10 Wrestling Hoaxes That Fooled The Internet

1. The REAL Reason WWE Retired Daniel Bryan

Stephanie McMahon
WWE.com

Daniel Bryan, throughout the course of a gruelling decade-plus career spent in several companies without attentive medical care, didn't perform the dangerous diving headbutt countless times. He didn't exchange disgusting steel post shots with Nigel McGuinness in a gruesome Ring Of Honor series. He didn't suffer several significant neck injuries. He didn't suffer seizures.

He was too popular for his own good, and was retired by WWE to make way for The Big Dog.

All become cynical, from time to time. Some of us find it difficult to invest in any performer, even Roman Reigns, because there's no full-time babyface that makes this much TV time worth it. It's just preamble for The Rock, who doesn't need anything quite so elaborate to pop a massive number. Something this elaborate is crucial to get somebody new over.

And some of us invent crazed rumours about WWE intentionally sidelining merchandise-shifting talent, presumably by corrupting its medical personnel, to artificially inflate Roman Reigns' popularity. But WWE didn't need the Yes! t-shirt money, they insisted, as WWE today brazenly courts a PR disaster purely for the riyal supplemental to the almighty Fox dollar.

One person put forward this theory a few years back, and to this day, Dave Meltzer is still asked about it on Twitter.

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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!