Daniel Bryan Says WrestleMania May Have Been A Sign To Stop Wrestling Full Time
Former WWE Champion Daniel Bryan recently sat down with BT Sport to reflect on his WrestleMania 37 main event with Edge and Roman Reigns. Bryan admitted he felt detached before the match, and he discussed whether he has watched the match back and what his detached feeling means for his future.
"I haven't watched it back yet to be honest. I don't know if watching it back would really help figure out why I was so detached," Bryan admitted. "I'm not a big believer in signs. Most people think of me like this hippy-dippy kind of thing because I'm an environmentalist, but I'm really not. I really love science and reality-based things. But maybe it's a sign that it's time to let go of being a full-time wrestler, which is kind of what I've been thinking for a while.
"When I first started training Shawn Michaels said, 'The second that you don't get nervous right before you go out, that's when you need to retire,' and I don't necessarily believe that because for a long time, I haven't gotten nervous before I go out. I'm excited because it's fun, but the odd detachment was like whoa, maybe it's either I'm gonna die (Bryan laughs) or it's time. Maybe this is just a sign that this isn't the same type of fulfilling that it was before, so it's interesting. I don't know. I just said I'm not hippy-dippy, and I've been trying to meditate on it and talk to my friends that I'm close with to be like, 'Hey, what is that?'"
Bryan later discussed his WWE contract status. He talked about what he has to do to remain present for his two kids and maintain the excitement level that his kids express to him.
"So my contract's actually up relatively soon," Bryan revealed. "I'm still trying to figure out what I'm doing with my life (Bryan chuckles). I'm going to be 40 soon with two kids. I've been on lone dad duty. Brie [Bella] had a couple days with the girls. I was like, 'Oh my gosh, Brie has this every week!' With one kid, I don't want to say it's easy, but throw in two kids and one of them being a baby baby and it's just like, oh my gosh, I'm juggling all these things.
"There's that, and I just love spending time with my kids, and sometimes I feel like being on the road every week — you leave. You come back. When you come back, you're tired. I didn't drink coffee before we had our daughter. I still hate the taste of it, but when I come home on a Saturday, I coffee up (Bryan gestures drinking coffee with both hands).
"She's super excited to see me, and I'm super excited to see her, but if I come and be like, 'Sweet girl, I'm so excited to see you! Daddy's got to go take a nap.' She'd be like, 'Oh, he doesn't really seem that excited to see me. He just wants to go sleep,' and so I have to coffee up. I got this last week off of TV and the difference in energy that I have for my kids is like, whoa, this is really nice, but I don't know what I'm doing with my life. I'm still trying to figure it out."
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit BT Sport with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.