Backstage Details On Daniel Bryan's Heel Turn & WWE Championship Win Revealed
Last night's SmackDown Live finale had nothing to do with Becky Lynch's untimely injury...
Last night on WWE SmackDown Live, Daniel Bryan forced his way into a one-on-one WWE Championship match with AJ Styles, taking the Phenomenal One's title before brutally assaulting him after the final bell.
Bryan appears to be a bit of a loose cannon heel now, and The Wrestling Observer has been able to provide us with an update as to when a couple of the crucial booking decision seen on last night's show were made.
The decision to make Bryan WWE Champion wasn't a response to Women's Champion Becky Lynch's untimely "broken face." That decision was made before The Irish Lasskicker was injured.
As for Bryan's heel turn, it's reportedly something he's been pushing for recently, with Vince McMahon only deciding to pull the trigger on last night's show in the hours before it started.
Here's what Dave Meltzer had to say: “It’s a complicated story. Daniel Bryan himself has been pushing the idea of going heel just because his booking as a babyface with The Miz – it’s counter-productive.
“For whatever the reason, I don’t know the reason, but it was over the weekend, Vince changed plans and wanted to go with Brock Lesnar against Daniel Bryan. So this is before the Becky Lynch injury but the heel turn was decided this afternoon. It was basically Vince going ‘let’s do it all in one day and get the biggest impact."
So, the WWE Championship change was decided over the weekend, but the decision to do the heel turn on yesterday's SmackDown Live was only made in the hours before the show started - that's what I've taken from Uncle Dave's words there.
Bryan appears to be a bit of a loose cannon heel now, and The Wrestling Observer has been able to provide us with an update as to when a couple of the crucial booking decision seen on last night's show were made.
The decision to make Bryan WWE Champion wasn't a response to Women's Champion Becky Lynch's untimely "broken face." That decision was made before The Irish Lasskicker was injured.
As for Bryan's heel turn, it's reportedly something he's been pushing for recently, with Vince McMahon only deciding to pull the trigger on last night's show in the hours before it started.
Here's what Dave Meltzer had to say: “It’s a complicated story. Daniel Bryan himself has been pushing the idea of going heel just because his booking as a babyface with The Miz – it’s counter-productive.
“For whatever the reason, I don’t know the reason, but it was over the weekend, Vince changed plans and wanted to go with Brock Lesnar against Daniel Bryan. So this is before the Becky Lynch injury but the heel turn was decided this afternoon. It was basically Vince going ‘let’s do it all in one day and get the biggest impact."
So, the WWE Championship change was decided over the weekend, but the decision to do the heel turn on yesterday's SmackDown Live was only made in the hours before the show started - that's what I've taken from Uncle Dave's words there.
Written by Ross Tweddell
Written and video journalist for Cultaholic Wrestling | twitter: @rossonrasslin | instagram: @rossonrasslin
