The wrestling world was rocked last night when Daniel Bryan tweeted that he was retiring from wrestling with immediate effect due medical reasons stemming from the many concussions he has suffered from throughout his wrestling career.
Twitter was flooded with touching tributes to the man that broke down barriers and proved that “indie” guys can make it in the big time.
Making RAW a must watch event the highly emotional speech ensured there was not a dry eye in the house and the final YES chant a truly touching experience.
He connected with the wrestlers and crowds alike who took him into their hearts and made him their representative and symbol of change from the WWE norm. His look, style and size challenged the established WWE “mould” but it was his character, passion and personality that made him such a huge fan favourite.
Wrestlemania 30 will forever be remembered as Yestlemania and the moment when Bryan established himself as a main event star. However this stellar achievement was over all too soon as injuries would render him unable to compete and he was stripped of the Championship.
His return a 8 months later saw him again capture gold at Wrestlemania 31 this time the Intercontinental Championship. Pushed as the saviour of the once highly esteemed title he once more forced to vacate it because of injury. After months on the sidelines his future in the ring was heavily speculated with many hoping for a dream return only to have the nightmare confirmed yesterday. A truly heartbreaking end to a career of a man you could see adored what he did. There only remains two things to say. Thank you Daniel Bryan the WWE will never be the same without you.