7 Great Wrestling Heel Runs That Ended Prematurely

Sometimes all it takes is one turn to reinvigorate a wrestler. It is at that moment when they are granted a new lease of life, with Chris Jericho perhaps being a prime example.

Prior to his heel turn at the onset of 2016, the 46-year-old came across as a shell of his former self, but everything he did with The New Day and AJ Styles at that time was merely meant to plant the seeds for a future heel turn. Once he inevitably flipped the switch, he became one of the best bad guys in the entire company, to the point WWE recently had no choice but to turn him back babyface because he (and his list) was so incredibly popular.

Many of WWE's greatest heels in the past 15 years have all come and gone within the blink of an eye. For as big of an impact as they left on the ever-changing landscape of the company, (to the point where they are still being talked about today), their revered runs as villains were sadly cut short for a variety of reasons...

At first, it seemed silly for WWE to turn Daniel Bryan heel, coming off his World Heavyweight Championship victory at TLC 2011. The crowd in Baltimore that night came unglued for him unexpectedly cashing in the briefcase - not to mention that he was slowly building momentum as a scrappy, underdog babyface. So, where was the logic in him switching to the dark side?

Ultimately, it proved to be the best thing for him. He evolved into an obnoxious heel who would take shortcuts to ensure he maintained possession of his coveted title. In exuding personality and charisma, he actually won over a portion of the audience that wasn't behind him during his initial face run.

Most notably, it was the catchy "YES!" chant that put him over the top, starting at WrestleMania XXVIII. At that point, his popularity became too apparent to ignore - and WWE, admittedly, would have been dumb to not turn him back. However, we never saw that same side of Bryan again, beyond his days as one-half of Team Hell No.