WWE 2014 year in review: May

We continue our look back on the year that was in WWE with May, which saw the inevitable comedown following WrestleMania and some bad news for then WWE world heavyweight champion Daniel Bryan.

The big story

Daniel Bryan's no good very bad injury

In his one and only title defense as a headlining attraction, Bryan defeated Kane in a hardcore match to retain the WWE world heavyweight title.

Just a week later, rumors started making the rounds that he was injured. Later that night on Raw, he confirmed as much and said he needed surgery to repair his neck. This led to a ton of reports and speculation that WWE was hoping to keep the title on him but preparing a strategy in case he had to be stripped of it. Bryan himself said he wouldn't mind if WWE stripped him.

His neck surgery, thankfully, went great.

They bought as much time as possible to make a decision on the situation, teasing an announcement at Raw on May 26 before revealing it was delayed until Payback on June 1.

Other notables

- Extreme Rules

The pay-per-view of the month featured an outstanding Shield vs. Evolution match, Bad News Barrett winning the Intercontinental championship, and Bray Wyatt defeating John Cena in a steel cage match with some help from a young boy singing through a voice modulator.

- Seth Rollins is an insane person

Before he sold his soul, Rollins used to destroy his body to save his teammates.

- Connor the Crusher

Rest in peace to a true legend.

- WWE signs new deal with NBCUniversal

The rumors were there, and just a number of days later the deal was teased then officially announced. When the details came out, the stock plunged, and there were a number of reasons for that. It should have been a happy time but investors were calling for Vince McMahon's head.

- Damien Sandow became a character actor

And he proved to be the best at it.

- Brad Maddox fired as Raw General Manager

He hasn't been back.

- NXT Takover

The second NXT live special was held on the WWE Network. It was given high marks, with Sami Zayn stealing the show. Charlotte and Natalya had one of the best women's matches in the past 30 years.