I know it's the Thursday move premiere, but I can't help but feel that's pretty anti climatic for a return of a major star who has been out for so long, it almost makes me ALMOST think he can lose the Rumble, but nah he's still probably winning. It just feels so weird, why would he not only return before a big rumble show up, but on a Smackdown? Returning at the Rumble after so long seems more compelling than floating around until the Rumble and winning it. Almost reminds me of when a New Day was advertized for Raw, but came up on SD.

What do you guys think? Do you think it's a good move?

Would rather see him returning to the ring at the Rumble. After his announcement I feel like it would have been more special to see him in the ring for the first time since last year. I can understand WWE wanting to promote the move to Thursdays and maybe letting Brian get his ring rust off before the Rumble, but the whole things seems like a letdown. Wouldn't be surprised if WWE lets us down again and has Reigns win the rumble over Brian. Poor booking in general could make this in-ring return worse, but in the end it's Brian wrestling for the first time in a long time, so it's hard to complain about it and I'm sure many people will be happy to see him on TV again.

I think it's a good move to have Daniel Bryan come back before the Royal Rumble since WWE is still undecided on who should win. I guess this is to evaluate his performance to see where he is at right now currently. Since right now anyone could win the Royal Rumble (and I mean that literally in this case). That's my only explanation for it.

Dont mind it whatsoever. I'm definitely not gonna be upset with something that's against the grain, especially when it really doesn't hurt to do it.

Eh. To me, they should have kept his return a secret and made him Number 30 (even playing Batista's stuff for a second to fuck with the fans). So for him to return on Smackdown it doesn't really bother me. The surprise of his return is gone so getting him back into the ring, perhaps getting rid of some rust can only do him good.

SmackDown needs viewership somehow.

Having his return be on the blue brand (or show, I suppose, since there's no brand split) is a great idea. The problem I see a lot is people take debuts/returns on SmackDown pretty much as a burial of said superstar or team. Instead we should be looking at it as WWE trying to bring SmackDown back up to the level it used to be. Daniel Bryan coming back on a Thursday as opposed to Monday or Sunday? That's brilliant. More people will watch SmackDown now because Bryan's a draw. If you want more proof just look at the show that just passed. Dean Ambrose looks to be reviving his rivalry with former Shield partner Seth Rollins.

In short, Bryan returning on Thursday's SmackDown is actually a great idea and I look forward to watching.

I'd surmise everything that's happened with Bryan pre-Rumble is due to them needing more viewership for the Rumble, RAW, and Smackdown (whether you like it or not, Bryan's segments usually get the highest ratings). Him returning to ring action on Smackdown I don't find insulting; it's supposed to be a big episode of Smackdown in which they finally return to Thursdays and it's not as if Bryan won't be on RAW still (which will be in New Orleans, I believe, which is where WM 30 was held). Whether the speculation of them not being sure who should win the Rumble is true or not, they just want to test the waters with Bryan being back in competition to be certain he can still go. To me, it happening on Smackdown is neither here nor there with it being a big episode for the show. When it comes down to it, I'm just happy to see him back even THIS early to action and look forward to seeing how he does and if anything has changed significantly in his physique and moveset since he's been gone.

"I requested my first match back to be when Smackdown moved to Thursday nights. I think it’s a good time to change the branding of Smackdown, it’s a very important show for us, to get new viewers on a new night, and I wanted to be the guy to bring the new viewers to the new night. So once I got cleared, I actually asked for the spot. My vision of Smackdown is going to be [it changing] in 2015. I would like it to be the show that would actually be more fun to watch than Raw, and this is all part of the process, so I’m really looking forward to it." - Daniel Bryan on his return match being on Smackdown

I had a slight feeling this Smackdown return thing was odd.