“WWE has come to terms on the release of NXT first season rookie Daniel Bryan (Bryan Danielson) as of today June 11, 2010. We wish Daniel Bryan the best in all future endeavors.”
Posted by WWE.com
Since this statement was released I’ve been bombarded with messages asking me if it’s real, and by now I’m sure that most people know that it is.
WWE is very serious about adhering to their PG guidelines, and apparently my actions during the NXT attack on John Cena, namely choking announcer Justin Roberts with his tie and spitting in Cena’s face, crossed the boundaries of what is considered “PG.” Perhaps the choking was too violent or perhaps the spit was too demeaning. I apologized for both immediately following the incident; but I would be a hypocrite if I apologized for putting everything I have into the attack. I would much rather have gone too far than to come up too short.
As with anyone who gets fired from their job, especially when they feel its unjust, I am angry. Very angry. But I can’t fault WWE for how they handled my release. My contract contained a 90 day no-compete clause in the event I was let go, yet the WWE has graciously allowed me start wrestling again on any show that’s not taped for television or pay per view.
So with the negatives there also come positives. Before I got signed by WWE last October, I worked hard to bring new fans to independent wrestling. But with most of us having little national exposure the only thing we could do was wrestle our hearts out and hope for word of mouth. Now that I’ve appeared on WWE television in front of millions of new fans, things are different. My goal is to garner as much interest in independent wrestling over the next 90 days as I possibly can. I hope that some of the people who enjoyed watching me wrestle on TV will give independent companies such as Evolve, Dragon Gate USA and Ring of Honor a chance. I think most of you would enjoy the intimacy between the fans and the wrestlers and the intensity of the action; if you ask the fans who went to the Chikara or AIW shows I was on this weekend, I’m sure 99% of them had a great time. So if you’ve never been to an independent show, go ahead and dip your toes in... you might find that the water is pretty nice.
As far as what happens after 90 days, nobody knows. I’ve “heard” that TNA is interested. There are petitions going around to get me back into WWE and the last several weeks there have been fans chanting my names at their shows. People have even brought signs showing their support. And though most of the signs get taken away and though WWE may not be listening to your chants or petitions, I truly appreciate all the support over the last several weeks. It is both overwhelming and heartwarming. But regardless of what offers come in, I am in no rush to make any rash decisions. I enjoy my freedom as much as I enjoyed the benefits offered by being in WWE. My future, as usual, is uncertain. But I am enjoying my return to the independents. I’m hoping to see some of you there.
