Many WWE fans and superstars were very sad when Daniel Bryan announced his retirement from wrestling in last week's episode of Monday Night RAW. He cited concussion-related issues as the main reason why he is stepping away from the thing he loves the most.

However, one former WWE superstar is very happy that Bryan put over his health first rather than his wrestling career. Chris Nowinski told FOX Sports, "I've always said it's a shame to lose talent to doing what I did, which is lying about concussions and having my career end early."

"I felt extraordinary sympathy for Daniel. It's tough to walk away when you feel like you could still perform. He had to really dig deep to find the justification to walk away from the job he loved," Nowinski added.

Concussion Legacy Foundation

Being a Harvard alumnus, Nowinski was very eager to learn why he was still experiencing headaches, insomnia and nausea after his retirement. The 37-year-old wrestled for the WWE in the early 2000s but a string of concussions and head injuries forced him to hang up his boots. 

Nowinski sought the help of Dr. Robert Cantu who told him that the sports world was very unaware of the adverse effects of concussions and head trauma. The two co-founded the Concussion Legacy Foundation in 2007 after the publication of Nowinski's critically acclaimed book "Head Games: Football's Concussion Crisis." The book explained all his health issues that came from wrestling and playing college football.

He also exposed the NFL's ignorance on the head-related injuries suffered by its current and former players. As for the WWE, the company implemented a new concussion protocol for all of its performers in 2008 and formed a partnership with Nowinski's organization by educating wrestlers about concussions.

Hiding Symptoms

In a recent interview with "Good Morning America," Daniel Bryan revealed that he kept his concussion-related seizures a secret from his wife Brie Bella and from the WWE. He said that he did not want to end his wrestling career that's why he hid it for a very long time.

The revelation of Bryan might encourage other wrestlers to hide their concussion symptoms, but Nowinski remains positive that it will not happen anymore. He has been in regular contact with the Concussion Legacy Foundation Board of Directors member and top WWE executive Paul "Triple H" Levesque by always monitoring wrestlers suffering from head injuries.

"Superstars are more likely to report concussions. That's big. Wrestling also has an advantage over sports in general because you can write wrestlers out of storylines or have them participate without physical exertion when they are recovering from concussions," Nowinski explained to FOX News.

WATCH: "When you get slammed, you really get slammed." - Daniel Bryan opens up to GMA about the physicality of WWE, safety, retiring and more. Wife Brie Bella also opens up about retiring soon from the sport as well.

Posted by Good Morning America on Tuesday, February 16, 2016