There's a big difference between Kurt Angle's injuries and Daniel Bryan's.
Kurt Angle was a part of a Q& A during a meet and greet in New Jersey. When someone asked why Kurt Angle was cleared and Daniel Bryan wasn't, Angle said the injuries were completely different. Angle's big injuries over the decade or so all stem around his neck. Daniel Bryan, meanwhile, is out due to concussion issues, which WWE is more wary of these days:
No, it’s not Daniel Bryan’s neck. No, it’s concussions. That’s a serious thing today. You obviously see in the NFL there are a lot of lawsuits being thrown back and forth. It’s a very dangerous thing. I talked to Daniel personally. I passed the physical. I haven’t had an issue with my neck in 12 years. I did break it four times in two years back between 2004 and 2006, but I’ve been fine since. You have a protocol you need to follow. The physical entails a certain amount of things and the most important is the concussion test.
Daniel couldn’t pass it. He had 10 concussions that he knows of. That’s huge liability. Can Daniel eventually wrestle? I think he can, but it comes down to him passing the concussion test. I know in time your brain heals, so we don’t know how much damage has been done thus far. Is there a possibility of him wrestling? Maybe, I hope so. I feel bad that he took it personally that I was able to wrestle. He wasn’t mad or upset; he just couldn’t understand how they passed me but not him. But they were two different things.
If I had a dream match that I wanted, it would be against Daniel Bryan. He’s awesome.
Daniel Bryan is still determined to wrestle. He hopes to make a return to in-ring action in the WWE, but may also venture out of the WWE if an in-ring return isn't possible.
