WWE Debate: Should WWE Turn Daniel Bryan Baby Face Again?

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” 

That one little word made last night’s episode of Monday Night Raw one of the best in years, and it was all because of one man: Daniel Bryan. Yes, I’m talking about the same Daniel Bryan who got squashed the night before at WrestleMania 28. 

Despite the fact that Bryan lost the World heavyweight championship in just 18 seconds to Sheamus on Sunday night, he was undoubtedly the most over performer in the WWE on last night’s Raw. 

That Miami crowd absolutely loved Bryan. I’ve literally never seen anything like it. There were “Yes!” and “Daniel Bryan!” chants all night, and my personal favorite: the eruption of “Si!” chants when Alberto Del Rio was in the ring. 

Not bad for a heel, huh? 

I actually forgot while watching last night’s Raw that Bryan is a heel. Not just any heel, either, but a damn good one. 

You wouldn’t have known that Bryan is supposed to be a bad guy last night or at WrestleMania 28, because Sheamus was treated like the heel, while Bryan was treated like the greatest baby face in WWE history.

And he managed to become so popular simply by using one of the most common words in the English language. 

As a result, the WWE now finds itself in a tricky situation: Should it capitalize on Bryan’s soaring popularity by turning him baby face, or should it keep him heel? 

I can definitely see the benefit of either one. 

When Bryan’s working as a heel, it’s easy to hate his “Yes!” chants, because if you don’t think they’re hilarious, then you probably think they’re obnoxious. But as a face, they could be just as effective.

As a few people have pointed out to me on Twitter, the Bryan “Yes!” chants could indeed become the 2012 version of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s “What?” chants.

Is that necessarily a good thing? I hate that “What?” chant now, but I did like it when it first started. 

Bryan seems to be teetering on that line between some fans loving his “Yes!” chant and some fans hating it, so theoretically, the WWE could go either way with Bryan, either keeping him as a bad guy or trying to turn him into a good guy once again. 

The incredible reaction that Bryan received the last two nights in Miami will undoubtedly tempt the WWE to turn him face. After all, he's been as big a baby face as there was in the WWE the last two nights, despite the fact that nothing he did was overly baby face-ish. 

I fully expect Bryan’s “Yes!” chant to catch on with new WWE crowds all year long, but I highly doubt that we’ll ever see a crowd get behind Bryan like the one last night did. Either way, the WWE has to see where these “Yes!” chants take Bryan. 

If Bryan continues to get that warm baby face reception every time he makes his way to the ring, then the WWE may have no choice but to turn him face. After all, you don’t want one of your top heels getting bigger pops than the majority of your top faces. 

But at least for now, we don’t know if this Bryan craze is the start of something bigger or just a temporary trend that will fizzle away in a few weeks or months. 

If it’s a short trend, the WWE keeps Bryan heel. If it’s a long-term thing, then it turns him baby face. 

While I can’t predict the future, I think this “Yes!” stuff is going to continue for a long time, and the WWE will have to turn Bryan face as a result. 

Si! Si! Si!

Note: As part of the new WWE blog, I'll be asking all of the B/R wrestling readers for questions for a new mailbag that I will post on Fridays. It will be a slideshow featuring 10-20 questions and answers on a wide range of topics. You can submit questions either through Formspring or Twitter, and the best ones will be answered in the B/R mailbag.