Daniel Bryan.... Is this a Heel Turn?

[J-sin]

At the end of Smackdown after the 6 man tag Main Event, after Bryan had stolen YET ANOTHER victory from his tag partner (it's become "his thing" lately)... Both Ambrose and Ziggler took the mic and called Daniel Bryan out as being a Turd... Ambrose even went further and brought up how everyone thinks Bryan is a nice guy and said he knows what DB is really like, hence he called him a Turd.
So two of the top faces in WWE both turn on DB (verbally at least for now) his recent history of stealing victories off his team mate when they are in perfect position to get the win after doing all the hard work. And a slight tweak to his character in the sense he has become a little arrogant and cocky(although not over the top, but still noticeable) do you guys think this is the start of a DB heel turn or just WWE emphasising the IC Title match as every man for themselves?

P.S. After this match I reckon Ambrose and Ziggler should team up for a Tag Team Run, they can call themselves "A to Z"...lol

 

[That N Word]

At the end of Smackdown after the 6 man tag Main Event, after Bryan had stolen YET ANOTHER victory from his tag partner (it's become "his thing" lately)... Both Ambrose and Ziggler took the mic and called Daniel Bryan out as being a Turd... Ambrose even went further and brought up how everyone thinks Bryan is a nice guy and said he knows what DB is really like, hence he called him a Turd.
So two of the top faces in WWE both turn on DB (verbally at least for now) his recent history of stealing victories off his team mate when they are in perfect position to get the win after doing all the hard work. And a slight tweak to his character in the sense he has become a little arrogant and cocky(although not over the top, but still noticeable) do you guys think this is the start of a DB heel turn or just WWE emphasising the IC Title match as every man for themselves?

P.S. After this match I reckon Ambrose and Ziggler should team up for a Tag Team Run, they can call themselves "A to Z"...lol

I don't think so it was just to further the story of jealousy. However, I do see Bryan feuding with either Ziggler, Sheamus,or Ambrose post-Mania with one of the latters turning heel on Bryan purely out of jealousy. However, I see Ziggler walking out IC champ feuding with Barrett for a little bit, Ambrose turning heel on Reigns post-Mania out of jealousy after stopping Rollins before he can cash in and feuding with Reigns. So, that leaves Sheamus who I see going heel and feuding with Bryan. I see Ziggler turning heel and facing Bryan at Summerslam. Infact I think it would be a great storyline if alot of the top stars who is not at the top of the card begins lashing out on Reigns and Bryan out of jealousy (even John Cena.) I see Bryan having feuds with Sheamus,Ziggler,and Ambrose in 2015. I see Reigns feuding with Ambrose,Rollins,Rusev,and Wyatt in 2015. I see Ziggler feuding with BNB,Bryan,Orton (maybe) in 2015. I see Ambrose feuding with Reigns,Rollins(who will turn face during the shield triple threat feud),Bryan in 2015. But as for whether is was a heel turn for Bryan??? Far from it!!! If anything Ambrose and Ziggler came out as jealous heels. I do think it could be a compelling story with Ambrose turning heel and feuding with Bryan to "reveal the truth about him."

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I think it might be leading to some sort of heel turn for Ziggler or Ambrose or it might simply be the start of them adding some needed hostility to this program. In the next few weeks, I'd like to see more of this hostility come out from all parties, including Daniel Bryan. In the case of Ziggler & Ambrose, Bryan's got a lot to work with if they want to go down the road of them being hostile towards Bryan due to professional jealousy.

In Ambrose's case, Bryan could mention how he seems to be "lagging behind when it comes to success without the other members of The Shield. After all, Seth Rollins is Mr. Money in the Bank & The Authority's new golden boy while Roman Reigns as an opportunity to become the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. As for you Dean...well... your biggest career successes on your own amount to you sort of just twitching and talking to yourself like someone on too much Ritalin or not enough."

As far as Ziggler goes, Bryan could bring up the fact that Ziggler seems to get hurt whenever he has any real momentum going for him. If he really wanted to get under his skin, he could say something to the effect of Ziggler always trying to overcompensate for things by asserting that he always "steals the show" with something like "Dolph, the only times in which you're able to steal the show is when Daniel Bryan's not on the show."

I think it's important, however, for Bryan to keep acknowledging the fact that the fans have so much to do with his success. Bryan's the most over babyface on the roster, fans WANT to cheer for him and they LIKE cheering for him. They tried turning Bryan heel about the first of last year and it didn't work because, as I said, people genuinely want to cheer for Daniel Bryan as a babyface. In this day & age where there are more & more smarks attending the shows, where there are more pessimistic fans attending the shows and people who just don't want to suspend disbelief in order to cheer for the "good guys" over the "bad guys", Bryan is someone on the roster that fans enjoy rallying behind as a babyface. I could picture Bryan saying something like "Without these fans, I wouldn't have gotten the opportunities I've had and I've made the most out of every single one of them. Whether it's winning Money in the Bank, winning my first World Heavyweight Championship, being part of Team Hell No, beating John Cena at SummerSlam or taking on The Authority in my journey to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania XXX. At WrestleMania, I'm going to make the most out of this next opportunity these fans have helped give me by becoming the new Intercontinental Champion. Unlike some people, I don't whine about the powers that be holding me back, I don't whine about The Authority trying to take me out, I don't whine about how unfairly they have the deck stacked against me. I just fight that much harder to win for myself and for these people because they've stood by me when I was long since written off as just a good little helper. I don't have to constantly boast about stealing the show in order to make myself feel better because these people let me, The Authority and every other person in that locker room know who really steals the show around here."

I think a response along those lines keeps Bryan firmly as a babyface who acknowledged and appreciates the support of the fans while simultaneously giving him a bit of an edge in which he's still a "nice guy", but a nice guy with teeth. We've seen Bryan deliver some very passionate promos and I think something along those lines would really resonate with fans.

 

[Bockwinkel's Class]

At the end of Smackdown after the 6 man tag Main Event, after Bryan had stolen YET ANOTHER victory from his tag partner (it's become "his thing" lately)... Both Ambrose and Ziggler took the mic and called Daniel Bryan out as being a Turd... Ambrose even went further and brought up how everyone thinks Bryan is a nice guy and said he knows what DB is really like, hence he called him a Turd.
So two of the top faces in WWE both turn on DB (verbally at least for now) his recent history of stealing victories off his team mate when they are in perfect position to get the win after doing all the hard work. And a slight tweak to his character in the sense he has become a little arrogant and cocky(although not over the top, but still noticeable) do you guys think this is the start of a DB heel turn or just WWE emphasising the IC Title match as every man for themselves?

P.S. After this match I reckon Ambrose and Ziggler should team up for a Tag Team Run, they can call themselves "A to Z"...lol

Maybe. I'm not entirely convinced the WWE has the balls to pull the trigger on a Bryan heel turn but I've seen enough wrestling over the past 35 years to pick up on them at least teasing the possibility.

On the other hand I'd love to see it if no no other reason than watching the IWC's collective heads explode and the ensuing shit storm.

 

[#1druid]

Personally if his heel turn brings him back to the main event, possibly as Heyman's new client were Brock to leave, I'm fine with it. Punk turned heel and the crowd was still pretty supportive and I imagine Daniel Bryan now with a mouth piece would be even better. Bryan deserves better than "too good for the andre royal, not good enough for his own feud" He should be facing brock. period. Reigns clearly isn't able to connect with a crowd. Certain things only work because of how a star connects, the yes chant for one, most of what the rock and stone cold do. Roman's the kind of guy who if he were to ask for a hell yeah, he probably would get 6 out of 15,000 people, or if he did the pause for the "and millions" part of the "of the rock's fans" he would get crickets. Daniel Bryan is as over in this era as one can be and the crowd is at least owed a run at the top.

 

[Hem]

No no, I don't think this is leading to a heel turn. I think its to emphasise that there are no friends in the ladder match, it's every man for himself. Ambrose has no friends, remember that. He's a lone wolf.

HOWEVER, if Daniel Bryan does not get to the main event by WM next year and the WWE has someone else in mind for the main event then they should turn him heel.

I don't want to see a babyface Daniel Bryan walk into Wrestlemania again in any role other than the main event. I wouldn't mind a heel Daniel Bryan facing someone like Dolph Ziggler or maybe an NXT guy who is setting the WWE on fire after debuting to keep them in line.

I don't want to see the heel Bryan who just comes out and yells NO! instead of YES!

I want Bryan to turn into a sadistic and grumpy heel. He should be angry that he isn't the main event. He should blame the fans for just being fake and not REALLY caring. He should stop anyone from getting to the main event before he does. Thats best for business.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

What, the FUCK was that?!

Why the hell are they running this angle? it looks like they wanna derail whatever momentum D Bry has left. Make Rocky Jr. looks strong...


Hate the angle. I wish they believed him. i wish they thought he can be a marquee on MSG or smtg. Not This man, not this.

 

[Creepy Old Man]

WWE would be morons to turn Bryan heel, but then again, they are morons. I can see them doing it to stop him stealing Reigns's face heat and t-shirt sales. They did it with Punk in 2012, because he was encroaching on Cenaville. Punk eclipsed Cena in t-shirt sales for a while and was continuing to sell colossal volumes of merch, but WWE killed all that and threw a ton of money down the toilet for political, Cena-******ing reasons. I was never a Ryback fan, but I acknowledge that his t-shirt sales and crowd interactions were really taking off - WWE also killed him in early 2013, and I think I know why.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Bryan's the most over babyface on the roster, fans WANT to cheer for him and they LIKE cheering for him.

Yes, they do, but I still question whether they're liking him as much as they like doing the chant ("Yes!") The other night, they panned the audience as Daniel was leading them in the chant and I swear 3/4 of the damn audience was doing it, which could be an indication it isn't yet time to turn him heel. Of course, before all that, the fans also enjoyed yelling "Yes!" as Daniel shouted "No!" as he portrayed a lovable heel, if one can reconcile the contradiction in terms.

But I'm enjoying the "professional jealousy" being displayed by Ziggler and Ambrose; it's adding complexity to the "Daniel Bryan love-in" the wrestling world has going with him now. Everyone doesn't have to love him, y'know, and this is a good way to keep us guessing while WWE waits for the chant to finally lose it's steam......then, we'll see.

 

[Heartbreak_Kid_707]

Na, they clearly said their self their all wanting to bring prestige back to the IC title..

Want a life history lesson?? There's certain things in life you can count on. Taxes, death, and John Cena and Daniel Bryan NEVER eeeeeeeeeever turning heel..

 

[Nada]

Sadly its worse than that, its complete irrelevancy.

The guy who won the belt last year and beat Hunter is now in a match with R Truth, whose gimmick is that he is insane but not in a cool sort of Heath Ledger Joker way, just cartoon insane.

 

[WimpyKid4Life]

It was just tension rising between 3 WWE Superstars who are competing against each other in a ladder match at WrestleMania for the prestigious Intercontinental Championship that WWE Legends like The Rock, Bret Hart, and Ultimate Warrior have held with honor and respect in the past. Of course they would trash talk each other! Great segments centered around the Intercontinental Championship and I enjoy it. WrestleMania is truly here! "You're a turd, bro."

 

[Dave]

Oh my god, I can imagine the absolute shit storm that would be forecast should they turn Daniel a Bryan heel right now. The same Daniel Bryan who is the most over baby face in the company? The same Daniel Bryan who has the loyal backing of the fans at every arena the WWE goes to? Yeah, that would be a terrible bad move for the WWE to make from every standpoint imaginable. He sells merch as a face, he's over, and he gets the crowd involved. Furthermore, the fans want to cheer for him. Turning him would be a massive middle finger to the fans.

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

This is Vince proving that he calls the shots. Every "internet darling" is in this IC title match. Every guy who organically got over without the machine. Guys who get over on workrate and have all at one point been more over than their hand picked champions.

Guys WWE wants to push:
Reigns, Cena, Orton, Wyatt, Rusev, Rollins.
They're all in big time 'Mania matches this year.

Guys who got over despite the push:
Ziggler, Ambrose, Bryan, Barrett, Rhodes
They're all in this ladder match. Hell, might as well put Ryder in the match too.

 

[Lascelle]

This seems more tantamount to the WWE trying to stigmatize Daniel Bryan with a defamatory label (think of Owen Hart being called a "nugget") than a heel turn for him.

I do believe they could be setting up an Ambrose heel turn, however. They will elevate Dean to feud with Reigns at some point. They have no interest in doing anything with Bryan apart from making him out into a mascot who will be used as a capable stepping stone feud for other heels on their way up to feud with the likes of Cena, Roman and Orton.

 

[SoulTrain4]

Bryan isn't turning heel, one of the two are.

My bet is on Dolph. He has become obsessed with Daniel, he challenged him to a one on one match and then was cheerful of him being in the ladder match. Ambrose planted the seed, Dolph has an "inferiority complex", that's a great excuse to turn Dolph heel. Of course it could be temporary like HBK's "heel turn" against Hogan.

I can hear it now in fact....
"I'm better than you bro! I'm the best BRO!"

 

[HBKistheHOF]

I'm glad someone brought this up because I was so confused by this ending. Not only was it silly, it hardly made any sense to me.

At first I was assuming it was just to add more tension to the match, then I started thinking maybe Ambrose & Ziggler are starting vague signs of a heel turn for some reason just because of their delivery & how weird it was. But then I started thinking of just how over Ambrose, Bryan & Ziggler all are still but how they're all stuck in this mid-card match at WM. Maybe WWE wants to diminish their crowd reactions a little so that way at Mania Reigns' pop however big or small won't seem too negative when compared to other full-time babyfaces. & as CrucifiedRaven eludes to above, that would basically be killing off all the momentum of all the internet darlings. Which just seems so asinine that it could actually be true.

But I guess it could also be Bryan turning heel as well, who knows? As of right now the ladder match is the match I'm most looking forward to as well as one of the matches I'm most concerned about as a fan, which kind of overall explains my feelings about WM this year. Oh well, I guess only time will tell if WM 31 will go down as one of the best, worst or somewhere in between.

 

[Navi]

Turning him would be a massive middle finger to the fans.

Sadly they've already given us the middle finger and have been doing so for a long time. This pretty much proves it.

This is Vince proving that he calls the shots. Every "internet darling" is in this IC title match. Every guy who organically got over without the machine. Guys who get over on workrate and have all at one point been more over than their hand picked champions.

Guys WWE wants to push:
Reigns, Cena, Orton, Wyatt, Rusev, Rollins.
They're all in big time 'Mania matches this year.

Guys who got over despite the push:
Ziggler, Ambrose, Bryan, Barrett, Rhodes
They're all in this ladder match. Hell, might as well put Ryder in the match too.

Vince and the WWE don't give a damm about the IWC, who we like, who we cheer for, and who we don't want at the top. And why should he? The WWE is raking it in regardless of what we say. The IWC is nothing to them.

And we've seen the steller job they've done of turning other wrestlers heels. Just look at Ryback and Cesaro, my God their careers are skyrocketing aren't they. I doubt this is a Daniel Bryan heel turn, they wouldn't dare taking the most over babyface on the roster and doing that. Now that I've said that, it will probably happen.

 

[Nick Vibe]

Bryan isn't turning heel, one of the two are.

My bet is on Dolph. He has become obsessed with Daniel, he challenged him to a one on one match and then was cheerful of him being in the ladder match. Ambrose planted the seed, Dolph has an "inferiority complex", that's a great excuse to turn Dolph heel. Of course it could be temporary like HBK's "heel turn" against Hogan.

I can hear it now in fact....
"I'm better than you bro! I'm the best BRO!"

Pretty much this.

I liked how the faces somewhat ''turned'' on each other. They were beating the heels in this feud week after week after week, so the next step to make this interesting was that angle. Loved it.

I can see Bryan feuding with either Ambrose or Ziggler post Mania. I would prefer Ziggler tho. Bryan is so over as a face, even the WWE as stupid as they are, won't make the mistake to turn him heel. Ambrose too. He is such a natural face, he makes you cheer for him with his rebel-esque personality.

Ziggler on the other hand, as much as I doubt he will be pushed to higher levels, if he turns, has hit the ceiling. I love the guy, he is one of a few that can play both heel and face so well. But a scenario like this would work pretty well in my opinion: Him and Bryan feuding over the now-prestigious IC title. Both begin the feud as faces. It is in creative's best interest to play this feud the way they played Christian-Orton in 2011. Slow burn heel turn for Ziggler, when endorsing each other and even teaming up has preceded. Have it culminate at Summerslam. Throw in between WM and SS a 6-man elimination chamber for the IC title to mix things up.

 

[Messiah]

Missed Smackdown, but it doesn't sound like a heel turn, just a way to build this program for WrestleMania. If Bryan turns heel it will be after WrestleMania.

 

[Seosa]

I'm convinced that one of Vince's many, twisted dreams is to turn Bryan heel and screw his character and popularity. He couldn't risk it last year because of the prestige of Wrestlemania but you can be certain that he was stung by having to cave in.

None of Bryan, Ziggler or Ambrose should be considered for a heel turn given their popularity and potential, though you could imagine the latter 2 succeeding in a heel role. Regardless, this is typical of the creative bullshit that plagues the company

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

Vince and the WWE don't give a damm about the IWC, who we like, who we cheer for, and who we don't want at the top. And why should he? The WWE is raking it in regardless of what we say. The IWC is nothing to them.

And we've seen the steller job they've done of turning other wrestlers heels. Just look at Ryback and Cesaro, my God their careers are skyrocketing aren't they. I doubt this is a Daniel Bryan heel turn, they wouldn't dare taking the most over babyface on the roster and doing that. Now that I've said that, it will probably happen.

I think you've entirely missed my point. Or have gotten too caught up on the wrong part of it. Obviously there is a very sizeable portion of the live audience every week who cheers for people they want to (Bryan, Ambrose, Ziggler) instead of Vince's handpicked guys (Cena, Reigns). Vince doesn't care what the crowd wants. He's going to give them what he wants. It's not a heel turn, it's just getting pushed down the card to be as irrelevant as possible.

 

[enviousdominous]

Daniel Bryan doesn't work like most pro-wrestlers, this is because the crowd is a little too wise to what's occurring on tv these days.

The only people who might boo Daniel Bryan are kids who only know what they've seen in their brief existences, and are still adapting their minds to the concept of seeing through giant hills of bullshit in order to find the truth. For the rest of us; memories of seeing Daniel Bryan being literally the ONLY human being north of Mexico to properly sell Mistico's La Mistica on camera and memories of seeing Daniel Bryan hold our attention for the entirety of his matches have given us a stronger willingness to forget storylines and demand presence in a positive manner.

Daniel Bryan has been a spot on heel before, and (from what I hear of his demeanor backstage) I doubt that he would shout "NO!" if WWE creative chose to turn him heel. Calling him a turd doesn't seem like a proper means of getting the crowd to turn on him.

Maybe the "YES!" thing is just an obnoxious fad. Hell, my Commandant while I was in the Non-Commissioned Officer Academy was soft spoken, so she'd have us do the "YES!" chant in the auditorium to show that we understood what she had just said. I'm a fan of Daniel Bryan with or without it. My main point is; you can't turn "YES! YES! YES!" into "YOU'RE A TURD!! YOU'RE A TURD!!" "YES!" is perhaps the most infectious chant in human history.

 

[kadroan]

I think it might be leading to some sort of heel turn for Ziggler or Ambrose or it might simply be the start of them adding some needed hostility to this program. In the next few weeks, I'd like to see more of this hostility come out from all parties, including Daniel Bryan. In the case of Ziggler & Ambrose, Bryan's got a lot to work with if they want to go down the road of them being hostile towards Bryan due to professional jealousy.

In Ambrose's case, Bryan could mention how he seems to be "lagging behind when it comes to success without the other members of The Shield. After all, Seth Rollins is Mr. Money in the Bank & The Authority's new golden boy while Roman Reigns as an opportunity to become the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. As for you Dean...well... your biggest career successes on your own amount to you sort of just twitching and talking to yourself like someone on too much Ritalin or not enough."

As far as Ziggler goes, Bryan could bring up the fact that Ziggler seems to get hurt whenever he has any real momentum going for him. If he really wanted to get under his skin, he could say something to the effect of Ziggler always trying to overcompensate for things by asserting that he always "steals the show" with something like "Dolph, the only times in which you're able to steal the show is when Daniel Bryan's not on the show."

I think it's important, however, for Bryan to keep acknowledging the fact that the fans have so much to do with his success. Bryan's the most over babyface on the roster, fans WANT to cheer for him and they LIKE cheering for him. They tried turning Bryan heel about the first of last year and it didn't work because, as I said, people genuinely want to cheer for Daniel Bryan as a babyface. In this day & age where there are more & more smarks attending the shows, where there are more pessimistic fans attending the shows and people who just don't want to suspend disbelief in order to cheer for the "good guys" over the "bad guys", Bryan is someone on the roster that fans enjoy rallying behind as a babyface. I could picture Bryan saying something like "Without these fans, I wouldn't have gotten the opportunities I've had and I've made the most out of every single one of them. Whether it's winning Money in the Bank, winning my first World Heavyweight Championship, being part of Team Hell No, beating John Cena at SummerSlam or taking on The Authority in my journey to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania XXX. At WrestleMania, I'm going to make the most out of this next opportunity these fans have helped give me by becoming the new Intercontinental Champion. Unlike some people, I don't whine about the powers that be holding me back, I don't whine about The Authority trying to take me out, I don't whine about how unfairly they have the deck stacked against me. I just fight that much harder to win for myself and for these people because they've stood by me when I was long since written off as just a good little helper. I don't have to constantly boast about stealing the show in order to make myself feel better because these people let me, The Authority and every other person in that locker room know who really steals the show around here."

I think a response along those lines keeps Bryan firmly as a babyface who acknowledged and appreciates the support of the fans while simultaneously giving him a bit of an edge in which he's still a "nice guy", but a nice guy with teeth. We've seen Bryan deliver some very passionate promos and I think something along those lines would really resonate with fans.

Ziggler peaked, he's about to be 35. Meanwhile Ambrose turns 30 this year and got a lot of wrestling left in him. There's pretty much nothing left for Ambrose to do as a face individually that is meaningful unless they want to resume the Ambrose/Rollins feud. Ambrose's best bet is to turn heel so they can have some new things for him to do.