Advertisement

Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan to retire

Daniel Bryan celebrates after winning the main event during Wrestlemania XXX. Bryan announced his retirement from the WWE on Monday due to medical issues.

Daniel Bryan celebrates after winning the main event during Wrestlemania XXX. Bryan announced his retirement from the WWE on Monday due to medical issues.

(Jonathan Bachman / AP Images )
Share

In a turn that was dismaying, if not surprising, former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan announced his retirement from professional wrestling Monday with a single tweet. The message was then echoed on WWE.com, and Bryan explained that although the reason for his immediate retirement was related to lingering medical issues, he would expound upon the matter on Monday night’s edition of “WWE Raw.”

Bryan has not wrestled for nearly a year, since being waylaid by concussion-related injuries in April 2015.

Advertisement

Bryan’s career in the WWE began in earnest in 2010 and he toiled for several years before becoming an unconventional marquee player. Despite not having the appearance of a typical WWE champion (Bryan is just 5’10” and 210 pounds), Bryan was a hit with audiences, and his “Yes!” chant grew so popular that it began appearing in unconventional places, like a Michigan State/Ohio State basketball game in January 2014.

See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour >>

Shortly after, in April 2014, Bryan ascended to that highest rung in the WWE, winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania XXX in April 2014. But Bryan’s time in the spotlight became short-lived when he was sidelined by neck surgery in May of 2014 and again in April of 2015 due to concussion-related injuries.

Concussion-related injuries continue to be a hot-button issue in all of sports, with the NFL constantly embroiled in controversy surrounding the medical implications of repeated concussions and the lingering effects of chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

There’s no word at this time what Bryan will do in the wake of his retirement.

Bryan is set to explain more about his decision on Monday’s “WWE Raw” airing on USA at 8 p.m.

Advertisement

libby.hill@latimes.com

Follow me @midwestspitfire

MORE:

‘Lucha Underground’ captures diverse L.A. in a wrestling ring, with tights and melodrama

Everything you need to know about Jon Stewart hosting WWE’s SummerSlam

Pro wrestling remembers legend Dusty Rhodes

Advertisement
Advertisement