10 Wrestling Feuds Where The Bad Guy Won

2. The Authority Vs Daniel Bryan

Stephanie McMahon Triple H
WWE.com

Enough's been written about how WWE managed to get to WrestleMania XXX in spite of the Daniel Bryan story they were trying to tell, but the ability to fake an "ending" in a company without a finish line erases how things actually stalled to a halt for the "Yes!" Movement.

Injuries robbed Bryan of his Championship after just one significant (and sh*t) angle, but the company gamely attempted to keep his feud with the oppressive Authority going via Brie Bella and Stephanie McMahon. So far so good, too - Bella was booked as on McMahon's intellectual level on television, with Stephanie requiring her husband Triple H to subdue Nikki to get the jump on her twin before their SummerSlam clash.

It fell apart with the result of the pay-per-view. Just one more step on that neverending quest for heat, the match served only to take Hunter and Stephanie out of the angle and drop Nikki back in. She turned on her sister for no adequately explored reason, creating a reason for them to fight each other for months until reconciling with similarly little thought.

The Authority had by then moved on to other things, never to be avenged by Bryan or Brie for their relentless misdeeds.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 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. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, 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