WWE: Top 10 Feel Good Moments of 2018

Credit: WWE.com

8. Daniel Bryan Returns to In-Ring Competition

Daniel Bryan’s retirement in 2016 was an absolute gutpunch, especially after his struggles with his neck and concussions. He continued working well as an authority figure, a co-host of Talking Smack, and the role of Brie Bella’s husband on Total Divas and Total Bellas, but it was clear Bryan missed the ring.

Unbeknownst to most of us though, Bryan worked with experimental treatments and outside experts to get back in ring shape, and on March 20th, the surprise news came down the pike that Daniel Bryan was cleared to return to in-ring competition.

Upon his return that evening, he said the words that drove him for three years since his last match: “Fight for your dreams and your dreams with fight for you.”

While it took a long time to get where we are now with Bryan as the WWE Champion and as a vicious vegan heel, that moment where he returned to action in New Orleans and forced Sami Zayn to tap out at WrestleMania was a huge moment in WWE history. It wasn’t just a return from injury, it was someone coming back from career-ending series of injuries to show not only innovations in CTE treatments, but the true heart and soul of Daniel Bryan.