Upside of Daniel Bryan Returning to the WWE Ring Doesn't Outweigh the Negatives

The idea of Daniel Bryan stepping back into a WWE ring is a fantasy. There is too much at risk for it to be anything other than that.

Fans will continue to speculate about the former WWE world champion having one more match, and rumors will long circulate about a possible return. But Bryan's head injuries make all of that hollow buzz. 

A confrontation with The Miz resurrected that conversation, creating visions of Bryan slipping his wrestling boots back on once more.

Bryan and the intercontinental champion both appeared on the WWE Network show Talking Smack after SmackDown on Aug. 23. After Bryan criticized The Miz for wrestling "like a coward," the interview turned into a showcase of The Miz's fire-breathing skills.

The IC champ blasted Bryan for not returning to action after suffering his latest concussion. He told the SmackDown general manager that if he really loved wrestling, he would quit WWE and head back to the independent circuit.

The enthralling promo left many a fan wondering if the heel's needling might lead to a Bryan-Miz matchup down the road.

Stephen Totilo wrote on TMI, "WWE's motivations for keeping Bryan out of the ring may be myriad, though none completely explain why, in a business of scripted matches, it couldn't let him safely wrestle through a final match."

And to further stir up the pot, a rumor pointed to WWE being open to the idea of welcoming Bryan back. Anthony DiMoro reported for Forbes, "According to a source with inside knowledge, WWE has not completely shut the door on a Daniel Bryan return to the ring."

Stop it. 

Talk of Bryan wrestling again is ludicrous. He didn't retire at 35 because of an everyday injury; he walked away from what he loves doing most because of head trauma.

During his retirement speech on Raw this February, he revealed he's had numerous concussions, including three within the first five months of his time as a wrestler.

Bryan long fought the WWE doctors, looking for proof elsewhere he was healthy enough to perform again. He instead found he was in worse shape than he thought.

He said in his Raw farewell, "A week-and-a-half ago I took a test that said maybe my brain isn't as OK as I thought it was. And I have a family to think about."

More of the truth would soon emerge. 

When Bryan and his wife, Brie Bella, appeared on ABC News, they talked of post-concussion seizures that he hid from everyone. Brie said of first seeing him experience one, "It scared me so bad. I lost it."

On ESPN's Off the Top Rope, Bryan told Jonathan Coachman he doesn't even know how many concussions he's had. An electroencephalogram (EEG), a test to detect abnormalities in the brain wave patterns, revealed some "slowing" and a chronic lesion.

That was enough to convince Bryan to retire, and it should be enough to squash the thought of him wrestling again. More blows to the head could worsen his seizures, increase the chances he develops CTE and put his long-term health in danger.

And for what?  

One last match?  A showdown with The Miz to build on the buzz of this promo? A WrestleMania clash where either Bryan reigns in his trademark devil-may-care in-ring style until it's unrecognizable or we cringe as a group at every bump he takes?

A fanbase that witnessed the tragic end to Chris Benoit's life should know better.

After suffering repeated head trauma during his wrestling career, Benoit killed his family and committed suicide. Tests performed by Julian Bailes of the Sports Legacy Institute showed that "Benoit's brain was so severely damaged it resembled the brain of an 85-year-old Alzheimer's patient," per ABC News.

And Benoit told former WWE wrestler Chris Nowinski, as Bob Hohler of the Boston Globe noted, he experienced, "more [concussions] than I can count."

That sounds hauntingly familiar.