Daniel Bryan Did Not Want to be Liked as a Heel

In an interview with Yahoo Sports, Daniel Bryan spoke about returning to the ring this year and how he approached his heel turn several months ago. Here are highlights: 

On being cleared to compete: “Announcing I was coming back really felt special to me because I was working so hard to come back and worked so hard to change people’s minds to allow them to let me come back. When I went out and did an interview saying I was back and then got attacked by Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens, there’s never been a happier man to get punched in the face than I was that night.” 

On turning heel: “As soon as the decision was made I said to myself, I don’t want anyone to like me. Miz and I see things differently on a lot of different levels, but one of the things I respect about him is that when he’s a bad guy, he doesn’t try to get cheered. I really felt like if I embraced that kind of attitude [it would work]. I’m not going to be the “cool” bad guy, there’s nothing cool about me, I couldn’t be cool if I wanted to. Some people do that but then you’re not a bad guy, you’re just cool. That was my mindset.”