5 reasons why WWE turned Daniel Bryan heel

Wait, Daniel Bryan did what?!?!

Yes, the November 13th edition of SmackDown saw the beloved D-Bry hit a low blow on AJ Styles on his way to defeating the Phenomenal One for the WWE Championship. Not content with simply a questionable title win, Bryan cemented his heel turn by assaulting the Face That Runs The Place (awful nickname, right?) as the show went off the air.

So there we are, barely six months into Daniel Bryan’s return to in-ring action and the WWE decision makers have already made the call to turn the ever-popular Washington native into a nefarious bad guy. Some may question that call, others may embrace it, but either way, it appears as if the SmackDown landscape has been given a major shake-up.

Even more surprising about all of this is the fact that Styles was set to face WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar in a matter of days at the annual Survivor Series PPV. With that match one that many fans were hugely looking forward to seeing, the bout is now off the table; Bryan replacing AJ in going up against Paul Heyman’s Beast.

While the Bryan heel turn may have just been an on-a-whim call by Vince McMahon, here are five possible reasons why the turn took place how and when it did.

#5 B+ Player

AJ Styles as WWE Champion, while Bryan looks on

While Daniel Bryan is truly one of the greatest in-ring talents and performers of his generation and beyond – and far, far from a B+ player – the former American Dragon was always likely to be in the shadow of AJ Styles if kept as a babyface on the SmackDown brand.

Bryan and Styles are both fantastic babyfaces, and both could easily lead the blue brand as the top guy, but realistically it looked as if D-Bry was to be positioned as the B+ babyface to the Phenomenal One’s A-grade good guy should SmackDown remain on the same path as it has over the past several months.

Of course, that path has well and truly been shook up now, with Bryan turning heel by cheating to defeat Styles for the WWE Championship and then laying a post-match beatdown on the fallen P1.

So, while this turn may have come totally out of left field and may have been a spur of the moment decision from WWE creative, it was a way for the WWE to once again position Daniel Bryan as an A-level talent and a headline act at the top of the card.

Plus, rather than Bryan playing second fiddle to AJ, it allows for a far more intriguing relationship between the pair.

#4 Becky Lynch’s Popularity

Becky Lynch defeated Charlotte Flair to become the SmackDown Women's Champion

Sure, they may compete in completely different divisions on the SmackDown brand, but the continued ascension of Becky Lynch could well have played a part in the decision to turn Daniel Bryan heel.

For some reason, the WWE decided to have Lynch turn heel on Charlotte Flair earlier this year, with the plan being to position Becky as the top villain of the SmackDown women’s division. The only problem was, the WWE Universe weren’t prepared to accept Lynch as a heel, and instead this only further accentuated the fact that the Irish Lass Kicker has been forced to often play a supporting role to Charlotte in recent times.

To the surprise of many, the WWE did what they rarely do these days – they listened to the fans - and now we have a tough-as-old-boots Lynch who is an aggressive, no-nonsense character that has the fanbase loudly behind her.

How this ties to Daniel Bryan, however, is that the initial plan seemed to be for 2018 to play out with a heel Lynch dominating the women’s roster, while a babyface AJ Styles similarly headed up the SmackDown men’s roster.

That balance of heel and face champions was thrown askew when WWE brass reluctantly relented on the Becky heel push, and thus it seems that the plan was changed to incorporate a shocking new heel on the top of the men’s side – said shocking new heel being D-Bry.

#3 To Remove the Lesnar/Styles Problem

Lesnar and Styles battling at Survivor Series 2017

Going in to Survivor Series, one of the matches that fans were most looking forward to was seeing AJ Styles battling Brock Lesnar once again. The bout that the pair had at the 2017 edition of the annual November PPV was, no pun intended, phenomenal, and it is arguably the very best match that Brock Lesnar has had since returning to the WWE in 2012.

At that event, AJ was ultimately on the losing side despite putting in a gutsy underdog performance that brought the best out of Lesnar. With a rematch on the cards, that threw up a major headache for the WWE: does Brock beat Styles again, or do you beat the Beast in his first match since becoming Universal Champion again?

By taking the Phenomenal One out of that equation – as in having him drop the WWE Championship to Daniel Bryan – that removes that particular problem. No longer does Styles face the prospect of losing face by another defeat to Lesnar, and no longer does Brock have the prospect of having his stock damaged by losing to AJ.

Given the nature in which Bryan won the WWE Championship on SmackDown, it appears that this is only the start of what should hopefully be a heated, lengthy rivalry between D-Bry and Styles.

As such, the pissed off AJ seems primed and ready to interfere in the Bryan and Lesnar bout, be that either causing a DQ finish or by outright screwing over Daniel. Either way, this change-up of the SmackDown landscape takes a little bit of the pressure off WWE creative for Survivor Series.

#2 Bryan Had Become Stale

Bryan had lost major momentum over the past several months

It’s maybe hard for some of us to admit, but if we’re being totally honest with ourselves, Daniel Bryan had gotten a little stale over the past few months.

Once upon a time, the prospect of Bryan somehow managing to get cleared for in-ring action was something that was unimaginable, at least under the WWE umbrella. The multiple-time World Champion managed to overcome those odds, and we were all left with tears in our eyes when the former American Dragon stepped back in the ring at WrestleMania 34.

From there, fans looked ahead at the slew of dream matches and moments that could lie ahead for Bryan. And sure, we’ve had some fun bouts in the post-Mania months, but it seemed as if the Daniel Bryan character had hit a wall.

Entertaining matches happened with the likes of Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Samoa Joe, Andrade “Cien” Almas, The Miz, and, yes, AJ Styles, but it felt as if Bryan was left with very little left on the table bar the long-awaited dream match against Shinsuke Nakamura. In fact, it was only a couple of weeks ago that Wrestling Observer Live’s Bryan Alvarez reported that the WWE had no particular plans for D-Bry once the Saudi Arabia-held Crown Jewel event was out of the way.

Now, with a shocking heel turn, the Daniel Bryan character has received a shot in the arm, a refresh, and a new direction that will see him positioned as a main player on the SmackDown brand moving forward.

#1 AJ Styles Awaits at ‘Mania

Bryan and Styles to battle on the Grandest Stage of Them All?

To have faith in the WWE telling long, drawn-out stories is a bit of a tough ask in recent years, but if – and that’s a big if – the company handles the Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles rivalry right, this could be a major attraction match at next April’s WrestleMania 35.

Even before Bryan’s shocking heel turn and WWE Championship win on SmackDown, many were wondering what possible opponents could lie in wait for both Bryan and Styles at ‘Mania.

One possibility brought to the table for both men was Shawn Michaels, with the Heartbreak Kid potentially up for one or two more matches following his Crown Jewel return. Other than that, though, what big-name match-ups are there for either of these two iconic grapplers? Daniel Bryan vs Shane McMahon? AJ Styles vs Randy Orton? Err, nah, I’m good, thanks.

Maybe we see Styles and Bryan clash over the next few months, D-Bry eking out underhand wins and AJ being all out of title opportunities – only then for the Phenomenal One to win the Royal Rumble and set up a WrestleMania match for the ages. Of course, this could all go out of the window and AJ could win the belt back by the time the year is out.

We’ll have to wait and see, but if handled correctly then the WWE has something special on their hands with this brewing rivalry; something special that could be dragged out all the way through to the Showcase of the Immortals.