Daniel Bryan had 'huge mental breakdown' following WWE retirement
When you devote the majority of your adult life to a single career path - one you've been passionate about and made sacrifices for - having to walk away from it before you're emotionally ready can take its toll on your psyche.
Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan experienced that level of anguish when he was forced to retire from the business he held so near and dear to his heart on Feb. 8 due to medical reasons, including concussion-related symptoms.
Married to former Diva Brie Bella, Bryan was required to continue making appearances on WWE's "Total Divas" program on the E! Network, which likely wasn't the best idea so soon after his retirement.
"I had to go out to Florida and we're in John Cena's house for four weeks or whatever and there's cameras on you all the time," Bryan told The Recorder's Jan Murphy recently. "I just had this horrible mental breakdown."
To cope with his mental illness, the leader of the "YES!" movement removed himself from urban environments and surrounded himself with trees and nature.
"That's what I needed. I needed to get away from all of that and just get out to be by some trees," Bryan said. "It's hard for me. I don't do really well in cities, which is crazy given that we're flying in and out of these major cities every week. Brie describes it as anxiety. And she would be accurate. I get this anxiety in cities and places like that. When you grow up in kind of a small town and when you grow up around a lot of green and trees and nature and that sort of thing, sometimes I think it's a little mentally disconcerting to be around this concrete."
The 35-year-old Aberdeen, Wash., native had apparently been cleared by several of his doctors to return to the squared circle. However, WWE's physicians have the final say on any medical matter, and, for whatever reason, were unwilling to sign off on Bryan.
"It's interesting because I guess the real answer is no, but it's weird," Bryan said when asked if he's come to terms with how his retirement played out behind the scenes. "I don't necessarily agree that there's something wrong with me, right. The whole issue with concussions is so subjective."
Bryan added: "It's this heart-wrenching thing. It's tough because we all get just this one life, right? And when you find something that you love as much as I love wrestling and then they tell you that you can't do it anymore, it becomes really, really tough. And then it becomes really, really tough when now you're around it every week.
"It's just seeing your friends be able to go out there and do it and then you still can't do it. It's one of those things. I guess I kind of accept it, but I have a certain amount of melancholy with it."
Bryan has since returned to WWE as the on-air general manager of SmackDown Live on Tuesday nights. He also works as a color commentator alongside Mauro Ranallo for the Cruiserweight Classic on the WWE Network.