10 Ridiculously Ambitious WWE Ideas That Failed Horribly

5. "On Tonight's Episode Of WWE RAW, The Role Of Daniel Bryan Will Be Played By..."

vince mcmahon xfl
WWE.com

"....The Big Show."

Daniel Bryan grew in popularity throughout 2013 because he was a fresh, amiable and inventive technical wizard who you could legitimately buy as an authentic sensation of a babyface underdog.

The Big Show was in many ways his antithesis; by 2013, he was deeply overexposed - a fading practitioner of the fading 'WWE Style', who you couldn't buy as anything because he had devolved into a plot device. He turned on a dime to suit whatever storyline WWE fancied parachuting him into.

WWE, in their infinite wisdom, awarded Big Show with Daniel Bryan's obscenely popular "Yes!" chant, as if the chant itself was over. It's difficult to convey just how irritating this was, both in itself - Daniel Bryan deserved so much more, and the Survivor Series '13 headliner was appalling - and as a symptom of the mentality behind it. Vince McMahon attempted to remove Bryan's own invention from him and transfer it to the Big Show because he was big - and the supposed genius behind WWE's massive empire got it so, so, wrong. It was McMahon living down to the worst cliché of McMahon, and thus obviously a terrible idea.

It completely backfired - to such an explosive extent that Batista, WWE's next attempt to impose their will, imploded at the 2014 Royal Rumble.

Contributor
Contributor

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!