Any fan of Bryan Danielson knows he had serious injuries that impacted his brain—specifically concussions suffered in the ring. He was forced to retire due to these concussions, as at the time WWE was highly sensitive to wrestlers suffering concussions after the tragic event involving Chris Benoit and the issues it cause for WWE. Many felt that it was they, their schedule and the such, that was somehow responsible for what transpired.
It was since 2007 that WWE got a tad more careful, and it was Bryan Danielson who suffered at the hands of such care, he stating that at times he felt way too coddled within that company.
via ESPN /YouTube
He went through a battery of impact tests to make his triumphant return to WWE in 2018, but just as he mentioned in a media scrum following his debut in AEW at All Out a few short months ago, he stated that it essentially wasn’t the same after that “retirement” that he had taken.
He also announced that it was one of the reasons he had chosen AEW now, as he would be allowed to do what he loves to do, which was wrestle highly physical matches that the fans love to see.
Which is exactly what he has been doing, as we can plainly see on episodes of Rampage and Dynamite, and although he is wrestling less matches a week (WWE has wrestlers doing matches on tour house shows—untelevised—something they’ve been doing since the dawn of time), he is delivering the caliber of match that he wants to deliver to the adoring fans.
via Instinct Culture by Denise Salcedo /YouTube
It was during the media scrum after Full Gear, where he garnered that Number 1 Contender spot for the AEW World Championship, that he spoke a little about this and his current health condition. He said:
“So I don’t do the impact testing anymore. To be honest, I haven’t done an impact test in years. But I do regularly keep up with a neurologist who I see pretty much every month. There are these new tests called SPECT scans which monitor the oxygen flow in your brain and all that kind of stuff…
Because I keep working on it and keep doing different things, my SPECT scans keep getting better and better. I think last time he said that they were better than your average 25-year-old with no head trauma. We’re going to see how valid these SPECT scans are and some of the other stuff.”
It’s great news for him and it’s great news for his fans. What’s also great, is the match between him and Adam Page that should be getting some heat pretty soon, or at least it should. I’d say that qualifies as a dream match.
