10 Awesome Wrestlers WWE Sacrificed For The Greater Good
6. Daniel Bryan (SmackDown - 30 October 2018)
Summer 2018 saw Daniel Bryan start to right his post-comeback wrongs, as a fun feud with long-time rival The Miz transitioned into a WWE Championship programme versus AJ Styles, washing away all memories of the terrible Big Cass storyline that sabotaged his post-WrestleMania 34 momentum.
Bryan earned his WWE Title shot by defeating Miz and Super Show-Down in October. He was originally booked to challenge Styles at Crown Jewel the following month, but ended up doing so on the 30 Oct episode of SmackDown instead, where he and AJ engaged in one of the best TV bouts of the year, ending, sadly, in Daniel's defeat.
The Greater Good:
Saudi Arabia, baby.
Bryan refused to work Crown Jewel in the wake of journalist Jamal Khashoffi's controversial death. Thus, WWE were forced to pull him from the show, put Styles over him, and have Samoa Joe wrestle 'The Phenomenal One' instead. This worked out okay, though: Bryan would turn heel on AJ a couple of weeks later, winning the WWE Title and kickstarting a villainous run that has done nothing but good things for the former General Manager.
Perhaps 'The New Daniel Bryan' would've emerged earlier had he not objected to Crown Jewel, though.