Daniel Bryan Talks The Original Plan For The Hair Angle With The Fiend Getting Changed

Daniel Bryan recently spoke with MySanAntonio.com and revealed that it was his idea to shave his beard during the recent angle with WWE Universal Champion "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt.

Bryan revealed that he pitched the look change to WWE officials as a way to extend the feud with Wyatt. Bryan was asked his reaction to the change, and that's when he revealed that it was his idea. Bryan also talked about being in trouble with his wife Brie Bella, and what went on under the ring during the angle with The Fiend.

"Actually, it was my idea," Bryan revealed "And my idea was not the hair, it was just the beard. I had kind of pitched this to them as this idea of, 'OK, how do we extend this story with Bray Wyatt,' which is what they wanted to do, because he's already defeated me cleanly, right? How do we do that? 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.

"But then, the day of, we're like, 'OK, well, he will rip out some of your hair.' You'd have to understand the mechanisms that are going on while this is happening. We're in a live TV show, right? So, they pulled me under the ring, they've got two barbers there who are in charge of like, getting my beard off and getting hair off so there can be this appearance of him ripping out my hair and all that kind of stuff. And we have a minute and a half of TV time left on the live show. And there's also a producer down there, who's saying, 'We need more hair, we need more hair, we need more hair!' And it's completely dark under there. We were all so crammed in this little area because there's also like real stuff under the ring that needs to be under the ring. It's just all in this crammed little area and these guys are cutting my hair and cutting my beard really quick and they're supposed to just to cut X amount of hair off, which wasn't as much as they ended up doing. But the one guy on one side did a great job. They actually both did a great job considering the circumstances. But one guy just went a little too tight and a little too high. And then, after the show, they did their best ? they tried after the show for like 45 minutes to make it like not just a shaved head. But that was the best we could do under the circumstances.

"And it's really funny, because as different as it is for my character, I knew I was in trouble, because my wife hates shaved heads. She's never liked them, and I texted her immediately after. I said, 'You're not going like this.' And her response was 'What did you do?' And I know I'm in trouble because she knows that this idea of the beard thing was my idea. So, my idea has led me to this. And I tried to take a couple pictures before I FaceTimed her, but none of them were good. And I was just like, 'OK, I better just FaceTime her.' And then, you know those conversations that you have with your significant other where it's like, they're really quiet and you can just see the anger. This was one of those kinds of things. But luckily that happened the day after Thanksgiving, and then I flew home that Saturday, and we had a bunch of family and stuff there, so she couldn't be too outwardly mad. Then after a day or two it blows over. She just gets used to it, and that's sort of how it all went down."

Bryan is set to face The Fiend in a Strap Match at Sunday's WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view. The interviewer noted that Bryan's Survivor Series match with The Fiend was better received than most that have taken place under the red lights. He was asked how hard it is to wrestle under the red lights.

"Initially, I was like, 'It's no difference for me,' but what I was thinking? I find that it's hard sometimes for the fans watching," Bryan said. "The fans live in attendance, and probably for people at home, too, as far as watching. Although on TV, I think they've done a much better job of finding a balance of where that light comes from. It's really difficult in live events, because every building is different. And we don't have the same kind of TV production crew that we have.

"I did a live event in Springfield, Missouri, and we're under the red light, and it's a little bit weirder than usual. I do my backflip in the corner where the guy whips me in and I run up the turnbuckle and backflip, although for whatever reason, I couldn't see it right. I just didn't make it right. It affects those kinds of things. But mostly what I think it affects is fans' reactions to things, because there's some things that they can't see quite as well. That's the biggest adjustment."

Bryan will face The Fiend for the WWE Universal Championship this Sunday at The Royal Rumble. New subscribers can sign up for the WWE Network today by clicking here and get their first month for free, which includes the pay-per-view this Sunday.