On the November 13 episode of "SmackDown Live", Bryan defeated AJ Styles to win the WWE Championship for the fourth time following a low blow. After the match, he attacked Styles, turning heel for the first time since 2012. As a result of his title win, Bryan was removed from Team SmackDown at Survivor Series with Jeff Hardy taking his place on the team. Instead, he faced WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar in an interbrand champion vs. champion match, which he lost. Two days later on "SmackDown Live", Bryan explained his actions, stating that he was following his dreams and that the fans were not with him during his recovery to return to the ring. He then christened himself as "The New" Daniel Bryan, and a rematch between Bryan and Styles for the title was scheduled for , where he successfully defended the title. At the Royal Rumble on January 27, 2019, Bryan successfully retained his title against Styles once again, this time following interference from the returning Rowan. On the January 29 episode of "SmackDown Live", Bryan threw the standard title belt in a garbage can (bemoaning the fact it was made from leather) and introduced a new belt, made from "entirely sustainable materials". Bryan was then scheduled to defend his championship in an Elimination Chamber at the Elimination Chamber event on February 17, where he successfully retained the title by last eliminating Kofi Kingston. At Fastlane, Bryan was originally scheduled to defend his championship against Kingston, but after Mr. McMahon replaced Kingston, Bryan successfully retained the title in a triple-threat match against Kevin Owens and Mustafa Ali. Bryan eventually defended the championship against Kingston at WrestleMania 35, where Bryan lost, ending his fifth world championship reign at 145 days. After WrestleMania, Bryan was briefly sidelined by an undisclosed injury, but was cleared to return to action on April 30. On May 6, Bryan competed on his first match on "Raw" since March 2015, where he lost to Kingston in a WrestleMania rematch, ending their feud.