10 Best WWE Character Arcs Since Last Year's WrestleMania
2. Daniel Bryan (Planet's Champion To American Dragon)
After Kofi Kingston finally put away the 'Planet's Champion' Daniel Bryan inside of MetLife stadium, the former champ's hemp belt was binned and the leather of old was gifted to the new king of SmackDown.
It was a symbolic moment. Bryan's days of ruling were sitting alongside his belt in the trash can and this would cause him to start to question who he had become in order to reach the top of the mountain again.
However, Bryan continued to enforce his will with Erick Rowan for a while longer. The pair won the SmackDown tag titles, but those belts were eventually ripped away from them by Bryan's old adversaries The New Day at Extreme Rules.
Bryan then found himself embroiled in a 'Whodunit?' storyline, centred around trying to figure out who had tried to kill Roman Reigns backstage. Rowan eventually turned on Bryan and it was revealed that the ginger-bearded man was the culprit in question all along - bringing their alliance to an abrupt end.
After doing away with Rowan, Bryan started to lean back into what fans had loved about him for so long. His fighting spirit.
It looked as though the old Bryan was back.
Yet, Bryan was reluctant to embrace his past and it wasn't until he went to war with Bray Wyatt's 'The Fiend' (and parted with his signature locks) that he truly became the 'American Dragon' and 'YES!' movement leader of old in order to combat this new threat.
It's fair to say that Daniel Bryan has been on quite the journey since last year's 'Mania and it's been seriously fascinating to watch unfold.