Views From The Turnbuckle: Saying Goodbye To Daniel Bryan

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In wrestling, fans have been conditioned to expect talents to extend their careers to the absolute maximum. The history of wrestling is littered with men who have wrestled far beyond what their bodies would typically allow. Part of the reason people resented the fact that CM Punk retired from wrestling was because of those expectations. You keep wrestling until you have absolutely no other choice but to retire. A guy retiring with his health so in-tact that he can go compete in a contact sport? Well, that is just wrong and feels like an affront to the fans. It isn't and we shouldn't expect that out of our wrestlers, but when you see stars like The Undertaker, Hulk Hogan and Sting wrestling into their 50s, that is the expectancy that is developed.

Daniel Bryan didn't have a choice and his retirement speech on Monday ended months of speculation on his status. Bryan may not have broken his neck, or had some obvious physical injury, but if contact sports have learned anything over the last few years it is that concussions are every bit as sinister as a broken neck. Looking at Bryan standing in the ring on Monday and during workout sessions that are posted on social media, he looks completely healthy and ready to put on a five-star match. Appearances can be deceiving however, and as Bryan elaborated on Monday, he was not healthy and he couldn't continue to wrestle anymore.

As some former wrestlers pointed out, as sad as Bryan's exit from wrestling is, it's also a bittersweet triumph for the wrestlers. A wrestler's overall health was put ahead of money and the will to continue on; a situation that happens all too infrequently in this business. Even just a couple of years ago, Bryan would probably still be wrestling today. But as health sciences improve, it is extremely prudent to be evaluating the health and safety of the men and women who work in an industry where living to the age of 60 is viewed as a great accomplishment.

As fans, we feel for Daniel Bryan, because he was a tremendous hero that everyone loved. It is cruel and unfair that a wrestler so beloved and so talented had to end his career right as he was peaking. However, Bryan is actually one of the lucky ones. Bryan is getting out of the business before he does even more damage to his body, I'm sure there are plenty of wrestlers who wish they stopped earlier in their career.

For other wrestlers, guys who toil away on the independents and take chair shots in front of hundreds of people for little money, the options for them are fewer. Bryan certainly made good money as a top guy in WWE, even for just a couple years, and he has plenty of options to continue being paid by WWE, whether that be as a trainer, announcer, or ambassador. Other wrestlers are not as fortunate, they get just as injured as WWE wrestlers but they don't have the resources to see top brain surgeons and to retire from wrestling early.

Bryan's retirement speech was particularly sad because unlike a lot of other wrestlers who have had gut-wrenching retirement speeches, Bryan was retiring well before he was ready. A couple years ago, Edge gave a similar speech in that he was going to retire pre-maturely. This was very sad also, but Edge also had wrestled a long career filled with world title reigns, memorable matches, and long feuds. If Edge was not forced to retire, he might have had a couple more world title reigns and been involved in some good feuds, but ultimately we probably wouldn't think all that much different about his career than we do right now. Edge left nothing on the table.

On the other hand, Bryan was just beginning to reach his zenith before injuries began to take their toll. Injuries, along with sub-standard booking, prevented Bryan from having a meaningful world title reign. Some people don't like to admit it, but Bryan was unquestionably the most popular wrestler in the world, even more than John Cena. No talent had been so universally beloved since the heyday of Stone Cold Steve Austin. If you polled WWE fans on which wrestler they would least like to see be injured, Daniel Bryan would win that poll handily.

Bryan was so popular because he was the perfect self-made wrestler, a guy that wasn't blessed with great natural size or athleticism who just outworked everyone else to get to the top. There were so many obstacles in his way, a lot of them put there by the very company he was working so hard to represent, and he did it. Looking back in 30 or 40 years at Bryan's career, he will be penalized because his time on top was so brief. He wasn't the top guy in the company for 5-10 years, he didn't have long title reigns and he was only at the top for about 18 months. That shouldn't change the fact that the guy was the most popular wrestler in the world, more popular than anybody has been in almost 15 years. Bryan not getting a chance to ride his wave of momentum until it crashed onto the shore is one of the most unfair things to ever happen in the wrestling industry.

The last time I saw Daniel Bryan live and in-person was in Providence, RI at a Monday Night Raw show in January of 2014. Bryan had been a reluctant part of the The Wyatt Family for the last several weeks, but this night he turned against Bray Wyatt in a steel cage match. Bryan ended up kicking the hell out of Wyatt and climbed to the top of the cage and started a Yes! chant. 95 percent of the audience, which is as about as universal as you can get these days, joined in, and the moment surreal to witness in person. It is my favorite memory I have from attending any wrestling show, and it sucks that other fans will no longer get to experience it the way I did.