WWE SmackDown Superstar Daniel Bryan has confirmed that his WWE contract is expiring soon, and that the company is transitioning him into more of a part-time wrestler.
As seen in the video below, Bryan spoke with BT Sport and was asked how he feels about his body these days, and about his longevity. Bryan talked about how parenthood is his top priority right now and while he still loves pro wrestling, he’s looking to become a full-time dad and a part-time wrestler.
“So, I’m confident in my body and longevity,” Bryan said. “But it’s also… now my life, I’ve got a little bit different priorities as far as like… I still love wrestling and I feel like I’ll always love wrestling, and as long as I can do it I’ll do it, but do I want to continue wrestling full-time? When, like, you’ve got two babies at home, also… I just say how much I love wrestling and there’s this weird part of me, and even talking about it now, and I’ve been wrestling for over 20 years now, it fills me with this joy and it almost gives me like an energy, like, when I start thinking about it, it’s like, ‘Ooooh,’ kind of the shakes, right?
“But now I have things in my life that I love more than wrestling that give me that same… that give me a different feeling but also like, OK, so like, I just FaceTimed with my wife and our kids, before I got here to work. We’re here filming shows for like a week, right? And my daughter just goes, ‘Daddy, can you come home now?’ And I was like, ‘No, I’m sorry sweet girl, I’ll be home tomorrow.’ She’s like, ‘Can I come see you?’ And I’m like, ‘No.’ And she’s like, ‘Well I miss you.’ And it’s like, awww, and taking my daughter… just going on a walk with her or whatever it is, where she holds my hand and that sort of thing, and like our little boy, the way… I don’t know if you have kids but parents will appreciate this because these stages don’t last for a very long time. So you want to be able to appreciate it. He’s at this stage where he’s like, nuzzling in my neck for a long time and soon that’s going to stop, right?”
“And part of my just wants to focus mostly on that because soon they’re going to be in school and they’re not going to lay on my chest. Like my daughter wants to sleep with us every night or whatever, and we don’t let her sleep with us every night, or even half the nights, but like sometimes I go sleep in her room, and I’m not like a giant man, but it’s a tiny bed, but it’s so… like there’s just the feeling of it is unlike anything else, in a sense of like, it fills you with this joy that’s kind of undefinable, you know?”
Bryan continued and talked about his WWE future.
“So now I’m just kind of switching priorities in my life where for years wrestling took up kind of the key focus and all that kind of stuff,” he said. “My contract is coming up soon and not to say that… but we’re looking to transitioning me into maybe less than a full-time wrestler. My time of being a full-time wrestler are numbered and I’m more going to be like a full-time dad, part-time wrestler, right? [laughs] Wrestling is my side job, daddying is my most important job.”
Bryan has been away from WWE TV more than not since wife Brie Bella gave birth to their second child in late summer. He will be in action on Friday’s Christmas edition of SmackDown, and has been rumored for a feud with WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns.
Stay tuned for more.
"I'm switching priorities in my life. My contract is coming up soon, and we'll be looking at me transitioning to less than a full-time wrestler."
"I'll be a full-time dad, part-time wrestler."@WWEDanielBryan will always love wrestling, but priorities change ❤️
Respect. pic.twitter.com/35eOCRCVAF
— WWE on BT Sport (@btsportwwe) December 23, 2020
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