Bryan Danielson has not signed a contract with WWE. That could change at any time, but there is currently no deal in place. He is working in Mexico this week and will be working in Europe before returning for Ring of Honor shows at the end of the month. As reported on ROHwrestling.com, he worked the WWE dark match on Monday against Lance Cade with permission from ROH.

WWE came close to offering Danielson a deal back in 2006 before Vince McMahon and John Lauranaitis decided to set a 6-2 height requirement. "He's a hell of a mechanic and he would have gotten over fine," one WWE source stated on Tuesday. "I'm not sure in today's environment." The source expressed concern that the current creative staff isn't focussed enough on quality wrestling to utilize Danielson properly.

William Regal has been a big backer of Danielson and other ROH talent, including Nigel McGuinness for quite some time. "If Regal had any stroke, Bryan Danielson and a lot of guys would have been signed a while ago," the WWE source stated. "He's a good mentor, though. He gives golden advice."

Powell's POV: The assumption of most people I've spoken with is that ROH would let Danielson out of his deal if he were offered a spot on the active roster. Although that's far from official, the fact that they gave him permission to work a dark match indicates that they wouldn't stand in his way if WWE wanted to sign him.

I share the concern of sources who fear that WWE creative wouldn't feature Danielson prominently. He's a tremendous worker, but I know there were plenty of people in WWE who were down on his look and promos back in 2006. It will be interesting to see if WWE starts taking a look at more ROH talent given the success that wrestlers such as Samoa Joe, C.M. Punk, Matt Sydal, (a/k/a Evan Borne), and other ROH alums have had in the industry. Granted, its very early in Sydal's ECW run, but his flashy offense appears to be winning over the crowds quickly.

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