WWE clears Daniel Bryan to return to in-ring action

[Burke]

www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/article/daniel-bryan-makes-huge-announcement

Hopefully he's not gonna be doing any headbutts.

[Mutant Couch]

You made a thread just as I was posting about it elsewhere. Way to make me look like an asshole. Anyway, copy and paste.

I wasn't expecting to actually be excited about Bryan being cleared to wrestle, but I am. He was dropping too many hints and comments so it was safe to assume he was already cleared by outside doctors. I am curious how much he was cleared to do. If it's just going to be part time with safe partners or full-time.

[Burke]

If he didn't get cleared then about a years worth of SD storylines would have been for nothing because Bryan vs. Shane or them vs. Owens/Zayn was the only logical way to end any of it.

[Mutant Couch]

They've dropped things for worse reasons.

[Burke]

Once they let Kurt Angle's brain damaged zombie ass wrestle again I figured anyone could get cleared unless they're like 80 years old.

[Tarry]

I'm glad WWE doctors have cleared him, because I've been worried that this dumbass was going to go out onto the indies or to Japan to get himself killed.

I need Bryan vs. Styles ASAP.

[Brandon]

Paige next, please.

[Astrozombie]

Anything to get outta changing Biridie's diapers I guess

[Brandon]

[Brandon]

I was thinking about this yesterday and say what you want, but The Miz is Bryan’s nemisis, so I hope they get a really big program out of this.

[Brandon]

Tea.

Do the Zayn/Owens thing, feud with Miz, and retire on your own terms before Birdie is the one strolling him around.

[Mutant Couch]

Him and Miz work great off each other and you can tell they're both having fun doing it. So yeah a decent program with Miz would be great. Also they can leave Brie out of it. Not interested in a rehash of the Cena feud.

I don't understand the Owens/Zayn feud. How in the world is Shane still playing the face? They're really going to drag Shane/Bryan out to SummerSlam, aren't they?

Also part time would be great it would give a chance for all the matches people want to see, Styles, Balor, Joe, Nakamura, Hideo, and obviously I want to see Gargano.

[Mutant Couch]

Exclusive: Doctor Who Cleared WWE's Daniel Bryan For Wrestling Return Says He Shows No Evidence of Prior Brain Injury
By Tufayel Ahmed On 3/23/18 at 12:19 PM

The unlikely comeback story of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) favorite Daniel Bryan shook the grappling world this week. Two years after emotionally announcing his retirement from the ring, WWE said Tuesday the former world heavyweight champion, real name Bryan Danielson, has been cleared to compete again. Like his underdog character on WWE shows Raw and SmackDown Live, the real-life Danielson has seemingly overcome insurmountable odds. Upon retiring in February 2016, Danielson told ESPN he had suffered at least 10 documented concussions during his 16-year career and had even experienced post-concussion seizures “that I hid for a long time.”

But three top neurological doctors, and WWE’s own medical director Dr. Joseph Maroon, have given the veteran grappler the all-clear.

WWE said in a statement Tuesday that Danielson, 36, underwent “extensive evaluations” during his two years of retirement. “[Danielson] underwent a full review of his medical history and received comprehensive neurological and physical evaluations independent of WWE.”

One of the doctors that greenlit Danielson for an in-ring return is no stranger to dealing with athletes. Neurosurgeon Dr. Robert Cantu is a leading expert in concussions who consults with teams across the National Football League (NFL), National Basketball Association (NBA) and National Hockey League (NHL). He also has his own concussion treatment center at Emerson Hospital in Concord, Massachusetts.

Cantu tells Newsweek that upon evaluation of Danielson’s medical records in February, he found no sign of concussion-related injuries precluding the wrestler from returning to the ring.

“I evaluated Bryan for a neurological opinion on return to WWE on February 26, 2018. Included in his medical records were multiple evaluations by renowned concussion clinicians,” says Cantu by email.

“I determined that Bryan is currently asymptomatic, has a normal detailed neurological and cognitive neuropsychological examination, normal EEG, and an MRI that showed no definite evidence of a prior brain injury. It is my medical opinion that there is no absolute contraindication to his return to in-ring action in WWE."

Cantu is also one of the foremost experts in chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disease that has been found in athletes and army veterans who are at risk of repeat head trauma. Currently, the most definitive diagnosis of CTE is during an autopsy of the brain after death. However, symptoms of CTE can be diagnosed in the living, including depression, aggressive behavior and dementia.

In 2007, Cantu was one of three neurological experts who diagnosed what is said to be the first case of CTE in professional wrestling in Chris Benoit.

www.newsweek.com/exclusive-doctor-who-cleared-wwes-daniel-bryan-wrestling-return-says-he-shows-858934

So from the sound of it WWE was scared because of the CTE lawsuits and with most of them being thrown out or dropped now they finally decided to listen to the experts who backed what Bryan was saying all along. No wonder he was bitter about them not clearing him.

I'm happy for him and his family and even more happy I can enjoy his return without any guilt. I still hope he sticks to a toned down style. Also, I'm 100% looking into hyperbaric oxygen treatments if I ever get concussed even one time.

[Tarry]

All these dream matches and we have to sit through a feud with Big Cass 💀