Daniel Bryan Clarifies His WWE Contract Does Not Expire In September
WWE star Daniel Bryan spoke with TV Line where they discussed his contractual status. With Bryan's WWE contract set to expire later this year, the former WWE Champion revealed that it won't be expiring when everyone expects.
"It's funny that people gravitate towards the date 'September,' and I think it's because that's when my last contract ended, but it doesn't end in September," Bryan revealed. "I'm still trying to figure out what that looks like."
Bryan didn't reveal when his contract would be up later or earlier. He did however bring up the struggle between finding the balance to keep wrestling and spend more time with his family.
"I had a tag team match on SmackDown (recently) and it was a lot of fun," Bryan said. "But my neck was just wrecked. I'm going to be 40 in May and my daughter likes to get on my shoulders to pick leaves from a Japanese maple in front of our house. You get to that point where it's like, how long can I do this full-time and still be able to do those kinds of things with my daughter? What's the right balance between part-time and that sort of thing? It may be that it's just every once in a while when the urge strikes, or maybe like a schedule where it's like eight months on, these months off.
"One of the coolest things about wrestling, and just be being an independent contractor in general, is that you can say, 'Well, I really only want to do this amount of work.' What that amount of work is, I have no idea yet. I still have to figure it out.
"But I also need to be respectful of the people who are relying on me to go to work. I have to give them an answer sooner rather than later. I'm trying to figure that out, trying to be responsible as an employee of somebody who's taken care of our family very well. But then also, trying to take the time to figure it out."
Later Bryan was asked whether he had consulted with any other wrestlers, such as Steve Austin, about what to do in this situation.
"Honestly, I haven't," Bryan said. "I just talked to my friends and my family about it. We all know the risks of continuing to do this and the return on the risk.
"My neck injury wasn't nearly as bad as Steve Austin's and our generation pays a lot closer attention to taking care of their bodies than the previous generation. That's the same with every sport. That's why Tom Brady is able to quarterback the Super Bowl at 43, that's why LeBron James is still the best basketball player in the NBA at 37.
"We just have a lot more information and we're able to take care of our bodies better. When you're 20 and wrestling, you can go pedal to the metal in every single match. Now I know if my body's not feeling so great, I'm going to have to ease up a bit. I'm a little more respectful of my body."