Triple H says WWE will put ‘the human being first’ when deciding Daniel Bryan’s status

Triple H wasn’t in California just to have dinner with Ronda Rousey. The Game was in Los Angeles attending TCA 2018 for their celebration of Raw 25, and while he was at that event, The Wrap asked him about some other pressing WWE topics - like Daniel Bryan’s desire to return to in-ring performing.

Bryan famously retired on Raw back in 2016 due to injuries resulting from concussions he’d suffered throughout his career. He believes his brain is now healed, and has doctors backing those claims - just not ones in WWE’s employ. With his contract coming up this year, whether or not DB will do more than just serve as SmackDown’s General Manager is a subject of much speculation.

According to Hunter, there’s been no change in WWE’s stance:

“There can be no exception medically.

If the belief is that he’s not healthy enough and there’s a risk [for him] to perform, then I don’t know why you’d allow him to step into the ring unless it can be proven otherwise. There will be no exceptions. We have some of the best medical people in the world that work for us. Our wellness policy, our concussion programming, our protocols — I’ll put them up there against any on the planet.

That is a new science in a way, too. So we’re gonna look at it from all aspects, but the medical experts will make the determination as to whether he can ever step into that ring or not. Look, personally for him, I know it would be something he would love to do, and part of me feels like I hope he has that opportunity. But at the same point in time, he’s married and has a child. Certainly, [we put] the human being first.”

Fans will continue to look skeptically on statements like this one as men like Kurt Angle wrestle for WWE, but while Angle’s neck and spine injuries were serious, they weren’t concussion-related. And CTE and brain injury is a different ballgame for a variety of reasons, some of which are legal and public relations related.

So, Trips offered no update on or change in the company’s position. But he may have offered a justification that WWE’s critics will have a difficult time accepting.