Daniel Bryan has admitted that he may never be able to wrestle again after sustaining serious injuries following some heavy matches throughout his time with the WWE. Being pulled from the WWE European tour last month, Bryan's title defence against Bad News Barrett was withdrawn from Extreme Rules and he's now relinquished that title.
"How long have you guys been treating me like I was something special, huh? How long? It seems like years now. It's years that you guys have been treating me way better than any of the guys in the back have treated me.
"And that's why it was so crushing to me last year, almost exactly a year ago when Stephanie came out here and stripped me of my WWE World Heavyweight Championship. But the hard thing for me to admit, even as you guys are Yes-ing right now, is that Stephanie was right to do it.
"Because no-one knew how long I would be out. I was hurt and I couldn't defend the championship. And if you guys deserve anything you deserve a fighting champion. Which is actually why I asked to come out here tonight.
"I had an MRI last week. They don't know how long I'll be out. They said maybe weeks. Maybe months. They said I might never be able to wrestle again. But despite the uncertainty in my career that makes me know for a fact what needs to happen with the Intercontinental Championship.
"You deserve to have WWE Superstars fighting for this championship. You deserve Wade Barrett, you deserve Dolph Ziggler, you deserve Dean Ambrose fighting for this championship. The Intercontinental Championship should not be sitting on a physical therapist's chair - it deserves to be in this ring and this ring is where I'm going to leave it.
"Tonight I officially relinquish my Intercontinental Championship."
With the crowd shocked and saddened, they began chants of "Thank you Daniel" to which the former champion couldn't leave without responding to.
"You guys have got it all wrong. For everything that you guys have done for me, I just have one thing left to say. Thank you."
Following the announcement, Bryan's wife and WWE Diva Brie Bella spoke out about the decision made by her husband.
"It's been such a hard time," Bella said. "Like my husband said, this is exactly what he went through last year.
"He accomplished his biggest dream, main eventing WrestleMania. He won the WWE World Heavyweight Title and then he lost it due to an injury.
"It's so sad to see him have a great WrestleMania moment and have to drop the title again just for an injury.
"I will tell you one thing, my husband is the most brave, the most positive man you'll ever meet.
"The fact that he went out there, and he really wanted to do it, all because he wanted the fans to know that everything he has done, this whole time here in WWE, his whole entire career, is thanks to them.
"That's just a man right there. For me, I couldn't be a luckier woman to be with such a strong man and just like Daniel said, thank you. Thank you WWE Universe for allowing my husband to live his dreams.
"And you know what, it's not the end of him. With a lot of prayers we just hope we can see Daniel Bryan back in the ring."
Daniel Bryan has become one of the most successful and most-loved superstars in the WWE, being pushed by the success of the Yes Movement in 2014 to the main event of WrestleMania 30, in which he fought against Randy Orton and Batista to take the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
However, after his successful retention of the belt at Extreme Rules, The Authority stripped him of the championship when it was revealed he had a serious injury.
Shortly before this year's Royal Rumble, Bryan returned to WWE and entered the match early which saw him subsequently eliminated earlier than anyone expected. Roman Reigns won that match and got to the WrestleMania 31 main event.
Despite Bryan being offered the chance to swipe that match away from Reigns, he lost out and was then entered into a seven-man ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania - one that he went on to win after exchanging a flurry of headbutts with Dolph Ziggler.
The night after, Bryan defended the belt against Ziggler on Raw but then his injury problems began to return, and he's been inactive since.
Tagged in WWE Daniel Bryan