Uh, did WWE just formally announce that DB is getting back in the ring!?

www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/article/daniel-bryan-makes-huge-announcement

Well holy shit. This might get me to tune in!

Though they'll never recapture the magic.

Just came to post this. Since I'm not Dukezilla I guess I won't make a separate thread.

I literally teared up when I read it. I couldn’t be more excited.

And just like that, I care again. The crowd is going to go mental.

YES! This is incredible.

WHAT

WH....WHAT!?

WHAAAAAATTT OH FUCK YES!!! WOOOOOOOOO!!!

I have to speculate though...do you think they tried to get him cleared before last week's segment so he could save Shane from that beat down? Because when Shane was getting his ass kicked in the ring, I was fully expecting Daniel Bryan to run in for some reason. The set up was so perfect, and the crowd would have collectively seizured into oblivion if his music had hit in that moment.

Whatever though, this is incredible news. Shane & D-Bry vs. Owens & Zayn at Mania. I can't wait.

i still don't believe it

"Look, this angle with Shane, Kevin and Sami is built perfectly for my return to the ring. You guys have to clear me."
"We're sorry, Daniel, we just can't take that kind of risk."
"Risk? Like if, for example, I went....ALL IN?"
"CONGRATULATIONS YOU'RE CLEARED!"

THIS....IS....THE....GREATEST....NEWS!!!!!!!

Just hope he doesn't get hurt right away and it's all for nothing. Then again it's not likely he'd be working a full schedule odds are.

Mar 20, 2018 21:21:06 GMT @ness said:

Just hope he doesn't get hurt right away and it's all for nothing. Then again it's not likely he'd be working a full schedule odds are.

99% certain he'll fight at Wrestlemania, then not again until Summerslam at the earliest. He's going to be working a Brock Lesnar schedule, I bet.

Also, it should totally be that way anyway. He's the GM. It should be a HUGE deal if the GM is stepping in the ring, whether it's Daniel Bryan or not.

Just checking to make sure it’s not April fool and thankfully it isn’t!!!

I got the message earlier and was excited to see everyone’s reactions here.

Shane and D-Bry vs Owens and Zayn. Should be fun. They should’ve made this announcement on Smackdown though. It would’ve gotten a huge reaction in the arena and the world.

Mar 20, 2018 21:50:01 GMT KING KID said:

I got the message earlier and was excited to see everyone’s reactions here.

Shane and D-Bry vs Owens and Zayn. Should be fun. They should’ve made this announcement on Smackdown though. It would’ve gotten a huge reaction in the arena and the world.

I think the announcement was made early so that more eyeballs would be tuned into SmackDown tonight.

Amazing news. Bryan's retirement (and Punk leaving) was basically the reason I stopped watching for a couple of years, so this is tremendously exciting, especially considering I'm not getting especially excited about anything particular on the Mania card.

The announcement tonight should be amazing.

Holy shit. This won't be getting me watching WWE full time, but I'll be watching his matches just like I watch Brock Lesnar matches.

Someone needs to get me up to speed on this Shane/Owens/Zayn angle if this is what Bryan is going to be doing. Any must-watch segments?

Just pencil in Bryan/Nakamura for Wrestlemania 35 and take my goddamn money now.

Here's hoping the swell of fan support from the reignited YES! movement can derail WrestleMania plans again! We've already had Brock/Roman... give us Brock/Bryan!

So many eyes on Smackdown and the crowd is going to go absolutely apeshit, this is awesome.

We might finally get a Bryan/Miz payoff... I can dream can't I.

This is incredible!

Mar 20, 2018 23:05:46 GMT Emperor said:

Holy shit. This won't be getting me watching WWE full time, but I'll be watching his matches just like I watch Brock Lesnar matches.

Someone needs to get me up to speed on this Shane/Owens/Zayn angle if this is what Bryan is going to be doing. Any must-watch segments?

It's been a surprisingly good story involving these three for several months now.

Quick summary of what I remember...

-Shane McMahon was the special guest referee for some reason in the United States title match at Summerslam when Kevin Owens challenged AJ Styles for the title. Styles retained and Owens blamed Shane even though he called the match fairly.

-Shane and Owens fought in the main event at Hell in a Cell later that year and it was a pretty damn good match. The match ended when Shane attempted an elbow drop off the cell onto Owens and Sami Zayn interfered, pulling Owens out of the way and helping him cover Shane for the win. I think there was a stipulation like Kevin had to leave Smackdown if he lost or something.

-There's a really good promo on the Smackdown after this PPV where Sami explains his actions:



-Owens and Zayn have been likened to Nelson Muntz and Martin Prince at this point, with Team Discovery Channel jokes making their rounds on the internet:



-The feud with The New Day over a spot on the Smackdown Survivor Series team. Owens and Zayn get left off and eventually fight a pre-show match against Breezeango that they easily win. They use this as fuel as to why Shane McMahon is treating "the best stars on Smackdown" unfairly.

-Daniel Bryan gets tied into this and Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn start the "YEP!" movement on Smackdown. I don't know much about this part or how Daniel Bryan got involved so someone else can fill this in.

-Owens and Zayn eventually fight AJ Styles in an attempt to become the first ever Co-WWE Champions at the Royal Rumble. They lose. Things get rocky between Owens and Zayn and they eventually fight each other. Their egos get the better of them and they fight matches against Baron Corbin and Dolph Ziggler with the stipulation that if Corbin or Ziggler win, they get into the title match at Fastlane. They both win and get in (as does John Cena by beating AJ Styles in a non-title match...this how we got the six-pack clusterfuck at Fastlane).

-At Fastlane Shane McMahon knows Owens and Zayn might try some antics so he stands at ringside during the match. Halfway through the fight, Kevin Owens tries to Superkick Sami Zayn as he's arguing with Shane McMahon, Sami moves and Shane gets caught. Moments later, Owens hits a Pop-up Powerbomb and is about to win the title, but Shane interferes and pulls him off. Shortly after that, Sami hits a Helluva Kick on someone and goes for the cover...Shane pulls him off too. AJ Styles would eventually retain the title.

-On Smackdown last week, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn kicked the living shit out of Shane McMahonafter he announced he was stepping down as Smackdown Commissioner :



Many people thought Daniel Bryan was going to come to Shane's rescue here. Obviously he didn't, but with this recent news....who knows?

This is absolutely incredible news.

Hopefully this means Daniel Bryan/AJ Styles, and Daniel Bryan/Shineske Nakamura, down the road.

Oh and of course The Miz as well.

I would laugh my ass off if he still left in the fall for New Japan/RoH. It's getting to crunch time on his contract, what else would WWE do?

I'm as big a fan of Dragon you'll find. I was there at Unified when he battled Nigel. I've followed and loved him and become convinced and never wavered from my belief that there has been no one better since 2006 than him. In all facets. He is just extraordinary.

However, I was content. He had his Wrestlemania moment and as much as I missed Dragon, I was happy he was healthy. The stories of him losing sensation in his neck and arms and stuff scares the hell out of me. I'm aware he must be in peak shape to have got cleared, but that is now. I know you can never predict the future, but I hope he takes it easy in terms of schedule. He is a cash cow and there is so much fresh stuff for him to do now. Let him do the occasional tag match or short match on a house show and let him channel all his efforts into weekly TV. With how he wrestled (it's all or nothing), I don't like the idea of a full-time schedule, or anything nearing that.

A few have already been mentioned but what's the #1 potential match you guys are looking forward to now Daniel's back?

I know they're both babyface AF but I think Bryan vs Johnny Gargano would be mine.

Styles and Lesnar are my ideal opponents for him within WWE. Particularly the former.

In NJPW, basically everyone. But especially Zack Sabre Jr. and Naito.

It's got to be AJ/Bryan

However, Nakamura is a close second.

Then you have Angle (a dream match of mine), BRAUN (Dragon has always excelled against big men), Zayn and I'm not even counting the NXT guys and those speak for themselves (Dunne, Almas, Gargano, etc)

Just WOW.

After he has matches against Shane, Sami, and Kevin I would really like to see a main event match against AJ.