Daniel Bryan might make his ‘career-altering announcement’ tonight

After he and Rowan dropping the SmackDown Tag Team titles at Extreme Rules, Daniel Bryan reflected on his failure to bring about a tag evolution and said he knew what he had to. WWE promoted the reveal of what we assumed was Bryan’s plan as a “career-altering announcement” he would make on last week’s SmackDown.

On that episode, Bryan appeared but declined to say anything (or his announcement was “spoiled” by The New Day, according to Corey Graves), and... that’s it. WWE didn’t talk about it, even though it remains the leading answer in a fan poll on their website about last week’s show:

WWE.com

Weirder still, there’s been next to nothing on the rumor mill about what, if anything, was planned for his announcement, or why it was delayed, or if we’ll ever hear it, or what the plans are for Bryan in lieu of his announcement.

He was advertised for the #1 contender battle royal last Monday and replaced by Sami Zayn, his announcement was promised and not delivered on SmackDown, then - nothing. Bryan is not listed on American Airlines Arena’s Event Information page, and he wasn’t listed on WWE.com’s official preview for tonight’s show in Miami... until this afternoon.

Now, this has been tacked on to the end of the article:

“Will Daniel Bryan make his announcement?

Last week, Daniel Bryan vowed to make a career-altering announcement that would shake SmackDown LIVE to its core. However, The Planet’s Champion left the arena without saying a word, even as SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day offered him and Rowan a rematch for the titles.

Could Bryan finally reveal his plans to the WWE Universe? Find out on SmackDown LIVE, tonight at 8/7 C on USA Network!”

Hopefully, the company won’t bait and switch us again. Last week’s show saw much improved numbers, and tonight’s could do even better coming off Raw Reunion... but “crying wolf” about Bryan’s future won’t earn them any goodwill.

The phrase “Daniel Bryan career-altering announcement” attracts attention because his career has been altered by injury, and recovery, in the recent past. Especially after he was out for weeks with a never-revealed issue after WrestleMania 35, wrestling fans don’t treat news about the former WWE champ as “no big deal”.

But the manner in which this story was added to promotion for tonight, and that they’ve gone from promoting the announcement to teasing the possibility of it, doesn’t fill me with confidence it will definitely happen.

Find out with the rest of us in our live blog of the July 23 SmackDown here.