Daniel Bryan Talks Reaction To WWE Firing In 2010, If He Would Retire After Having A Child, More

On the latest edition of the Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast, Roberts welcomed former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan to the show. In addition to discussing his injury and his new book, Yes!: My Improbable Journey to the Main Event of WrestleMania, Bryan talked about being fired by WWE in 2010 and his future retirement plans.

When asked how Bryan was able to stay positive after being fired by WWE in 2010, he claimed that he " just [is] not bothered by much" and kept his expectations low: "[r]ealistically, when I first came to WWE, I was kind of expecting bad things to happen."

Bryan stated that he signed with WWE after being a "starving artist" on the independent scene "to save up money for retirement because, otherwise, I need to find something else to do [for a living]." With that said, Bryan found himself making less money in NXT than in the independents: "when I was on the NXT deal, I was making less money than I was when I was on the independents."

Part of Bryan's optimism following his WWE departure was based on his belief that he would see better pay and more bookings in the independent scene.

"[W]hen Vince [McMahon] calls me to tell me that he's firing me, I was like, 'wow'. The first thing that went through my head is that this was a big deal, people are going to be upset about this, like, the hardcore independent fans, at least. I didn't think it was going to be, they were going to be as upset as people were, but then from here, I'll be able to make, at least for the next year or two, I'll be able to go to Japan; I'll be able to do all this kind of stuff, stuff that I was doing, but get paid more from it."

Additionally, Bryan did not believe that his dream of being a WWE Superstar was over.

"I didn't think it was over," Bryan said. "[WWE] willl bring me back at some point, but not any time soon. I thought it would be a year or two. And actually, in my mind, I was thinking, well, this gives me an opportunity to make more money on the independents, like, just the demand will be more."

When asked if Bryan would wrestle until he could no longer physically do it, Bryan replied, "no, so this is the issue. So I don't know if you're up on your Total Divas, but Brie [Bella] really wants to have a baby. And so, I think, when their [Bella Twins] contracts are up, I know Nikki [Bella] still wants to keep wrestling. Brie would like to [keep wrestling], but she's ready to have a baby and I'm also ready to be a father. You know, like, as far as things that are important in my life, and that sort of thing. The battle has been with this, that, between the two of us, is not whether we want to have babies now – it's whether or not, like, there is this struggle of whether or not I would want to be on the road while having a child."

Bryan suggested that he may be tempted to retire from the ring following the birth of his first child because he does not want to miss important moments in the child's life; however, "[i]f I can keep wrestling after we have our first baby, I probably should and the deal is that I'm passionate about wrestling." Bryan added, "I love wrestling."

To listen to the interview in its entirety, click here.

Source: Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast