10 "Perfect" Wrestling Feuds That Went Horribly Wrong

9. Daniel Bryan Vs. The Miz

Thumb CM Punk Chris Jericho
WWE.com

How - how - do you f*ck this up?

Seriously, how did WWE not shut down after this outrageous promotional malpractice?

WWE didn't even have to write this story. This story arrived on their lap, but WWE treated it like their d*ck got caught in the zipper. Of course, being WWE, they had already botched Bryan's miraculous 2018 return by having Shane McMahon look like the wrestler making a heroic comeback at WrestleMania 34, and subsequently programming him with Big Cass - but this was the one thing they couldn't f*ck up.

It was so easy.

Have The Miz play chickensh*t heel. Book him to suffer "injuries" at "unfortunate" times. Use the Talking Smack interaction that everybody thought was incredible to inform the story. When Bryan finally gets his hands on him, have Miz do the whole neck brace thing and refuse to get in the ring with such a "dangerous" opponent. Make Miz look like a hypocrite when he beats down Bryan. Reveal that his neck is fine. Have Bryan violently kick the f*cking sh*t out of Miz to pay off the philosophical debate in favour of hard-hitting wrestling.

Instead, after some b*llocks with a fake baby, Bryan won what was never a blood feud with a small package on a glorified house show months and months away from WrestleMania.

Even Bryan knew it wouldn't go that far.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!