WWE star Daniel Bryan spoke with Graham Caygill of The National newspaper in Abu Dhabi.
Below are the hightlights:
Bryan on Steve Austin being the cover star of WWE 2K16 rather than a current WWE wrestler:“It is interesting because I see it two ways. I see maybe people who don’t watch it anymore, who were big fans in the Attitude Era, which was the most popular time in wrestling. It would appeal to people who may not be watching the current product, but would be interested in the video game. One of the things I think it shows is that we have not really created enough new stars, to where we put new stars on the front of the video game, so that should be the overall bigger concern. We need to not just rely on people from the past. There is almost this mentality these stars are bigger than the current stars, and they keep going with the mentality when the guys now are every bit as good as the guys from before, it is just they need to be given the platform.”
On when he hopes to return to action: “I have no idea. I wish I could give you a solid answer. I feel great. I have been cleared by doctors. But getting the WWE to clear me has been a little bit sticky, given my concussion history. They are just looking out for my best interests. We are trying to get with more doctors to get me more support to get me back in the ring as soon as possible… It is very frustrating for me as the concussion in April had nothing to do with my neck injury. I have been wrestling for over 16 years now and to have just one major surgery is pretty good, and this has nothing to do with the neck, it is a concussion thing. It was frustrating timing wise as I had big plans on being Intercontinental champion and other stuff.”
Who he wants to face when he returns to the ring: “My number one dream match is Brock Lesnar, and I want that to be a WrestleMania match. I don’t know if the WWE will ever let that happen, because they might be afraid he might legitimately hurt me pretty bad. But I would like to do a major pay-per-view match with Cesaro. I’d like to to do a major pay-per-view match with Seth Rollins. I’d love do a major pay-per-view match with Stardust. We have so many talented people on the roster that I’d love to have a match on pay per view or we have a story to work through together.”
Did he ever think he would be a fixture on reality TV: “No, definitely not. Until me and Brie [Bella, Bryan’s wife] moved in I did not even have a TV. It is like OK, I am on a reality TV show now. When Tough Enough was going on I considered that a reality TV show too, so I was on two reality shows on the same night as they both air on Tuesday nights in America so it is kind of crazy.”