For the MANY of you emailing asking whether the Daniel Bryan retirement announcement is an angle, unfortunately for his fans, that is not the case. The retirement announcement is very much legitimate and real.
Whether this is WWE retiring him for the remainder of his contract or if Bryan has come to a decision that he will never perform again, as of this writing, I don't know. WWE will giving Bryan a forum to speak on the announcement tonight and I suspect that much like Edge's retirement, we'll get some real insight into the situation from Bryan's perspective.
Backstage at Raw in Seattle, there are signs posted encouraging talent to go on social media and address his retirement, using #ThankYouDanielBryan.