8 WWE Stars Who Worked (By Not Working)

4. Daniel Bryan

Daniel Bryan AJ Lee WrestleMania 28

Losing to Sheamus in just 18 seconds at WrestleMania XXVIII was supposed to embarrass Daniel Bryan and lead to ridicule from the fans. The complete opposite happened, because people were incensed by WWE's treatment of such an obviously talented wrestler.

From there, the 'Yes Movement' exploded, and a cult-like following emerged to convince WWE that Bryan was worth pushing.

Everything from Daniel's blistering matches and a 2012 'odd couple' union with Kane prominently displayed how entertaining a performer Bryan could be when given the chance, and that only intensified fan desire to see him shoot up the card, turn babyface, and become an established main event star.

Staring at the lights for Sheamus so quickly was supposed to demean Bryan and give him something to whinge about as a heel. Instead of fans latching on to that story, more and more support gathered for him until WWE couldn't ignore it any longer, and finally started the ball rolling on a headline push in 2013.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.