Daniel Bryan Teases ROH Match With Cody Rhodes
Final countdown or cheap trolling?
As Cody Rhodes defeated Christopher Daniels to become the new ROH World Champion on Friday night, he was sent a message of support from former champ Daniel Bryan. The SmackDown boss sent the former WWE superstar some love over Twitter, confirming the important role being ROH champion played in his genesis as a wrestler:
Intriguingly - and rather mischievously - Bryan also teased that he'll come after Rhodes if he holds the belt for longer than 462 days, inevitably sending fans into excited raptures. It doesn't sound like Bryan has given up on that fervent desire to get back in the ring just yet.
The reality is, of course, that there's no way that WWE would let Bryan get back into the ring on their watch after his medically enforced retirement in 2016. Not unless something dramatic changes. This exchange comes after Bryan spoke with Sports Illustrated’s Extra Mustard about a potential return to the ring with WWE:
“I’m working on it. Wrestling is more of a creative outlet, and especially for somebody like me, I view it as my creative outlet. Not all WWE superstars and not all wrestlers view it that way, but that’s how I view it and that’s one of the ways my mind works creatively.”
Inevitably that - admittedly vague - response elicited speculation that he has plans in the long term, with Dave Meltzer basically ruling out the possibility of that being in WWE:
“I don’t see Vince [McMahon] going against [Dr. Joseph] Maroon. As long as Maroon is there, I don’t see Maroon changing his tune on this. It’s possible he will, but I don’t think so, and if he doesn’t I don’t see Vince…for Vince to go against the advice of his lead doctor, that would be disastrous, potentially.”
So does this flirting with a ROH return suggest he's got his sights set on a ring-return away from WWE? Or is he simply entertaining himself? There does appear to be some self-awareness to what he's doing...