Daniel Bryan Comments on Health, Desire to Wrestle During ESPN Interview

Daniel Bryan announced his retirement from in-ring competition in February due to concussions, but the leader of the Yes Movement still has a desire to return to action. 

According to ESPN.com's Brian Campbell, the SmackDown general manager revealed on SportsCenter's Off the Top Rope segment with Jonathan Coachman on Wednesday that he continues to push for the resumption of his professional wrestling career:

"

If you were to ask me nine days out of 10, I would say, 'Absolutely!' I keep trying to convince people that I'm OK to wrestle, and I think that's probably the hard part. A lot of times I'm trying to convince myself, too, that I can wrestle. It's really hard, because the concussion issue is very subjective, and that's the part that a lot of people don't understand.

"

Although Bryan revealed in February he had suffered seizures due to concussion issues, he told Coachman he currently feels completely healthy:

"

I was cleared by a lot of concussion specialists. There was one test that kind of flagged me, but then the more I learned about that test, the more I learned, 'Hey, maybe that shouldn't have stopped me.'

There's a lot more than meets the eye to this situation. I feel great, and I feel like every day that I can wrestle. I'm doing jiu-jitsu and kickboxing and stuff like that, and I feel 100 percent.

"

WWE played up to the 35-year-old former world heavyweight champion's plight recently on an episode of Talking Smack following SmackDown.

Bryan had a heated confrontation with WWE intercontinental champion The Miz in which Miz called Bryan a coward for retiring and urged him to quit WWE and wrestle in bingo halls as part of the independent scene, as seen in this video, courtesy of WWE Network:

That led to speculation and hope among fans that WWE was potentially angling toward Bryan's return to in-ring action, but Bryan's comments suggest he has been met with resistance to this point.

Bryan last wrestled on an episode of SmackDown in April 2015 shortly after winning the IC title at WrestleMania 31.

There is unquestionably a huge demand from the WWE fanbase to see Bryan back as an active wrestler, but with WWE and other sports entities more aware than ever before of the impact of concussions, he likely has many hurdles to clear before a return could ever become reality.

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