The wrestling world felt an earthquake on Tuesday afternoon with the news that former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan would be returning as a wrestler.

Since the news dropped, Fightful.com has reached out to several sources within WWE for additional information on the return. Initially we'd not heard anything outside of the fact that Bryan had been making efforts to get cleared, which didn't really differ from much of anything else in recent years. Returning to the ring was an aspiration Bryan simply hadn't given up on.

In speaking to several names, the situation started looking more optimistic weeks ago, as far back as January and word made way to some high profile wrestlers outside of WWE. Bryan became very aggressive in pursuing methods that would gain him clearance by WWE doctors, including reaching out to their peers.

Bryan's schedule has yet to be determined, and WWE isn't ready to make a call on that as of yet, although we're told he has no restrictions placed on him as far as that goes. There have been ongoing discussions about that, and I'm told WWE wants to make sure he stays with the company moving forward -- whether it be inside or outside the ring.

Not only did Bryan pass the testing the was given, but tested beyond what was expected for him. My contacts at NXT and the Performance Center weren't sure of his clearance prior, but there were two wrestlers who were present at the March 19 Raw who said that word had emerged that Bryan was going to be cleared.

Fightful will have more on this story throughout the day and on our post-Smackdown podcast.