12 Times WWE Buried Their Own Champions

Bryan Danielson will be remembered as one of the finest technical workhorses of his generation, but he was never supposed to breakout and become the success he did as WWE's Daniel Bryan. To hammer home that point, the writers had him do the job to Sheamus in a mere 18 seconds at WrestleMania XXVIII.

The goal was clear: Humiliate an internet darling on the grandest stage, and push an in-house pet project over someone who'd torn it up on the independent scene. WWE didn't bank on a groundswell of support for Bryan though. They accidentally set wheels in motion for a babyface turn here, because fans rallied behind the heel.

Clearly, those in positions of power had wanted to embarrass him then watch D-Bry tumble back down the card. "B+ Player", and all that. The WWE audience rebelled against that scheming - they embraced Bryan as a pet project of their own, and the promotion eventually became powerless to resist being swept away in the rising tide of DB fever.

Behind the scenes, the decision makers knew how much Bryan would be looking forward to a 15-20 minute clinic vs. Sheamus at 'Mania, so they whisked that away from him. He'd go on to have the last laugh, but not before being casually buried whilst World Heavyweight Champion.

The whole deal was akin to putting Bob Backlund's rapid fire WWF Title loss to Diesel from 1994 on pay-per-view. Dan's fate didn't just happen on PPV, it happened on the biggest event of the calendar year. Somehow, he survived then thrived.