Backstage News On Daniel Bryan Possibly Returning To The Ring

WWE is even more strongly teasing the idea of a Daniel Bryan vs. Shane McMahon feud on SmackDown LIVE.

There have been minor teases as part of the storyline where McMahon wants Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn fired, but Bryan keeps delaying it.

At WWE Clash of Champions on Dec. 17, Shane will try to maintain control as guest referee in a tag team showdown pitting Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura against Owens and Zayn. If Owens and Zayn lose the match, they are gone from all of WWE.

This has led to speculation it is leading to Shane vs. Bryan. According to Dave Meltzer in the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, that match isn’t under discussion since there has been no change in Bryan’s status as far as being medically cleared to wrestle again.

Another reason rumors are going around that Bryan has been cleared is that he’s being advertised locally to be a special referee at the Dec. 26 SmackDown LIVE taping in Chicago. It’s not clear if that’ll be in a televised match or just a dark match, but WWE felt it needed something special since they are running TV events in Chicago on both Christmas Day and Dec. 26, and ticket sales for the latter show needed a boost.

Sources close to the situation confirmed last week that nothing has changed regarding Bryan and WWE, and WWE told Meltzer on Monday that reports of Bryan being cleared to resume wrestling are inaccurate.

Vince McMahon has made it clear to Bryan that the decision will come from Dr. Joseph Maroon. At this point, the angle they are doing with Shane is not meant to build to a match, at least not between the two of them, just like the situation last year with The Miz never built to a match.

If he is cleared by Maroon, that would all change. There has been talk of Bryan wrestling at SummerSlam and working a limited schedule if he does get cleared.

Bryan has been strong on returning to the ring next October when his WWE contract expires, but he also made it clear if he gets a negative test before he sets out to wrestle again, he will not wrestle.