The Complete History of the WWE Championship - Part 18

Daniel Bryan (April 6, 2014 - June 9, 2014)

Daniel Bryan: Title reign unfortunately truncated by injury

Daniel Bryan became WWE's most unlikely figurehead when he captured the WWE Championship from Randy Orton in the headline bout at WrestleMania XXX, which also featured Batista.

WrestleMania XXX was unquestionably Bryan's night. He was the star of the show, defeating Triple H in the opening bout and upsetting the odds and fighting off outside interference to win the big one. Bryan seemed like he had become WWE's new top star.

However, WWE failed to capitalize on Bryan's momentum by placing him in a feud with his longtime rival/ally Kane. Although Kane was a logical opponent given their history, the lumbering giant veteran was not going to extract the best out of Bryan in the ring. To make matters worse, their feud played out like a B movie Horror film, with Bryan (who was meant to be the fearless babyface superstar) constantly running away in fear from the monster.

Bryan did win their climactic encounter at Extreme Rules on May 4 in an entertaining contest but was forced to vacate the belt due to a neck injury on June 9 after he had undergone neck surgery several weeks earlier.

Bryan's road back to the WWE Championship would be a long one, as he was forced to retire in early 2016 before making an in-ring comeback at WrestleMania 34 and regaining the strap in November 2018.