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Former WWE World Heavyweight champion Daniel Bryan was backstage at the WWE NXT TV last night, PWInsider.com has confirmed. Bryan was visiting with the roster and watched the majority of the show from the gorilla position backstage.
It was the first time Bryan has been in attendance at a WWE event since retiring live on Raw on 2/8 in Seattle.
Bryan had been advertised since then for appearances at several live events that would have featured a "Daniel Bryan Appreciation Night" theme as well as a signing at Wrestlemania AXXESS, but was pulled from those dates at his request just as they were about to begin. At the time, WWE's comment was that Bryan had been given "requested time off."
Bryan's visit backstage also allowed him a chance to reunite with EVOLVE's Gabe Sapolsky, who was also at the taping. The two worked very closely together during their time in Ring of Honor and the original incarnation of EVOLVE was the brain-child of the pair.
Bryan will be taking part in the E! reality series "Total Bellas" this fall, featuring himself and Brie Bella moving into John Cena's home in Tampa, helping Nikki Bella recover from neck surgery. Bryan's retirement and life after wrestling will be featured on the show.
Bryan's social media shows that while in Florida, he took part in a workout at the WWE Performance Center:
Correction: My initial post wrote that Bryan was backstage at Takeover. That was incorrect. He was at last night's TV taping. My apologies for the error. I had Takeover on the brain as I was typing.
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