Backstage Update On Daniel Bryan’s WWE Status

Are the recent WWE mentions of D-Bry leading to his imminent return?

by Andrew Pollard
Daniel Bryan
WWE

With Daniel Bryan having been namedropped on WWE programming recently, now comes an update of sorts on the status of the American Dragon.

Of course, any time that WWE mentions an absent star on TV, that gets tongues wagging that said star is set to imminently return. As such, hearing Bryan mentioned on SmackDown as part of the ongoing rivalry between Edge and Roman Reigns has people speculating that D-Bry is soon to be back on our screens.

In an update from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, these mentions of Bryan are not an indicator that the five-time World Champion is returning to WWE any time soon. Instead, these references are merely being made as part of said feud between Edge and Reigns.

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Daniel Bryan was last seen on the 30 April episode of SmackDown, losing to Universal Champion Roman Reigns in a Career vs. Title contest. In reality, Bryan’s WWE contract expired at that time and the Yes Man has subsequently been a free agent for these past few months.

Despite obvious online scuttlebutt that Bryan Danielson will sign with AEW, the belief is still that Bryan will eventually end up re-signing with WWE. At this point, though, there is no word on the Washington native having formally penned a new WWE deal.

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Senior Writer
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.