In an update sure to get the wrestling industry talking, WWE.com reported Friday night that NXT Season One rookie Daniel Bryan has been released from his contract.
“WWE has come to terms on the release of NXT first season rookie Daniel Bryan (Bryan Danielson) as of today June 11, 2010. We wish Daniel Bryan the best in all future endeavors,” said the WWE.com statement.
Given WWE’s ongoing NXT Invasion angle, the general belief is that the release is a work designed to get people buzzing and create the impression that the wrestler is truly “intruding” on RAW. Other evidence comes in the fact that the release story links directly to his WWE.com profile (whereas most WWE releases typically involve the profiles either being deleted or transferred to the alumni website) and that the wrestler seemed to be starting a storyline by virtue of changing his Twitter name to Bryan Danielson and noting “the winds of change are stirring.” WWE’s NXT Twitter account is following that modified Bryan Danielson profile.
Sources within WWE conveyed to F4WOnline.com that the story was legitimate, with some saying creative was specifically told Daniel Bryan is done with WWE, although such sources could either be ‘working’ the Internet or could have been ‘worked’ themselves by those responsible for the WWE storyline. Those looking for evidence that the release might be real, however, do have some other elements from which to build a case. The fact that WWE.com even issued an announcement is interesting, as the storyline was that Daniel Bryan was not under WWE contract and would have needed to be ‘hired’ by WWE in order to continue working after losing NXT. Further, any references to NXT have been removed from the design of his Twitter–they are still present for other rookies who were part of the invasion storyline (plus, his “winds of change” comment could just as easily mean he is leaving WWE). The mention of his real name in the press release is also intriguing, as it eliminates the obvious “Daniel Bryan was fired but Bryan Danielson was not fired” loophole.
Of course, those elements could also be dismissed as part of the storyline. WWE has obviously taken an Internet-pandering, “smart” approach to storylines involving the wrestler, so things like the style of the WWE.com announcement and the Twitter changes could be creative ways to make the worked release look real.
Further updates should be coming in shortly to confirm or deny speculation related to Daniel Bryan’s release.