2 Ups & 7 Downs From WWE WrestleMania 28
Ups...
2. The Start Of A Movement
Sheamus' punctuated World Title squash of Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania XXVIII remains one of the most shocking internal character assassination attempts in company history. Not least because it kicked the "movement" WWE didn't realise they'd one day desperately wish to stop.
Fans uttered their incredulous indignation when, after just 18 seconds, Bryan had been defeated. Part of a storyline involving his toxic masculinity and their fractured relationship, the match served merely as a backdrop to their inevitable collapse. In kayfabe, Bryan naturally blamed her for the embarrassment, but the audience were wise to the game.
Tacking on a 'Yes!' chant to virtually every major song or cheer on the night in a show of solidarity with the former champion, the audience made the already-annoying heel mannerism an institutional genre-defining catchphrase. It foreshadowed the next wrestling zeitgeist bubbling under, eventually propelling its proponent to the promised land.