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Thank you Daniel Bryan
10 years ago
A personal hero of mine had to make an extremely difficult decision yesterday, and I want to express my deepest respect, condolences and gratitude to him.
Last night Daniel Bryan officially announced he was permanently retiring from professional wrestling due to chronic concussion-related medical issues. He had been benched since April of last year and everyone was immensely curious whether he would ever be medically cleared again, but sadly we now know the answer is no: Daniel Bryan has retired at the age of 34, after giving sixteen years of his life to the industry.
I think it's fair to say he was the most beloved man in all of professional wrestling. Ridiculously talented both in the ring and on the mic, with an endearing sense of humor and a connection to the audience that seemed to come as naturally to him as breathing, he was the embodiment of the term "fan favorite". In an industry where 6-foot tall bodybuilders are still the norm, Daniel Bryan came in standing at 5 foot 8, with a vegan diet and a massive beard, and carved out a niche for himself using nothing but talent, charisma, and an almost saintlike humility. He was the ultimate underdog, involving the fans in ways we'd never seen before and may well never see again.
For me personally, Daniel Bryan is the whole reason I got into wrestling. In 2014 I stumbled across a review of Wrestlemania 30, and the author's description was so vivid that I decided to torrent the show and see whether it could live up to such lofty language. And it did - it really, really, really did. To this day I have yet to experience a moment in wrestling more beautifully, viscerally satisfying than seeing Daniel Bryan win the World Heavyweight Championship on the grandest stage of them all. It was that rarest of all flowers in professional wrestling; it was everyone getting exactly what they wanted.
I wish him and his family the very best of luck in whatever they plan to do next, and I hope that these concussion issues can diminish over time. That man deserves to live as long and happy a life as possible after all he has given us. Oh, and WWE? He better be heading into the Hall of Fame next year: no one deserves it more than him.
Thank you for all the wonderful memories, Daniel. The Yes Movement will never stop cheering for you.
Last night Daniel Bryan officially announced he was permanently retiring from professional wrestling due to chronic concussion-related medical issues. He had been benched since April of last year and everyone was immensely curious whether he would ever be medically cleared again, but sadly we now know the answer is no: Daniel Bryan has retired at the age of 34, after giving sixteen years of his life to the industry.
I think it's fair to say he was the most beloved man in all of professional wrestling. Ridiculously talented both in the ring and on the mic, with an endearing sense of humor and a connection to the audience that seemed to come as naturally to him as breathing, he was the embodiment of the term "fan favorite". In an industry where 6-foot tall bodybuilders are still the norm, Daniel Bryan came in standing at 5 foot 8, with a vegan diet and a massive beard, and carved out a niche for himself using nothing but talent, charisma, and an almost saintlike humility. He was the ultimate underdog, involving the fans in ways we'd never seen before and may well never see again.
For me personally, Daniel Bryan is the whole reason I got into wrestling. In 2014 I stumbled across a review of Wrestlemania 30, and the author's description was so vivid that I decided to torrent the show and see whether it could live up to such lofty language. And it did - it really, really, really did. To this day I have yet to experience a moment in wrestling more beautifully, viscerally satisfying than seeing Daniel Bryan win the World Heavyweight Championship on the grandest stage of them all. It was that rarest of all flowers in professional wrestling; it was everyone getting exactly what they wanted.
I wish him and his family the very best of luck in whatever they plan to do next, and I hope that these concussion issues can diminish over time. That man deserves to live as long and happy a life as possible after all he has given us. Oh, and WWE? He better be heading into the Hall of Fame next year: no one deserves it more than him.
Thank you for all the wonderful memories, Daniel. The Yes Movement will never stop cheering for you.
The main reason so many people are devastated by the news is because this genuinely, non-sarcastically couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. Daniel Bryan wasn't just beloved by the fans, he was also immensely respected among his peers, and a major supporter in the fight against pediatric cancer. Even in his farewell speech (wherein he also snuck in one last plug for Wigs For Kids, a charity that lets people donate hair to make wigs for children who've undergone chemotherapy) he insisted that he was filled not with sadness, but rather with gratitude for getting to do what he loved for 16 years, and for the fans supporting him throughout that time. If wrestling had an equivalent to Mister Rogers, it would be Daniel Bryan.
in any case, I don't know much to say other than general wellwishes to this guy in his retirement. but I sure hope his plans for training the next generation go smoothly. ^_^