5 things to expect from the Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass rivalry

Big Cass returned to WWE television during the Superstar Shake-Up as a member of the SmackDown Live roster, and he immediately made his intentions known by interfering in the main event to attack Daniel Bryan.

With Bryan helping out tag partner AJ Styles following another attack from Shinsuke Nakamura, he turned around and was met by a big boot from the returning Cass, who had missed the previous eight months due to an ACL injury.

In this article, let’s take a look at five things we can expect to see during the rivalry over the next few weeks.

#5 Interference from The Miz

The rivalry between Daniel Bryan and The Miz dates all the way back to 2010 when Bryan was a ‘rookie’ on NXT Season 1. Miz, as his storyline mentor, regularly criticised the man he was supposed to be supporting and never believed D-Bry would make it in WWE.

Since then, the two have been involved in multiple matches and storylines, most notably in 2016 when "The A-Lister" forced the then-SmackDown Live GM to legitimately walk off the set during a live broadcast of Talking Smack.

Now that Bryan is back in a WWE ring and Miz has been traded to SmackDown, it’s only a matter of time before the heated words are over and the physical altercations begin, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Miz help out Big Cass by attacking his long-term rival.

#4 Incredible promos from Big Cass

Big Cass was involved in two PPV matches following his heel turn in 2017, defeating Enzo Amore at Great Balls of Fire and The Big Show at SummerSlam, and it’s fair to say that both encounters were a little underwhelming.

However, while the matches might not have lived up to expectations, the promos on Raw in the build-up to the PPVs were far better than anticipated, with Cass quickly establishing himself as one of WWE’s best heels on the mic.

He produced one of the best heel turn promos in recent memory when he broke up with Enzo in the main event of Raw in June 2017, while he perfectly manipulated the audience into booing him during another Raw promo ahead of SummerSlam in August 2017.

#3 Safer Daniel Bryan wrestling style

Daniel Bryan is one of the greatest wrestlers of his generation

Daniel Bryan has competed in three televised matches since his return (vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn, vs. AJ Styles and vs. Rusev Day), and so far there hasn’t been a noticeable change in his wrestling style.

However, the former WWE champion mentioned multiple times during his three-year absence from the ring that he will wrestle a safer style if he ever returned, which will only become obvious when he begins to take part in longer singles matches.

The majority of Bryan’s offence is likely to remain the same – his “Yes!” kicks, “Yes!” lock and running knee, for example – but don’t expect to see any flying headbutts anytime soon.

#2 Huge Big Cass heel run following the rivalry

After Jinder Mahal, Dolph Ziggler, Baron Corbin, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn moved to Raw on the first night of the Superstar Shake-Up, SmackDown Live was in desperate need of some major heels on Tuesday, and they got just that with the addition of Big Cass, along with Samoa Joe, The Miz and Andrade “Cien” Almas, to the roster.

The former “Realest Guy In The Room” was on course to become one of the biggest heels on Raw before his unfortunate ACL injury in August 2017, and it’s a huge show of faith from WWE to immediately insert him into a storyline with one of the company’s most popular Superstars, Daniel Bryan.

This rivalry is just the start of what will surely be a huge heel run for Cass, who has a whole host of singles matches ahead of him against the likes of Jeff Hardy, AJ Styles and other babyfaces on the SmackDown Live roster.

#1 Expect Daniel Bryan to emerge with a clean victory

Daniel Bryan teamed with Shane McMahon to defeat Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens at WrestleMania 34

WWE clearly has high hopes for Big Cass as a singles competitor, but let’s face it: there’s no way he’s going to defeat Daniel Bryan clean in this rivalry.

“The Leader of the Yes Movement” is as popular as ever following his in-ring return at WrestleMania 34 and it’d be a major surprise if WWE was to have him lose his first singles storyline since making his long-awaited comeback.

Unlike some Superstars, Cass doesn’t need to win matches to be seen as a legitimate threat – he’s 7-foot tall, let’s not forget! – and it’s already a major positive that he’s being placed in such a big rivalry on his return, so expect Bryan to get a clean victory at the end of this feud.