Daniel Byran is back. Over two years after retiring through injury in February 2015, the three-time WWE champion has been cleared to return to the ring.

He made it clear while out of action that the decision to retire was forced upon him - and that he was desperate to one day come back even stronger.

Until recently, that was little more than a dream for both him and the WWE Universe, but after fighting non-stop to achieve his dream, Bryan has finally been cleared to wrestle again. 

But it was a long road. "The American Dragon" underwent physical and neurological evaluations and reviews of his medical history for over two years.

He was cleared by three external independent neurosurgeons, neurologists and concussion experts in that time, before finally being cleared by Joseph Maroon, WWE's medical director.  

News of his return broke on Tuesday evening, shortly before Smackdown Live went on air. And Bryan, the shows General Manager, opened with an emotional segment. 

He addressed the WWE Universe, thanking fans for their constant support and vowed to wrestle again, before explaining how he fought for his dream and never gave up.

In the closing moments of Smackdown later that night, Bryan had a run-in with Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens, firing both of them. 

That led to him taking a number of bumps and finally getting physical in the ring, surely setting up a tag-team match at WrestleMania, where he'll partner Shane McMahon against the fired pair. 

With his return almost certainly confirmed, Bryan has been speaking candidly about his journey and how he feels about finally being cleared.

In an interview with WWE before Smackdown on Tuesday, he said:

"If you have this dream that you have, you fight for it and you keep fighting for it and you keep fighting for it, and then it may never come true, it might not, but it's never the end game, it's not the destination, it's the journey.

"It's interesting because I thought about this moment so much in the past 6 months or whatever, OK. 'Imagine what would happen if you actually did get cleared?', and it still seemed kind of like an impossibility.

"Now that it's here it still seems kind of unreal and I still feel kind of unprepared for it. It's hard because legitimately I just got cleared last night."

Bryan went on to say that he trusts his skill and the skill of others around him - so isn't nervous about returning. 

"I have faith in my skill and I have faith in the people that I work with and their skill. So as of right now, I'm not nervous, I'm not afraid, I am really just excited."