10 WWE Feuds Where The Wrong Person Won
The most unfortunate victims of John Cena, Triple H and co.
Feuds are the lifeblood of wrestling, giving meaning to the action going on inside the ring, and hooking the fans' emotions along the way. A well-built rivalry with a satisfying payoff can give both men involved a valuable boost, especially the winner. The only problem is getting it right, a task far easier said than done...
Sadly, even the biggest promotion in the world can mess up a feud with startling regularity. Over the years, the WWE have built incredibly promising rivalries...only to fall at the last hurdle, giving the rub to the entirely wrong man and drawing the ire of countless fans.
The consequences of a bad feud aren't just felt by the loser; a bad ending can seriously derail the winner's momentum, especially if fans react in a particularly disgruntled manner. Sometimes, even if a feud's conclusion seems infuriatingly obvious to everybody watching, the entirely wrong course of action can be taken. The WWE's stubborn refusal to go back on a bad decision usually makes everything worse, although they have occasionally relented in instances of extreme fan pressure.
Here are ten feuds where just about everybody knew which superstar should have gone over, only for the WWE to maddeningly defy expectations.
10. Sheamus Vs. Daniel Bryan
One of the more modern entries on this list, Daniel Bryan's humiliating treatment at the hands of Sheamus must go down as one of the biggest miscalculations in recent WWE history. The Irishman's 18-second defeat of then-heel Bryan at WrestleMania 28 was seemingly intended to be a hilarious, feel-good babyface win to open the show.
But Bryan's simmering undercurrent of fan support finally burst to the surface, sparked by the indignant nature of his loss. Sheamus, having won the World Heavyweight Championship in the process, suffered a great deal of abuse - especially when the WWE attempted to transfer Bryan's wildly popular "Yes!" chant onto him.
Bryan lost his rematch at the following PPV, losing a feud he should have unquestionably won in hindsight. However this decision must go down as the least damaging on the list, as the loss ironically helped Daniel in the long run, generating an outpouring of sympathy and support which eventually made him the hottest babyface in the company.