Opinion: Daniel Bryan talking valid points about environmental sustainability as a heel seemed outright heroic
Every wrestling promotion works with the idea of Babyfaces and Heels. WWE isn't anything different, and every storyline has a villain and a hero. Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev, Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, and the list go on.
The list goes on to explain the very principle by which WWE runs its storylines. The basic idea of a hero and an anti-hero is the guideline by which almost every wrestling promotion functions. But of late, WWE has been suffering from not executing this idea in the best possible manner.
The heels making valid points is probably the last thing that the viewers wanted to see. While babyfaces are supposedly the messiahs of WWE, willing to do everything for the audience and have only good words for them, heels are the exact opposite. But the recent trends show that the WWE Creative has made these heels into cults and the WWE Universe praises these superstars.
It's always clear that WWE is always looking for someone who can connect with the audience as a babyface to make him/her the face of the company. Ever since the heel turn, WWE tried to give The New Daniel Bryan a new ideology to propagate as someone who is rooted in truth and wants a change.
Daniel Bryan cut a promo on Smackdown where he was seen talking about consumerism. Daniel Bryan took us on an educational ride as he talked about plastic misuse all the while holding a plastic cup and a plastic straw. He talked about being healthy and advised the entire WWE Universe to get rid of junk food. What was more surprising about the promo was the accuracy and reality with which he spoke of "toxic nitrates and chemicals."
The New Daniel Bryan certainly had a point, but heels teaching moral values is a new direction that WWE seems to be taking. A heel character wanting to make a change in the world and the environment with valid points was something that made people shift between chants of Daniel Bryan and the subsequent boos that later tried to overpower them. It is interesting nonetheless and has certainly put AJ Styles on the backfoot, as seen by the uncompromising victories that Daniel Bryan is enjoying against the former WWE Champion.
It might not be too soon to say that WWE wrestlers who have turned heel will start to garner more support and following for their radical ideas and environmentalist views. Becky Lynch rose to fame and superstardom as she pushed the top babyface and face of the company, Charlotte Flair down to rock bottom. Shinsuke Nakamura was seen explaining to Rusev that the injury sustained by Lana was actually his fault. All these promos hint towards one thing alone - that WWE heels are going to be different than the normal Hero-Villain story.