“I think I would still be retired” – Bryan Danielson discusses why his stint as SmackDown General Manager was important for his career

Bryan Danielson discusses why his stint as SmackDown General Manager was important for his career. The AEW star was forced to retire before eventually making his way back.

Bryan Danielson had a slow start to his WWE career before the crowd got behind him and he was crowned the WWE Champion in one of the most iconic Wrestlemania moments. However, the mat was pulled from under him when he was forced to retire in 2016. Many, including Danielson believed that his career was over.

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Danielson made his WWE return shortly after his retirement. Not as a wrestler but as the manager of SmackDown instead. While speaking on WEEI’s Twitch, Danielson spoke of the importance of that role in making his return as a pro-wrestler.

Bryan Danielson discusses why his stint as SmackDown General Manager was important for his career

“It was really hard because I think I would still be retired if WWE didn’t have me come back and be the general manager. I really love wrestling and I didn’t want to have to retire, I was forced to retire. They brought me in as a general manager and I was around it every single week. I think I would have gone off and started my own little organic farm or something.

I would have been like, ‘Okay, I had a great time wrestling, but now I’ve transitioned into this other part of my life,’ but being around it but not actually being able to do the thing I love was really really hard. Then I started doing all these different medical treatments that are a little bit out there and a little bit wild and a couple of years later I ended up getting cleared. My passion for wrestling is so deep that if you put me around it too long, I will want to get in there.”

Danielson wrestled his first match post his retirement at 2018’s Wrestlemania. This was his first match since April 2015. He went on to have another run with the WWE Championship. Danielson even main evented this year’s Wrestlemania before jumping ship to AEW at the All Out pay-per-view.

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