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View Full Version : Speculation Rampant That Daniel Bryan Is Seeing WWE’s Dr. Joseph Maroon This Week



Kemo
01-19-2016, 10:25 PM
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One of the biggest ongoing pro wrestling stories of the last two years may finally be coming to a head this week. PWInsider.com’s Mike Johnson is reporting that Bryan Danielson, best known by his WWE name of Daniel Bryan, will be heading to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania this week, presumably to visit Dr. Joseph Maroon. Bryan is appearing at the World of Wheels convention in Pittsburgh this weekend, so it’s not clear how much of what Johnson is saying is speculation vs. hinting at something he can’t say outright. Seth Rollins was the originally scheduled WWE guest for the convention and the change was made fairly late (WrestlingInc.com’s Raj Giri reported it just eight days ago on January 11th), so this could be a situation of “killing two birds with one stone.” That’s entirely speculative, though.

Maroon, who’s based in the city, heads WWE’s Talent Wellness Program, and when prospective WWE talent gets medical testing done, it’s done in Pittsburgh.Danielson has been out of action since early last spring, when he was sidelined with a concussion. Since then, while he’s been cleared by his own neurologist, who was the neurologist for last year’s Super Bowl, as being good to wrestle. Reportedly, Maroon is concerned that he’s suffered too many concussions over the course of his career to clear him.

Danielson has, at bare minimum, suffered seven diagnosed concussions during his career. That’s going by his book and other public reports. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer recently pegged the number as ten diagnosed concussions, but the number is likely more if you include undiagnosed trauma. While probably the most well-adjusted human being in the business outside of the ring, Danielson is a risk taker in his matches and has a bit of an obsessive streak about being able to wrestle.

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When he was out of action in 2014 from neck and elbow injuries that caused weakness in his arm, he started learning every kind of pro wrestling and grappling move that he could do one-armed. He figured that he could get cleared and change his style to be “that wrestler who’s able to be great only using one arm.” Most famously, he lost his temper for the only time in his whole career to scream at Triple H for stopping a 2013 Randy Orton match he was set to win cleanly because he suffered a stinger. It’s not entirely unreasonable for WWE to feel the need to protect Danielson from himself.

There’s also the issue of the lawsuits against WWE alleging that WWE hid the dangers of head trauma among other things. These lawsuits are still ongoing, and the plaintiffs got a major victory last week when, in one of the cases, the judge lifted a stay that barred discovery, or WWE having to produce documents. That means that the lawsuits aren’t going away for at least a little while, and if that’s a factor, then I wouldn’t expect Danielson to be cleared as long as the cases are outstanding.

Big Evil
01-19-2016, 10:46 PM
They need to stop screwing with Daniel Bryan on this. If the man is healthy, then let him wrestle. I wouldn't be surprised if 1) Vince just doesn't want Bryan back in his ring period, or 2) Vince wanted to hold off on Bryan coming back until (or after) the Royal Rumble. We all saw the reaction WWE received when Bryan got eliminated last year. I don't know where WWE stands on this, but if Bryan comes back in the Rumble and doesn't win there will be another heavy backlash and I don't think the WWE wants that. Still, it would be nice to see him come back.

Kemo
01-19-2016, 11:59 PM
They need to stop screwing with Daniel Bryan on this. If the man is healthy, then let him wrestle. I wouldn't be surprised if 1) Vince just doesn't want Bryan back in his ring period, or 2) Vince wanted to hold off on Bryan coming back until (or after) the Royal Rumble. We all saw the reaction WWE received when Bryan got eliminated last year. I don't know where WWE stands on this, but if Bryan comes back in the Rumble and doesn't win there will be another heavy backlash and I don't think the WWE wants that. Still, it would be nice to see him come back.

I agree with you. But I'm starting to think this might be a work. It'll be funny if they end up "clearing" him right before 'Mania.