Triple H Says He Was Afraid Daniel Bryan Would Leave WWE To Wrestle Elsewhere
Triple H made the rounds at ESPN earlier this week and spoke to them about Daniel Bryan's WWE in-ring clearance, noting that Bryan was preparing as best he could before WWE cleared him.
"There's a certain point in time when Daniel is not still cleared by us, but he's gotten clearance from his team and his people and all his things, and I'm sure he was already training and doing things," Triple H said. "Maybe not taking bumps, but training and doing the things he wanted to do to get himself back in shape just in case this did happen. So while we were making him go to additional doctors ... and running more tests and doing all these things to ensure that everything was all right, he was preparing."
Before Bryan got the chance to get back in the ring, Triple H said he was hoping Bryan wouldn't just throw his hands up about the situation and leave WWE to go somewhere else and wrestle.
"Part of me was so afraid in the period of time when it [was] all going down that he was going to walk and say 'forget it' and go wrestle for someone else that doesn't care, that doesn't take their health into consideration — because that's pretty much everywhere else — and risk his life and his health and his family and his baby and risk all of it," Triple H responded. "And it's not worth that. We take enough risk every day in what we do. Every day. Luckily we never got there, and luckily things worked out. It's funny, because as Bryan was putting out things like, 'I'm going to do this if they won't let me do that,' he was already working the information. He was already getting those tests done. He was already getting that stuff done. ... Looking back on it, he was already prepping. He was prepping everything about it."
Triple H was also asked about his WrestleMania 30 match against Bryan and how it eventually lead to Bryan becoming a WWE Champion.
"I put so much more pressure on myself to [lose] to somebody than I ever did to win a title because ... I just want it to be [such a big moment] for this guy," said Triple H. "Watching that story evolve over that long period of time — from a behind-the-scenes standpoint — being behind it with him and being like, 'Man, I know this is not the plan right this moment, but this is where we need to go.' Just seeing that feeling and getting to that moment, having that match with him and having that moment, and knowing what's coming later and being out there in that moment for him ... when you have the circumstances that all work out to make this fairy-tale moment — it's just awesome."
At WrestleMania 34, Triple H will team up with Stephanie McMahon to take on Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle. In another tag match, Daniel Bryan is scheduled to team with Shane McMahon against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.
You can check out the full interview by clicking here.