10 Times Wrestling Changed Due To Fan Backlash
1. Daniel Bryan's WrestleMania XXX
The moment Randy Orton cashed in his Money In The Bank briefcase on Daniel Bryan at SummerSlam 2013 was, on its own terms, excellent WWE heartbreak awaiting the natural retribution for the the new biggest babyface in the organisation.
John Cena's injury absence had carved a hole big enough for the embryonic "Yes Movement" to fill, but The Authority's thumb pressing harder on harder on Bryan without an obvious payoff incubated an uncomfortable atmosphere for the remainder of the year. The Royal Rumble was at least a saving grace, coming just days removed from Bryan's electrifying exit from The Wyatt Family to theoretically get shot of that dreadful left turn for the character.
It wasn't going to be that easy.
Fans raged when Bryan lost the payoff match to Bray in the Rumble's opener. Fans raged after a returning Batista won the Rumble itself. Fans raged when Rey Mysterio entered the Rumble itself. Fans were raging.
Bryan got no further along for the next few months as the hatred for the entire product intensified at the worst time of year. WWE's rushed retconning late in the day gave them the freedom to frame it as a postmodern "set up all along", but CM Punk's tell-all podcast as well as countless leaks suggesting another Sheamus/Bryan battle on the 'Show Of Shows' kept the brutal truth louder than the lies.