First and foremost, Daniel Bryan appears to be OK. The newly heel-turned Bryan took too much of a bump on Tuesday night in Fresno, California during Smackdown Live. It happened during a tag-team match that saw Bryan and Andrade Cien Almas take on AJ Styles and Mustafa Ali. The latter landed a reverse 450 splash, but his knees were too high, and the left dropped into Bryan’s jaw and neck.
Take a look:
After the sequence, you could hear Ali apologizing, and according to reports, the athletic and promising performer continued to ask for forgiveness backstage. Despite his constant high-wire act, Ali has been mostly safe throughout his successful and compelling WWE stay. This situation seems like an aberration, that unfortunately happened to the oft-injured Bryan who is in the midst of some masterful work in the ring and on the mic.
Bryan insisted he was alright after the scary spot, and he even participated in the pre-recording of the promotion’s Christmas Day program.
Ali was just made a member of the Smackdown roster before Tuesday’s show. It’s a move that is a part of the ‘shake-up’ that began on Monday’s episode of Raw. It appears we’re headed into the People’s Era where fans are supposedly set to have more power.
Ironically, this comes just days after Ali said this during an interview on Chasing Glory discussing his finishing manuever that he calls the ‘054’:
“I feel comfortable in the air, like me as a person. I feel very in control with my body. You can toss me fro the weirdest angle, I just know where I’m at, I can’t explain it. I do this maneuver, my finishing move it’s called the 054 and it’s a 450 splash but you’re going backward. I’m sure my opponents aren’t going to be too thrilled to hear this but I don’t know what I’m doing up there. I literally close my eyes and I just jump and my body just takes over and thankfully, I haven’t hurt anybody, but if you ask me, ‘Hey, can you teach me, what is your mindset?’ Because people have a checklist — I jump and I tuck and I don’t know what happens and somehow I land where I land. I just know my body and I know what I’m comfortable with.”
Hmm…maybe not on Tuesdays.
A Bryan injury isn’t what most fans would have wanted. Also, most wouldn’t want Ali’s run with Smackdown to begin so auspiciously. Because of Bryan’s history with head injuries, any bump that could potentially cause another concussion is going to make fans and WWE officials nervous. Thankfully, it appears Bryan dodged a bullet with this sequence.
By the way, Styles and Ali won an entertaining match that furthers the feud between Styles and Bryan.
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Daniel Bryan Injury VIDEO: Update After Smackdown Mishap With Mustafa Ali