Despite previous reports confirming that WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan will definitetly be on Monday Night Raw for the Extreme Rules go home show next week, WWE backstage officials say that it isn't necessary for Bryan to appear if he needs more time off following the death of his father last Monday night.

So what is Daniel Bryan's updated status for next week's Raw and Extreme Rules?

According to WrestlingHeadlines.com, the latest rumors for Daniel Bryan's return is that if he needs the extra time to be with his family, he could actually skip next week's Raw and not come back until Extreme Rules. The reason WWE wouldn't mind this is that they felt the attack on Bryan by Kane on Raw came off so well that it would actually make sense for Bryan to be out for two weeks for storyline reasons.

If Daniel Bryan didn't come back until the night of Extreme Rules, it would make Kane seem like even more of monster now that he got his mask back. Also, since the rumor for this week's Raw is that Stephanie McMahon will be apologizing to Daniel Bryan for orchestrating the attack by Kane, Stephanie is a strong enough character to continue selling the title match for Extreme Rules in Daniel Bryan's absence.

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Either way, one thing that is certain is that Bryan will not be a part of this week's episode of Friday Night SmackDown and he will miss live WWE events over the weekend.

I personally think that Daniel Bryan will end up wanting to come back to Raw next week, but if for some reason he can't return, it's nice of WWE to give him that time to take care of his family during such a trying time.