10 Most Important WWE Moments Of 2014 - 6

6. Daniel Bryan’s Big Night At WrestleMania

To say that fans all over the world were emotionally invested in Daniel Bryan’s journey in 2013 and 2014 would be a major understatement. They weren’t cheering for “Daniel Bryan” as much as they were cheering for Bryan Danielson. The underdog of all underdogs, he had a story that many could relate to, and they wanted to see him overcome the odds and obstacles placed before him.

WWE had trolled his fans a few times before, so even though the path to him winning at WrestleMania seemed to be likely once the matches were finalized, people still had to stop and wonder if they would be trolled yet again. He had to defeat Triple H earlier in a night, and then go on to defeat Randy Orton and Batista in a Triple Threat at the end of the night. The storybook ending was right there. All WWE had to do was pull the trigger on making it happen.

The fans in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome that night were electric, and they were hanging on everything Bryan did. When he beat Triple H, they went ballistic, knowing that he had defeated the storyline reason that he was being “held down”, and that he was halfway there. There was unease and tension in the air during the main event, as those more pessimistic fans were just counting down the moments until Bryan would be screwed with. Once he won the match, the raw emotion in the arena was palpable. Bryan shed tears in the ring, and by all accounts, fans all over the arena shed tears with him.

Chances are, it’s something we, as fans, will never experience with anyone else again, and that’s what helped to make it so special in the first place.