By Wade Keller, PWTorch editor

What if Daniel Bryan had remained a babyface and had sweet A.J. as his kind, affectionate, innocent girlfriend? What if he hadn't turned heel and played into Michael Cole's caricature of him as a dweeb?

A few months ago we were looking at Bryan, holding the Money in the Bank briefcase, headed into WM28 against monster killer heel Mark Henry in a David vs. Goliath match. If Bryan had been marketed as a sincere, hard-working, undersized but extreme skilled nice guy wrestler with a slightly naively pure outlook on the world, and he not only had MITB but also some big wins, feuled by fighting for A.J.'s honor, it'd have been a nice story headed into WrestleMania.

If Henry had remained a strong killer heel, which would have required patience and flexibility Vince McMahon isn't known for, he would have been a huge building for Bryan to try to knock down. Fans would have been rooting for Bryan to rise to the occasion and create the upset of the century against Henry.

Had Bryan gone on to win, they could have gone with a rematch at Extreme Rules and it would have provided a good sales pitch: Sure, Bryan rose to the occasion once, but did Henry underestimate him and did Bryan get lucky? Find out at the rematch.

They could have even weaved this into a Henry babyface turn after Bryan beat him a second time. Henry could have earned respect for Bryan after losing a second time, and earned respect of the fans by playing fair in their rematch rather than cheating.

Instead, we get an entertaining Bryan insisting nobody call him "Danny" or "Danny Boy." He's the mean, domineering boyfriend to A.J. And he's the type of heel that fans pay to see a babyface like Sheamus beat up. It's also not a bad story, and Bryan's been thoroughly entertaining (and convincing) in his role. But it's not the same as seeing through the original Bryan challenging Henry scenario to its finish.

We were cheated out of Henry's rise in late 2011 coming to a climax in April. We were cheated out of Bryan's MITB underdog journey to WM28 playing out fully. And it's not like Bryan couldn't have won the title, retained the title, earned Henry's respect, scored with A.J., and then gotten cocky about it and turned heel over the course of a couple months in an entertaining slow burn that could have ultimately led to a role reversal with Henry being cheered on by fans to humble the egotistical Bryan who let success (and a hot girlfiend) go to his head. The big wins over Henry would have given Bryan credibility as a heel that he doesn't have now. They also could have taken the A.J. character on an interesting journey, too; just add some extra make-up, more cleavage, sexier clothes, and a little more attitude to go along with Bryan's transformation.

So had they played out Bryan-Henry, they still could have gone with a heel Bryan, and still could have promoted Sheamus as one of his challengers. But we would have seen it all take twice as long and play out at a more satisfying pace.

There are other ways, obviously, they could have gone with Bryan after he faced Henry at WM28. And they wouldn't have to turn him heel quickly after WM28, either (nor turn Henry face quickly, either). As with any situation, there are endless ways to steer it. But Henry-Bryan at one point seemed like a great story to tell headed into WM28 and I must say, even though the path they've taken has been a fun ride, I feel a little cheated.

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