Daniel Bryan On If This Year's WrestleMania Is His Last

Daniel Bryan talked with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated before his WWE Universal Championship Match against Roman Reigns at tonight's WWE Fastlane.

With his WWE contract up later this year, the soon-to-be 40 year old Bryan was asked if this year's WrestleMania would be his final. Bryan admitted that it's possible, but it's not likely to be his final match of his wrestling career.

"Realistically, it could be," Bryan said. "But there is a difference between saying this could be my last WrestleMania compared to this being my last match. After being forced to retire, I never want to retire again. It will be interesting to see what happens with my career. I don't know if I can do the full-time WWE schedule anymore.

"I'm not talking physically; I'm talking emotionally. I love being a dad. There isn't much that could keep me away from being a full-time wrestler. My favorite thing in wrestling is live events. I love that. The only thing that can stop me from doing that is how much I love my kids and how much I love being with them at home.

"When my daughter says to me, 'Daddy, please don't go,' it's so hard. My wife is incredible, and she can do everything, but there is just something special when Mommy and Daddy are both home. And I love being a parent. But we're struggling with that because I also want to show them what it's like to love what you do. I love this work that I do. So it's about finding a balance between loving what you do and being there for your kids when you need them. It will probably be a work in progress until my contract is up in a couple years."

In regards to tonight's PPV, Bryan looks to take the WWE Universal Championship away from Roman Reigns, potentially switching up the WrestleMania title match that also involves Edge. The Rated R Superstar will be at ringside for tonight's match as a special enforcer. For Bryan, he's looking to cast some doubt on who exactly will wrestle for the title at WWE's biggest show of the year.

"The hard thing about the idea of a triple threat is that Edge was forced to retire almost 10 years ago, and him coming back is a really powerful story," Bryan stated. "What I think the story needed more than anything else was to make the WrestleMania match between Roman and Edge not a sure thing. We've cast doubt on that. The idea of me versus Edge at WrestleMania is pretty cool. Two guys forced to retire, and now we're both back.

"All that's to say, I don't think Edge and Roman need Daniel Bryan involved in the story. What I do think is exciting for the fans is that now there is a lot of doubt about the match you're going to see at WrestleMania, and I think that's really fun. Will it be me and Edge? Or me in a triple-threat? Or Edge and Roman? The more passion you drum up for this, the better it is for everybody."

WWE Fastlane is at 7 pm ET tonight on the WWE Network and Peacock.