy returns to Smackdown tonight and will confront Orton on the show.
Andrade Almas defeated Rusev on Smackdown last week. This week, Lana has challenged Zelina Vega to a single’s match. It will be Vega’s first match on WWE’s main roster.
Lana won her last single’s match. She defeated Billie Kay in a MITB qualifying match. It was her first single’s victory on the main roster.
Paige announced a 4-team tournament to determine who will challenge the Bludgeon Brothers at SummerSlam. Last week, New Day defeated Sanity to move to the finals of the tournament which will be held next week.
Tonight, two decorated tag-teams will fight for the right to take on the New Day in the finals.
Fallout From Samoa Joe’s Attack On AJ Styles
Samoa Joe will challenge AJ Styles for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam. Joe made a point of attacking and choking out the champion last week.
We should get Style’s response to his new challenger tonight.
Becky Lynch and Carmella Segment
Last week, Becky Lynch defeated Carmella in a non-title match to earn a title shot at SummerSlam. Without James Ellsworth by her side, Carmella is going to be in tough with the surging Lynch.
Daniel Bryan’s Response to the Miz
Last week on Miz TV, the Miz threw a fake baby at Daniel Bryan before attacking him. As we build to a showdown between these longtime rivals, Bryan will be looking for payback tonight.
Expect the Miz to promote his reality show as much as possible.
205 Live Preview
Akira Tozawa and Lio Rush Segment
Tozawa and Lio Rush have been feuding as of late. Rush believes Tozawa is too complacent whereas he takes whatever he wants. Tozawa has been calling for a rematch with Rush but that decision lays in the hands of Drake Maverick.
Cedric Alexander vs the Brian Kendrick
Alexander will defend his title against Drew Gulak at SummerSlam but tonight he’ll have a tune-up match with Brian Kendrick. Gulak will likely be on hand to scout his upcoming opponent. He might even get involved in the match.
Last night’s (Tues. July 24, 2018) episode of SmackDown Live featured some great moments. Andrade “Cien” Almas was in action against Rusev, The New Day collided with Sanity once again and Samoa Joe emerged as the next opponent for AJ Styles’ WWE Title.
After SmackDown Live went off-air WWE held its tapings of 205 Live as well. When the Cruiserweights wrapped up their show, WWE put on a big Six-Man Tag Team dark match featuring some of SmackDown Live’s biggest stars.
WWE Champion AJ Styles, Daniel Bryan and Jeff Hardy took on the team of United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura and The Bar (Sheamus and Cesaro). “The Phenomenal One,” Bryan and Hardy picked up the victory and sent the crowd come happy:
There are conflicting reports regarding Daniel Bryan’s future with WWE and whether or not he has signed a contract extension.
On Sunday afternoon (July 15, 2018), there was a rumor going around online that the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion and SmackDown General Manager had signed a new deal that would keep him in the WWE as his contract is slated to expire on September 1st.
A recent interview came out last week that quoted Bryan by saying that it’s likely that he’ll re-sign with the WWE, which had a lot of fans believing that he would stay with the WWE. That might still be the case but according to longtime pro wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, as of last Friday, Bryan has not signed a new deal.
“Hasn’t signed, or at least hadn’t as of Friday,” Meltzer tweeted. “Not that I don’t expect it to happen.”
As noted, WWE is advertising him for an upcoming SmackDown Live TV event in Detroit, Michigan at the Little Caesars Arena on September 4th as well as for the Super Show-Down event on Saturday, October 6, 2018 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Melbourne, Australia, the European tour in November, SmackDown house shows taking place after September 1, and the live event at the Madison Square Garden on December 26.
Discussion: What are your thoughts on Bryan’s future with the WWE?
Much has been made of Daniel Bryan’s WWE contract expiring later this year. September 1st is believed to be the final date on his current deal with the company. Based on comments he made during WWE’s recent stop in Tapei, however, Bryan won’t be leaving the company anytime soon.
“The wrestling world is an interesting world right now,” Bryan said. “But I love working with WWE and my wife (Brie Bella) is a part of WWE and so there’s a good chance I’ll re-sign.”
“The drive is always to do something better,” he continued. “I want to create a performance next that’s better than any performance I’ve ever done. And when you talk about that, you talk about the high points of my career like main-eventing Wrestlemania 30. That’s the highest you can really get. How do you create things that are as creatively, mentally and emotionally satisfying as that? And that is what I am in the pursuit of.”
Daniel Bryan Likely To Re-Sign With WWE
The 37-year-old also spoke about his upcoming title match at Extreme Rules. Bryan will team with Kane to challenge the Bludgeon Brothers for the Smackdown tag-team Championships.
“I love teaming with Kane,” Bryan said. “When we were tag team champions in the past, that was really one of the most fun parts of my career and so I’m looking forward to getting back with him and doing it.”
When asked, however, Bryan said there aren’t too many youngsters on the Smackdown roster for him to pass his knowledge down to.
“It’s weird. We actually don’t have many young guys on SmackDown,” Bryan said. “Most of them are in their 30s. Almost everyone with the exception of Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas are in their 30s and Andrade has been wresting since he was 15 years old. When you wrestle with people, you learn from wrestling with them and when you talk to people, you’re learning without specifically coming up to somebody and saying, ‘Hey, what do you think about this?’ Just within the process of wrestlers talking, we’re learning about each other’s ideas, about what we are doing, and doing matches with each other. I think everyone is constantly learning within our industry.”
The news that Daniel Bryan’s WWE contract is about to expire has been a popular topic amongst the IWC. His contract is expected to expire on September 1st.
Still Booked Until 2019
While it’s interesting to note that Bryan’s contract is expiring in September, the WWE has him booked for a lot of events post-September.
He is booked for the Super Show-Down in Australia event in October. The second European tour that takes place in November, as well as the MSG Live event in December.
WWE event cards are always subject to change but the fact that Bryan is still advertised for those events have many puzzled on if a new contract is in the works once the old one expires.
Working A Limited Schedule
It has been made known that Bryan would love to work a limited schedule. He has said in past interviews that he was not supposed to be working a full schedule and feels if he does resign then he would like to work limited dates. More on that here.
Currently, Bryan is working on a Team Hell No storyline on Smackdown and if he does work a limited schedule, one would wonder how that would impact the storyline overall. One thing is for sure we’ll have the latest news on Daniel Bryan’s WWE status once September rolls around.
John Cena has given his take on Daniel Bryan being medically allowed to return to the ring under the WWE banner.
Cena recently spoke with Sports Illustrated for a new interview and during the interview, he discussed WWE clearing the former World Heavyweight Champion after being on the sidelines for two years due to his history with concussions.
Cena stated that from a co-worker’s standpoint, it’s great to have him back because Bryan is very good at what he does. Switching to a company-standpoint, he noted that it’s also great because audiences will show up to see him.
“Speaking from a personal standpoint on what I know about Bryan Danielson, I know that he is dedicated to wrestling and loves wrestling. He was so heartbroken when it was taken away from him before it was his decision to give it up. I can’t tell you how happy I am for him to go out there again and live his dream. He gives wrestling his all, and it’s great that he now has the outlet again where it can give something back to him.”
The sports entertainment company is not advertising Cena for any upcoming events. He was last seen when he beat Triple H in the opening match on the main card of the Greatest Royal Rumble pay-per-view event in April.
What are your thoughts on Cena’s comments? Sound off in the comment section.
There is a lot of speculation that Daniel Bryan is getting closer to signing a new contract with the WWE.
It’s been well known that Bryan’s contract is slated to expire on September 1st, 2018. The latest update on this situation is that Bryan has yet to sign a new contract with the WWE. What’s interesting is that the company is advertising him for an upcoming SmackDown Live TV event in Detroit, Michigan at the Little Caesars Arena on September 4th. This could be a further indication that Bryan will sign a new contract with the WWE.
WWE is also advertising him for the upcoming Super Show-Down event on Saturday, October 6, 2018 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Melbourne, Australia despite the fact that it’s taking place in October, a month after his WWE contract expires. Keep in mind that the cards for WWE events are always subject to change.
What are your thoughts on Bryan’s future with the WWE? Sound off in the comment section.
WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan recently joined the Gorilla Position podcast to talk about several professional wrestling topics. Bryan first voiced a bit of frustration with WWE seemingly ignoring his creative suggestion.
Bryan said that should he have an idea on how to better a segment or angle he’s involved in, he’ll throw in his two cents, but to no avail:
“If I see stuff on the show that I don’t like, right, I’ll be like, ‘okay,’ for me, for my stuff, I’ll go in and I’ll say, like, ‘hey, I don’t like this because of this, this, and this. Here’s my idea of how to fix it, how I think it’s better,’” Bryan said.
“And 95% of the time, nothing changes, but I’m not like, ‘you need to do this’ or ‘you need to do that’ or whatever it is. It’s like, ‘hey, this is my opinion from my experience within this business and this is how I think it would work better both for me and who I’m working with.’ But I don’t fight for it because I’m happy to be back.”
Interestingly enough, WWE Hall Of Famer Shawn Michaels recently pulled Bryan aside and explained to him that even stars the calibre of John Cena still have issues with creative:
“So Shawn Michaels once showed me.” Bryan said. “He told me, but he showed me. He said, ‘look at John over there.’ He’s talking about John Cena. ‘He is constantly fighting every week to make sure that his segments are the best possible segments that they can be.’ Right?
“And so, like, that’s a gift that you have to fight every week. And I have to re-get, get back into that mindset of fighting for that and I don’t know that I’m mentally at that place yet. Now I’m just mentally grateful for being back.”
Check out the Daniel Bryan’s full interview with the Gorilla Position podcast:
WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan was recently a guest on the Gorilla Position podcast to talk about several professional wrestling topics. The former WWE World Champion talked about missing his daughter while being on the road, not being there for her first birthday, and having yet to hear her say “dada” in person yet:
“I miss my baby so much.” Bryan said “Yeah, she’s a year old. I missed her first birthday. She said, ‘dada’ for the first time, which I saw on FaceTime, but I still have not seen, like, in person yet.
“And so, now, when I FaceTime her and Brie, she’s like, ‘dada, dada’ and it’s so stinking cute. But I haven’t seen it in person! I just see, like, a screen!”
Bryan really doesn’t want to be on the road as much anymore, as missing out on so much with his young daughter has really been a huge stress on him lately:
“Actually, the biggest thing is that I don’t want to be on the road as much. Like, that’s one of the big things.” Bryan said. “You don’t realize how long you’re away until you’re away because we never had to think about it before.
“Like, when I was gone before or when Brie was gone before, I’d miss her, but we can FaceTime and we can talk, so it’s nice. But when you’re away from your baby, it’s a completely different thing and it hurts your heart. And she… so I will be home for a span of three days out of a month because it was like 10 days for the Saudi trip, 18 days here [on Europe], and only home three days, so that’s 31 days and I’m home for three-and-a-half days.
“A baby grows a lot in a month. Like, she’ll do things when I get back that she wasn’t doing when I left. And some things that she was doing, she’ll no longer be doing. And that kind of stuff makes me sad.”
He then admits that he has discussed working a lighter schedule with WWE. Initially when he was medically cleared he proposed WWE’s medical staff to clear him for a “limited schedule.” After getting cleared, however, Bryan has been on pretty much everything:
“I’ve been talking to WWE about maybe doing a lighter schedule because when we first starting talking about this, when I sent that, when Vince [McMahon] told me to send the letter to Dr. Maroon, he said for me to say, ‘for a limited schedule’, like ‘revised concussion protocol for a limited schedule’, so then, they clear me and I’m just on everything! I was just like, ‘I wasn’t expecting this!'” Bryan laughed.
“Anywhere between 50 and 100 matches a year, to me, [is ideal] because one of the doctors that cleared me at Barrow Neurological [Institute], Dr. Javier Cárdenas talked to me. He said, I think when he cleared me before in 2015, he said, ‘with all the stuff that [Bryan] had done on top of that, like, before I thought we dotted our Is and crossed our Ts, but the stuff you’ve done on your own, you’ve really scratched a big hole over the I and ripped, marked, through the T.’
“And so, he said, ‘just so you know going forward, the less exposure you have, and this is for anybody whether you have a history of it or not, the healthier you’re going to be. So I was thinking, ‘oh, I’ll do 75 to 100 matches a year or whatever it is.’ And now it looks to be way more than that, so if I were to change something, it’d be like I’d kind of like to do less, be away from home [less]. Like, for me, it’s not about wrestling less. It’s like I don’t want to be away from home this much.”
You can listen to Bryan’s interview on the Gorilla Position podcast by clicking this link here.
WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan was recently interviewed by Gorilla Position to talk about several professional wrestling topics. Bryan mainly discussed his rivalry with former WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz. Bryan explained why he and Miz work so well against each other:
“I would describe The Miz as somebody who doesn’t know when to shut his mouth, who doesn’t know when things get taken too far,” Bryan said. “I can be accused of the same thing as well if you look at that Talking [Smack] — I said some pretty derogatory things toward him. I was in the midst of this and I had two options, I was either gonna punch him in the face and honestly the reason he said those things is he knew I wanted to quit.
“He knew I wanted to leave and do the independents if they weren’t gonna clear me. I had said these things in interviews. He said ‘hey if you really believe these things then why don’t you go do it?’ The thing is I had asked for my release and they didn’t give it to me. There was this rage there and it was like, I’m gonna punch this guy in the face or I’m gonna walk off.”
Bryan said he is definitely up for a WrestleMania 35 match against The Miz. The only thing is he questions WWE’s ability to tell the story from now up until next April:
“I am definitely up for it. You ask me that question, I will answer with a question: do you trust WWE telling that story from now until WrestleMania 35? What in the last several years has shown to you that something like that is possible [in WWE]?” Bryan continued, “If something accidentally happens and they’ve got no control over it, it’s possible that it can happen.
“I think that would be awesome. I think it would be something the fans would be excited to see. Whether or not we can prolong because people wanna see me punch Miz in the face. I wanna punch Miz in the face. Whether we can prolong that on television for that period of time, I don’t know.”
As far as dream matches go, Bryan names a bout with Brock Lesnar as his ultimate goal, saying it’d be the ultimate David vs. Goliath story:
“If you’re talking one dream match it would be Brock Lesnar, WrestleMania 35 in Seattle Washington. Because that I think would be the ultimate David and Goliath underdog story in front of a hometown crowd that would be rabid for that. So that would be my dream match and even if it wasn’t WrestleMania, if it was just in Seattle it would be super cool.”
You can listen to Bryan on Gorilla Position by clicking this link here.
Daniel Bryan has been a regular competitor in the WWE for the past several months since being cleared to medically return to the ring. But that doesn’t mean he still doesn’t have some hurdles to overcome with the company.
Bryan has yet to sign a new contract with WWE, and his current one is set to expire very soon. According to a report from Wrestling Standard (f.k.a. PWStream) WWE is preparing in case Bryan decides to leave the company.
These preparations include booking him in matches and storylines that were previously scheduled to take place later this year. Bryan’s contract with WWE expires in September and the company still doesn’t know if he’s going to re-sign.
WWE wants to get the most out of him while they still have him, which explains his recent work against the likes of AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Jeff Hardy and his Team Hell No reunion with Kane.
As for WWE’s plans for Bryan at Extreme Rules, apparently the current plan is for The Miz to cost Team Hell No their shots at the SmackDown Live Tag Team Championships. This will lead to a feud between Bryan and Miz at SummerSlam, a match Miz would likely win. Should Bryan re-sign with WWE, however, that feud could turn into a multi-match rivalry.
Bryan is also said to have signed with the same agency that represents John Cena, as he wants the best deal possible.