Triple H spoke with the Express on Daniel Bryan’s return to the ring after being cleared earlier this week. Bryan hasn’t wrestled since April of 2015, shortly after he won the WWE Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 31. He retired the following February after an EEG test revealed slowing of brain activity and a small lesion in an area of his brain that causes seizures. Bryan had reportedly suffered two seizures and over 20 concussions in his career.
Triple H said while Bryan has been cleared, they are planning on keeping a close eye on his health.
“He’s cleared his return to the ring, we’ll absolutely keep an eye out,” Triple H said. “As I said the other day, our first and foremost responsibility is the health and well-being of our talent when they are on the roster with us, so we want them to be as healthy as possible. That is extremely important to us and we will always try to do what is best for their health, their well-being and this situation is no different.”
It was noted in The Wrestling Observer Newsletter that as part of Bryan’s agreement with WWE to get cleared was he would go to WWE doctors backstage after every match and get Impact testing and a neuropsychological evaluation done until WWE is comfortable that he’s okay.
Triple H said WWE was well aware of Bryan doing everything he could to get cleared, including be checked out by numerous neurologists, some of which he was directed to by WWE Medical Director Dr. Joseph Maroon over the past two months.
“We knew of it, we knew what he was doing,” Triple H responded. “At the end of the day we take the advice of the best medical people out there. When those medical people came to us and said Daniel Bryan should no longer compete that is what we went with.”
He continued that Bryan’s fight stayed the course on until he showed enough evidence that it was safe to give him another chance in a WWE ring.
“And in some ways broke our hearts to have to tell Daniel that and [break] his heart,” Triple H admitted. “Like he said it was his dream and he would not quit on his dream. He fought for it. Whether or not that fight would have been in vain, none of us knew, but over time he began to show us results that were totally different to [what] the medical professionals [showed previously] and it got to a point where he could return to action.”
While not confirmed, Bryan is expected to team with Shane McMahon against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn at WrestleMania 34.
Triple H also discussed more about Daniel Bryan. You can check out the full interview by clicking here.
