Daniel Bryan Relinquishes Intercontinental Championship, Out Indefinitely
May 12, 2015
The wrestling gods simply can't let Daniel Bryan have nice things.
Less than two months after winning the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 31, Bryan was forced to surrender the title for health reasons, per WWE:
Bryan revealed he may not ever be able to wrestle again:
The news doesn't come as a big surprise. He was removed from the Extreme Rules pay-per-view after failing to receive medical clearance. Prior to that, WWE pulled Bryan early from its European tour in mid-April.
The timing is also coincidental, as it was roughly a year that Bryan had neck surgery, which prematurely ended his World Heavyweight Championship reign.
Given all of his health troubles of late, there was a sense of finality to Bryan's promo Monday night. His in-ring career could well be over. It was like when Edge showed up shortly after WrestleMania 28 and announced his retirement out of nowhere.
NXT announcer Corey Graves was forced to retire because of injury as well, so he is speaking from experience:
Even if this is the end for Bryan, artist Rob Schamberger believes the WWE Superstar has already left a lasting impression:
Bryan didn't eliminate the chance he could return to the ring, but he also said there's no telling if he'll get back to a place physically where he would be able to wrestle again.
No matter what happens, though, fans will always have Bryan toppling all three members of Evolution at WrestleMania 30.