Daniel Bryan Taking WWE Time Off Soon, Bryan Says He No Longer Wants To Be A Full-Time Wrestler

WWE SmackDown Superstar Daniel Bryan is looking to become a part-time wrestler here soon.

Bryan recently appeared on the official podcast of 2020 WWE Hall of Famers The Bella Twins, heard below, and revealed that WWE will be giving him 6 weeks off for paternity leave in a few months when wife Brie Bella gives birth to their second child.

"WWE has been great, they're going to give me 6 weeks of maternity leave," Bryan said. "Which so few places in the United States do that. So, I'll get to be home that first 6 weeks, but after that it's not long until my contract is up."

Bryan continued talking about his WWE contract expiring later this year and said he's been talking about what is next after that.

"We've been talking about what we do from there, but to me, in my mind, it's almost... I think I'm just done being a full-time wrestler. You know what I mean?"

Bella then chimed in and pointed to how Bryan has found his new passion, being a dad, and Bryan agreed. Bryan said he'd like to wrestle once a month or once every few months.

"And that's the thing – I love being a dad. I will always love wrestling. I will always love wrestling," Bryan said, adding the emphasis. "And I will always want to do wrestling, but when I say 'always want to do wrestling' that means maybe once a month, or once every couple of months."

Brie later noted how she and Bryan have it down to an easy process now, with a nanny traveling with them, but they feel like a second child is going to force them to change their schedules and their careers.

Bryan was forced to officially retire from in-ring action back in early 2016 due to concussion-related issues. It was believed that he would never return to the ring, but he worked hard to get medically cleared to compete, and was finally cleared more than two years later, on March 20, 2018. Bryan then returned to the ring at WrestleMania 34 on April 8, 2018, and wrestled his first match since April 14, 2015. WrestleMania 34 saw Bryan and Shane McMahon defeat Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. Bryan has been a member of the active roster ever since.

There's no word yet on what kind of talks WWE has had with Bryan about his future with the company, or exactly what Bryan has planned. Stay tuned for updates as we get closer to the 6 weeks of maternity leave, which will likely see him written out of the storylines until he's brought back. The Bella Twins announced their pregnancies back in late January.

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