Bryan cleared for return to ring
When it was announced Tuesday that Daniel Bryan had (finally) been cleared by WWE蘑菇视频 medical doctors to return to the ring after more than two years away, it created shock waves in the pro wrestling world.
However, it was not surprising as Bryan蘑菇视频 return has been a topic in this column on numerous occasions.
The announcement came Tuesday afternoon and Bryan began Smackdown Live with an emotional promo talking about returning to the ring.
The most likely storyline will lead Bryan and Shane McMahon to team up at WrestleMania and take on Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn with the match more than likely being under no-DQ rules or in an unsanctioned match.
So how did Bryan蘑菇视频 return finally come about?
There have been some reports that Bryan had been cleared by several doctors a few weeks ago and his return was a mere formality.
Dr. Robert Cantu, a leading expert in concussions who consults with teams across the NBA, NHL and NFL and has his own concussion treatment center at Emerson Hospital in Concord, Mass., spoke this week to Newsweek.
鈥淚 evaluated Bryan for a neurological opinion on return to WWE on Feb. 26 鈥� included in his medical records were multiple evaluations by renowned concussion clinicians,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 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.
鈥淚t is my medical opinion that there is no absolute contraindication to his return to in-ring action in WWE.鈥�
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE will have Bryan under strict concussion protocol from here on out as Bryan agreed that after every match, he will go backstage and be examined by WWE doctors, including getting an impact test done and a neuropsychological evaluation.
Bryan was going to go see Pittsburgh-based Dr. Maroon this Tuesday at Smackdown, but Vince McMahon moved up the appointment to get a jump on a storyline for Mania.
It will be interesting to see, now that Bryan is headed back into the ring, how soon he signs a new deal with WWE. His current deal expires on Sept. 1, and it was widely speculated that Bryan would leave WWE and wrestle elsewhere.
That won鈥檛 be the case now, and Smackdown live just received a massive jolt to its show.
Hogan back to WWE?
It appears Hulk Hogan is back in the good graces of WWE and will be signing with the company shortly, although his exact role is not publicly known at this time.
He could end up being the new commissioner of Smackdown or he could just make appearances for the company as a goodwill ambassador.
The craziest rumor out there is that he would be Braun Strowman蘑菇视频 tag partner to face Cesaro and Sheamus for the Raw tag titles at Mania.
Mysterio update
Last week we looked at Rey Mysterio signing with Aro Lucha, but that will have no bearing on a WWE deal.
WWE and Mysterio may have been at odds as to how often he would wrestle as he was looking for a reduced schedule while the company wanted him on the road frequently.
Mixed Tag Team Challenge continues Tuesday
As expected, The Miz and Asuka advanced to the finals of the WWE Mixed Match Challenge on Facebook Watch with a win over Braun Strowman and Alexa Bliss.
The second semifinal takes place when Bobby Roode and Charlotte Flair take on Finn Balor and Sasha Banks.
Balor and Banks had lost in the quarterfinals, but were voted back in by WWE fans in a second-chance poll, earning 40 percent of the votes.
On this date:
In 1984, Andre the Giant loses a WWE match, yet it mysteriously wasn鈥檛 counted during his 15-year undefeated streak leading into his Mania III match against Hulk Hogan.
On the card, he teamed with Jimmy 鈥淪uperfly鈥� Snuka and lost by DQ to 鈥淩owdy鈥� Roddy Piper and David Schultz.
In 2002, WWE held its first draft from the Bryce Jordan Center on the campus of Penn State.
This week蘑菇视频 questions:
Is there any truth to the rumor that Brock Lesnar will lose the Universal title to Roman Reigns because he is going back to UFC? Jeremy Gray, Connellsville.
While it appears Lesnar is going back to UFC, he has been penciled in to lose the title to Reigns at Mania for over a year, so Lesnar蘑菇视频 UFC return has no bearing on the finish.
Do you think there will be surprises at WrestleMania? J.J. McKnight, Uniontown.
There always are, so I expect there to be a few!