Daniel Bryan Heel Turn Teased At WWE Clash Of Champions
The SmackDown General Manager administered a fast count in favour of the heel team.
Daniel Bryan could well be on the verge of a full heel turn, as implied by the finish of Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.
The Clash of Champions bout saw two special guest referees, SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon and General Manager Bryan. Discord between the pair had been teased in recent weeks, despite both ostensibly being babyfaces.
Shane's hatred of Owens and Zayn led to him inserting himself as special guest referee for their match on tonight's pay per view, with the additional stipulation that if they lost, they'd be fired from SmackDown Live.
Bryan, however, appeared to sympathise with the heels - or at least show an interest in treating them more fairly - and also appointed himself special guest referee for the match.
In a strange, often disjointed affair, both Bryan and Shane stepped on one another's toes a lot during the match - simultaneously dropping to the canvas on multiple occasions to count the same pinfall.
The first real moment of controversy came when Orton nailed Zayn with an RKO, only for Owens to break up the ensuing pinfall by shoving Bryan into Shane. The SmackDown commissioner didn't realise that KO was to blame, and berated his fellow authority figure.
Shane then blatantly refused to count three for a Zayn roll-up, only for Bryan to administer a fast count when Sami repeated the move. He then raised Owens and Zayn's arms on the ramp, while Shane looked on alongside the babyfaces from inside the ring.
Although this appears to suggest an impending turn for Bryan, it could be argued that Shane acted heelishly too - especially in refusing to count a pinfall. He also demonstrated far more bias throughout most of the match than Bryan, often looking visibly distressed when Owens or Zayn kicked out of a pinfall attempt, and clearly relieved when Orton or Nakamura did so.
The Clash of Champions bout saw two special guest referees, SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon and General Manager Bryan. Discord between the pair had been teased in recent weeks, despite both ostensibly being babyfaces.
Shane's hatred of Owens and Zayn led to him inserting himself as special guest referee for their match on tonight's pay per view, with the additional stipulation that if they lost, they'd be fired from SmackDown Live.
Bryan, however, appeared to sympathise with the heels - or at least show an interest in treating them more fairly - and also appointed himself special guest referee for the match.
In a strange, often disjointed affair, both Bryan and Shane stepped on one another's toes a lot during the match - simultaneously dropping to the canvas on multiple occasions to count the same pinfall.
The first real moment of controversy came when Orton nailed Zayn with an RKO, only for Owens to break up the ensuing pinfall by shoving Bryan into Shane. The SmackDown commissioner didn't realise that KO was to blame, and berated his fellow authority figure.
Shane then blatantly refused to count three for a Zayn roll-up, only for Bryan to administer a fast count when Sami repeated the move. He then raised Owens and Zayn's arms on the ramp, while Shane looked on alongside the babyfaces from inside the ring.
Although this appears to suggest an impending turn for Bryan, it could be argued that Shane acted heelishly too - especially in refusing to count a pinfall. He also demonstrated far more bias throughout most of the match than Bryan, often looking visibly distressed when Owens or Zayn kicked out of a pinfall attempt, and clearly relieved when Orton or Nakamura did so.
Written by Jack King
jack.king@cultaholic.com Twitter: @JackTheJobber
