Daniel Bryan cleared to return to the ring by WWE

A day that once appeared like it would never come has arrived, with WWE clearing Daniel Bryan to return to the ring as an active wrestler.

WWE made the announcement this afternoon: “Following more than two years of extensive evaluations, four-time World Champion Daniel Bryan has been medically cleared to return to in-ring competition by leading neurosurgeons, neurologists and concussion experts, including Dr. Robert Cantu, Dr. Javier Cárdenas and Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher.

“Bryan underwent a full review of his medical history and received comprehensive neurological and physical evaluations independent of WWE. He was cleared by each doctor as well as WWE’s Medical Director, Dr. Joseph Maroon.”

Kutcher in particular had become a huge advocate of his to put together a united front of all the doctors who had examined him over the past two years to convince Maroon, the head of WWE medical, to clear him.

Bryan had asked Maroon who he believed were the leading experts in the field and he would work to gain clearance from them.

Bryan will be on SmackDown tonight to address the situation.

The planned match for this year’s WrestleMania was originally to be Shane McMahon & Bryan vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn. There had been a backup plan in effect if Bryan wasn’t cleared, but his being cleared was considered much more likely in recent weeks than it ever had been before.