10 Most Shocking WWE WrestleMania Role Reversals

by Michael Hamflett

1. Daniel Bryan - WrestleMania 29 & XXX

DANIEL BRYAN WM29 WM XXX
WWE

Fans were so distracted with the indifferent placement of Money In The Bank briefcase holder Dolph Ziggler that they'd yet to turn their fire on WWE for the continued demotion of Daniel Bryan following his 18-second squash loss to Sheamus a year earlier.

At WrestleMania 29, Team Hell No were victorious in their tag team effort against Big E and Ziggler, but the 'Show Off' had bigger things on his mind with an electric Monday Night Raw Money In The Bank cash-in set to follow just 24 hours later.

Bryan's 2013 was theoretically more prosperous than that, after Dolph's unfortunate concussion issues took him out of the main event scene in an eighth of the time it took him to get there. The 'Yes' movement grew to the point where a SummerSlam victory made him WWE Champion before a Triple H heel turn took it all away.

WrestleMania XXX was the site of Bryan's vindication against 'The Game' and his oppressive authoritarian control... but don't ever believe WWE's spin that this was their intention all along.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett