Daniel Bryan reveals his original pitch to WWE for the Bray Wyatt storyline
Daniel Bryan has revealed that he pitched an idea to WWE for “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt to tear out clumps of his beard, but he did not originally want to have his hair cut short.
The WrestleMania 30 main-eventer disappeared from WWE television for three weeks after “The Fiend” ripped out some of his hair on an episode of SmackDown in November 2019. He then returned at the TLC pay-per-view with short hair and hardly any facial hair, much like his original WWE look in 2010.
Speaking to MySanAntonio.com, Bryan explained that he came up with the beard idea as a way to continue his rivalry with “The Fiend” over the Universal Championship on SmackDown. However, WWE’s decision-makers wanted to go one step further by also making him have a drastic haircut.
“One of the things to me was that he's changed people's character so much when he's faced them. And by him ripping out or cutting my beard, it would be this idea that he's stripping me of part of my identity. That was my kind of pitch to them.
“What actually happened? They said, 'Well, yeah, then he can cut your hair, too!' And I was like, 'No, I don't really want that. I don't want my hair to be cut.' I kind of wanted my hair to be longer. Just wrestling wise, I like that.”
WWE Royal Rumble 2020: “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt vs. Daniel Bryan
Daniel Bryan will challenge “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt for the Universal Championship in a strap match at the 2020 Royal Rumble on January 26.
The two men previously faced each other at the Royal Rumble in 2014, with Wyatt coming out on top after hitting two Sister Abigails.
Listen to Charlotte Flair and Andrade discuss their relationship, Ric Flair and all things WWE in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda's Gary Cassidy!