Ranking All 50 WWE World Heavyweight Champions - From Worst To Best

33. Daniel Bryan

The leader of the 'YES' movement twice experienced the rarified high of becoming WWE Champion, but both moments far outstripped the disappointing follow-ups from the organisation.

His 2013 victory over John Cena capped off one of the most underrated matches of the decade, but the post-win depush in the months that followed did little to earn the 'WrestleMania moment' they got away with several months later.

His New Orleans glory was almost as shortlived. After a tepid post-'Mania feud with Kane, Bryan was shelved with the first of several injuries that would prematurely park his career.

Authored by Michael Hamflett

Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett

Posted On: 12th Sep 2018

In this post:

Hulk Hogan John Cena Vince McMahon Stone Cold Steve Austin AJ Styles The Rock