Daniel Bryan Relinquished His WWE Intercontinental Title in a Heartfelt Speech

Daniel Bryan, who had been absent from WWE programming for a little over a month after being injured in a match against Sheamus, returned to Raw last night with some bad news — doctors did not know when, or whether, he’d be able to wrestle again, and he had to relinquish his Intercontinental championship belt that he’d won at WrestleMania.

Before the Philistines jump in the comments with the WRESTLING IS FAKE stuff, try and empathize with this man for a minute. He dreamed and toiled for his whole life to reach the pinnacle of professional wrestling. When he finally got there last year, winning the championship, and, more importantly, being perhaps the most over with the crowd since The Rock and Steve Austin, he suffered a neck injury. This setback came as his return was picking up steam. It’s supremely unfortunate that Daniel Bryan’s body is not holding up with his heart. Here’s hoping for the best in his recovery.