Brie Bella Retiring After Post-WrestleMania 32 Raw

Daniel Bryan's health issues play part in Diva hanging up her boots.

According to a report from Pro Wrestling Sheet, former Divas' Champion Brie Bella will be retiring much sooner than anticipated - her last booking with WWE will be April 4's Raw, the night after WrestleMania 32. The report also mentioned that her accelerated departure is due in part to health issues her husband, Daniel Bryan, is facing. Bella announced her decision to retire last month, though initially she was expected to compete until the summer. Despite Bryan's retirement in early February, Bella insisted that her own decision was independent of her husband's and had come as a result of her desire to start a family. Bryan made news earlier this week when he pulled out of all of his upcoming scheduled appearances with WWE, including an East Coast house show tour, WrestleMania Axxess, and a post-'Mania European tour. Though WWE offered no insight on the cancellations beyond the fact that Bryan asked for time off and was granted it, this report paints an upsetting if unspecific picture. Pro Wrestling Sheet also attributes Brie's missing this week's Raw to Bryan's health. Bella, who has been feuding with Lana as of late, is scheduled to face her rival in a multi-diva tag team match at WrestleMania. While that may be her swan song as an active wrestler, Pro Wrestling Sheet reports that she will still be part of E!'s "Total Divas" show.

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Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried. *Best Crowd of the Year, 2013