7 WrestleMania Matches That Weren’t All Bad
1. Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus - WrestleMania XXVIII (2012)
Daniel Bryan lost the World title to Sheamus in just 18 seconds in the opening match of Mania XXVIII on April 1, 2012.
As soon as the bell rang, defending champion Bryan called a halt to the match and summoned girlfriend AJ Lee onto the ring apron for a good luck kiss. Miss Lee duly complied.
Turning around, post-kiss, Bryan walked straight into a Brogue kick from the challenger. Three seconds later, Sheamus was the new World champion.
That good luck kiss turned out to be a kiss goodnight, proclaimed Jerry Lawler on commentary.
This degrading treatment of Bryan on WWEs largest card of the year provoked an unexpected reaction from the WWE fan base: it galvanised support for the so-called Yes Movement.
Some spectators had mimicked Bryans cries of Yes! prior to his match with Sheamus at WrestleMania. The next night on Raw, the chanting increased tenfold: Yes! Yes! Yes! bellowed the crowd in unison. This continued throughout WWEs annual post-WrestleMania tour of Europe.
It was no three-week fad.
The fan rebellion against WWEs presentation of Bryan had staying power. Try as WWE did many times, it could not break the fans emotional bond with Bryan.
In late 2013, it only grew stronger. Public demand for Bryan to ascend to the top of the food chain was overwhelming. Finally conceding defeat, WWE made Bryan World heavyweight champion in the main event of WrestleMania XXX.