Daniel Bryan and Fandango - the "People Power" stars

Next night on Raw, the crowd vehemently chanted “yes” in support of Bryan and showed their angst to WWE for robbing them of Bryan’s performance. The chants started even before Raw was on air. For every move in a match, every sentence in a segment, the crowd gave their opinion by a “yes” or a “no”. Chants of “We want Bryan” reverberated throughout the arena. The production team did well not to bring out Bryan during the airtime as that would have blown off the roof. They got to see that as Bryan came out during the Dark match after the show and he got one of the biggest pops ever heard. Every kick by Bryan was greeted by a “Yes” and every offense against Bryan was followed by a “No”. Bryan thanked the audience for the support after the match. Outside the arena, people would not stop chanting “yes”. A new star and a new chant was born that night.

Sensing that Bryan’s popularity was growing everyday, and with “yes” shirts selling like pancakes, it may have jeopardized the poster boy, John Cena‘s popularity. So WWE made him ignore the “Yes” chants. Continuing his heel persona, Bryan would shout “no” in response to the crowd’s “yes” chants. But that didn’t dither his popularity one bit and in every arena, he was always greeted by a “yes” chant. The Daniel Bryan “Yes” revolution has not died down even after a year. This “yes” virus went to other wrestling promotions like TNA. With his in-ring wrestling performances becoming better everyday, he is now the most “over-the-top” guy in WWE. Heel or face, he is always a fan favourite. Even the young kids lent their voices in shouting “yes” chants. This goes to show no matter how much WWE tries to make us hate this guy, the WWE universe knows very well how to respect a wrestling talent.

Fandango

Fandango is another star born out of the people’s voice. This character is played by Johnny Curtis, who won the NXT season four competition. He has been in the wrestling fraternity since 1999, seen in various development promotions. He was chosen to play the Ballroom dancer gimmick – Vince’s pet project. Though first brandished as a failed project and was even thought to be scrapped off, Fandango’s success has given Vince a big smile.

Fandango is a fussy and exacting character, especially with respect to how his ring name is to be pronounced. In these moments, he typically signals out his opponents, hails and charms them before suddenly turning hostile because the said individuals can’t pronounce “Fandango” to his extravagant liking. He is always accompanied by a female dance partner (Summer Rae is now his permanent partner), twirling his body, showing some elegant dance moves which immediately strike a connection with the fans. He has a villainous look, taking no step backwards in ridiculing others’ lack of dance skills. Initially, the fans were not interested in this character as he gave the same routine excuses in forfeiting his matches. Chants of “you can’t wrestle” were riled at him. The storyline led him to face Chris Jericho at WrestleMania 29.