10 "Buried" Wrestlers Who Weren't Actually Buried

4. Daniel Bryan (WrestleMania XXVIII)

Cody Rhodes Lance Archer not buried
WWE.com

At the time, it looked for all the world as if Daniel Bryan's career as a top-level WWE star was over. His first WrestleMania as World Heavyweight Champion was over in a flash, an 18-second flash, the victim of a poorly-timed kiss and an extremely well-timed Brogue Kick. The crowd was incensed and Bryan was embarrassed. The 'B' word was out in force almost immediately.

Instead, the defeat and the manner in which it took place lit the touchpaper. It sent Bryan into a spiral of neurosis and anger, a renewed focus which he directed at CM Punk and the WWE Championship. The two had a series of classic matches over the summer before Bryan embarked on his now-legendary run with Kane, first as rivals and then as tag champions, a partnership that saw Bryan become the most popular star of a generation.

Bryan's immediate move into a feud with CM Punk is as clear an indication as it gets that he wasn't actually buried. You don't go from one world title to another if you're being buried. Whether or by design or by accident is irrelevant. If a wrestler is truly buried, there's no escape.

Contributor
Contributor

Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.