The Complete A-Z Of WrestleMania

2. Y - YES!

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The culmination of a journey that started with humiliating defeat two years earlier, Daniel Bryan's stubborn ascent to WWE's upper-echelon concluded with a breath-taking triple threat WWE Title win at WrestleMania 30.

Following the aforementioned WrestleMania 28 defeat to Sheamus, Bryan had heard the 'YES!' chants everywhere he went, even when his heel persona briefly changed the catchphrase to 'NO!' in a concerted effort from the company to permanently lock him in the midcard.

Support for Bryan would simply not subside.

After a crowd-pleasing Tag Title run with Kane, Bryan was again back in the main event when John Cena selected him as his SummerSlam 2013 opponent thanks to an overwhelming groundswell of love from the crowd.

Though Bryan would dethrone Cena, his immediate defeat following a 'Money In The Bank' cash-in from Authority pet project Randy Orton set the wheels in motion for the incredible giant-slaying victory for Bryan nearly eight months later at 'Yes-lemania'.

At least, that's how WWE now frame it.

Until CM Punk's January walk-out, the apparent plan for Bryan was yet another Sheamus match, despite his impossible-to-ignore adulation infamously hijacking numerous shows. Be grateful to Punk for sticking to his guns.

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