Sports Illustrated has a new interview up with WWE star Daniel Bryan, promoting the release of his new autobiography. Here are some excerpts from the interview:
On his current health status:
“I’d like to return to the ring tomorrow, it’s not an issue of how I feel—I feel great—it’s an issue of getting cleared. That’s a process that is somewhat out of my hands. I’m trying. I don’t want to push, push, push. I’ve made my statement to WWE, but they’re going to listen to their doctors. I’m trying to do it as soon as possible, but they’re looking out for my best interests, so I’m trying to be a little bit patient with them.”
On his desire to return to the ring after 2 years plagued with injuries:
“I really don’t know life without wrestling, I’ve taken all these neuropsychological exams, and my brain, right now, is healthier than most people my age who’ve never even had a concussion.”
On comments made by Bret Hart saying that his career was over:
“Everybody’s situation is different, Bret’s situation was different than my situation. With my history of concussions, the WWE wants to protect me, so I’ve had to take a lot of neurological testing. I’ve been cleared by my neurologist in Phoenix, who was the neurologist for the Super Bowl. So it’s just a matter of getting cleared by WWE doctors. Obviously they’re concerned for my health with the history that I’ve had.”
On the process to get cleared from a concussion:
“They take a baseline test when you are 100% healthy, testing your neurological capabilities, the first thing you do after a concussion is take another impact test. It’s a pretty thorough process. The issue for me is that, after the concussion, my symptoms stayed a little longer than they should have. Typically the symptoms only stay about a week, but mine stayed for over three.”
SI.com: Daniel Bryan on concussions, his uncertain WWE future