10 Worst Anticlimaxes In WWE History
5. Bryan And Battleground - WWE Battleground 2013
In 2013, Daniel Bryan – a babyface again by massively popular demand – was hot fire in the professional wrestling industry, and legitimately the most over wrestler on WWE’s roster, over and above luminaries like John Cena, CM Punk and even The Rock. There hadn’t even really been a moment when his angry, bitter heel character had executed a face turn: he was simply so popular that it became impossible for him to generate heel heat anymore.
Smelling money in an underdog-chasing-the-title angle, WWE set it up: Bryan would chase the gold, stymied at every turn by the newly christened Authority. Triple H and Stephanie would use their worst heelish tendencies to get Bryan over as a genuine star held down by The (Mc)Man, and Bryan would do likewise for them by making them out to be the worst people in the world.
Oh, there was money in that angle all right, and publicity… but Vince had no intention of keeping the big belt on Daniel Bryan. There was no long title reign in his future – underdogs are always better when they’re chasing cars, after all. So Bryan would be booked to convincingly win at every turn, only for the Helmsleys to knock him back. Beat Cena cleanly for the title at Summerslam? Here’s a Pedigree and Randy Orton cashing in his Money In The Bank contract on you. Beat Orton cleanly for the title a month later at Night Of Champions? The referee delivered a fast count, we’re stripping you of the title barely 24 hours later. Facing Orton yet again for the vacant title at Battleground three weeks later? Here’s the Big Show to knock the pair of you out and have the match declared a no-contest.
It would be that last one that would have Bryan fans spitting bullets. Fair enough, running variations on the Dusty Finish to allow Bryan the rub of the clean wins but prevent him from keeping the title: that’s pro wrestling for you. But to have the third pay-per-view WWE championship match in a row end in giant-sized interference and a no-contest because they couldn’t think of a good reason for the hero not to win the title… that’s completely and utterly rubbish.
Astonishingly, there would be a fourth failure a few weeks later, when Bryan would face Orton for the title at Hell In A Cell, only for Triple H and special guest referee Shawn Michaels to interfere and kick Bryan halfway to the moon. Battleground, though… that was ridiculous, an anti-climax with no ultimate pay-off in sight.
WWE wouldn't change their minds about Bryan until the following year, when the fans pretty much gave them a choice between Bryan as champion, or having Wrestlemania heckled to pieces.