WWE SmackDown Live General Manager Daniel Bryan was interviewed by radio personality and pro wrestling enthusiast Peter Rosenberg.
Apparently, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon called Bryan about retiring live on RAW though the former world champion was initially reluctant to call it a pro wrestling career at that point in time.
“I get the call from Vince McMahon on a Saturday and I retire on a Monday in Seattle, Washington. And I got a call on a Saturday from Vince McMahon and said, ‘I would like you to retire Monday in Seattle. I just think it would be the best for you,’ that sort of thing. At first, I said, ‘I don’t want to do it.’ And then, I talked to Brie and called him back and I was like, ‘hey, if I’m going to have to retire, my mom can be there, my friends can be there, there can be this support system around me.'”
Bryan noted, “I was very thankful that WWE gave me such a platform to retire on, but it was just a hard day.”
Bryan claimed that he was offered the CWC commentary gig, but he was “told” by WWE brass he had to be SmackDown GM.
“They asked me to do commentary for a thing that they did called the Cruiserweight Classic, which was on the WWE Network. And they asked me to do that, and I said, ‘yeah, that sounds great!’ It’s only 10 episodes and I only have too go do it a couple of times, and I get to help this young, independent talent because they were all unsigned talent at the time. And I thought it was great, but then, they told me, ‘you’re coming back as the General Manager.’ That wasn’t a question. That’s not an ask. And I was like, ‘argh, I don’t know if I want to do this.'”
