7 Great Wrestling Heel Runs That Ended Prematurely

7. Daniel Bryan (2012)

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.