5 possible feuds for Daniel Bryan over the summer

Daniel Bryan is back doing what he loves and it's an incredible feeling. You cannot help but feel happy for him. After everything he has gone through, he deserves to be back in the ring. It's just poetic that his first match back was at Wrestlemania 34 in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, the venue of his greatest ever moment as a wrestler.

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The fun part about this is that there is a whole array of talent ready to step-up and face the former Smackdown general manager. A large chunk of the NXT graduates entered the WWE main roster after Daniel Bryan wrestled his last match before his retirement in 2016.

The returning Bryan has already gotten a few matches under his belt on Smackdown, live events, and pay-per-views. He broke the record for the longest-lasting participant in Royal Rumble history at the Greatest Royal Rumble. It remains to be seen whether it will officially be recognized as an official Royal Rumble record.

Daniel Bryan has already faced the likes of Rusev, Jeff Hardy and Big Cass in singles action and there are many possibilities, with the abundance of talent in the Smackdown locker room, for him to have a blockbuster summer program. Here are five possible superstars who could face Bryan over the course of the summer.

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#5 Andrade 'Cien' Almas

Almas was part of WWE's first five-star match in more than six years

He may have just debuted on Smackdown two weeks ago, but Andrade Cien Almas is an exceptional talent. He is basically what WWE wanted Alberto Del Rio to be, the new Latin star of the company. Almas is an upgrade from Del Rio, that's how good he is. His act with Zelina Vega was one of the hottest things in all of WWE in the past year.

A match with Daniel Bryan might be unlikely for now, but it would do wonders to put Cien on the map. The greatness the two of them can create is something fans should really look forward to seeing.

His NXT championship match with Daniel Bryan-esque figure Johnny Gargano in January was awarded 5 stars by Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter. This was the first five-star match under the WWE banner since July 2011.

Almas is likely going to vie for the United States Championship and make the upper mid-card of Smackdown his own. When he is being prepared to ascend to the main event scene, Bryan would be the perfect opponent for him. A Summerslam match between the two would be a good use of both, as the match would be gold. A great match with Bryan could hot-shot Almas into world title contention, although the current main event scene is filled with heels.

#4 Samoa Joe

The main event of next week's Smackdown is Daniel Bryan vs Samoa Joe

Samoa Joe and Daniel Bryan will face each other in a Money in the Bank qualifier on Smackdown next week, and it's so incredibly exciting! The two of them are arguably the two best all-rounders in WWE today. They may not have the look, but they are excellent wrestlers. They are more than capable of producing spectacular performances in various circumstances. But perhaps both competitors' strongest suit is their promo abilities.

Bryan and Joe are two of the most genuine talkers in WWE, and that's what makes them spectacularly over. The words that come out of their mouths are 100% legitimate and make them feel bigger than they already are. Their match on Smackdown will be fantastic and could lead to a future program between the two. It might possibly happen as soon as the summer.

Tuesday will be the first time we will see them face off against each other since their Ring Of Honour days, more than a decade ago. If they morph into a stonewall feud, we will be treated to a fantastic set of matches between the pair throughout the lovely summer months.

#3 AJ Styles

Styles and Bryan had a match on the post-Wrestlemania Smackdown, but it was cut short

We've seen Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles face each other on the post-Wrestlemania edition of Smackdown, however, the match ended when Shinsuke Nakamura attacked both men. Styles and Nakamura will likely end their WWE Championship rivalry in a Last Man Standing match at Money in the Bank. The winner of this match could go on to face Bryan at Extreme Rules and/or Summerslam.

The two ROH alum may have been in a WWE ring opposite each other, but they didn't go all out during their bout. They might be saving some things for a rivalry in the future. It could be coming, and it could be for the WWE title. Daniel Bryan has not received a world championship match since he was forced to vacate the title in June 2014.

AJ's reign as WWE Champion has been disappointing, because of authority drama, an overcrowded title scene, and a pair of inconclusive match finishes. It must be noted that his first WWE title reign was much better than this. The Phenomenal One would likely be the de-facto heel in a title program with Bryan, without undergoing a full heel turn. This is also another match that would light the WWE up with its brilliance, and give Summerslam their annual Match of the Year candidate.

#2 Shinsuke Nakamura

Nakamura could leave his feud with AJ Styles as the WWE Champion

Concurring with the previous entry, Daniel Bryan could very well enter a WWE Championship program this summer. If Shinsuke Nakamura wins the WWE Championship, he will need a babyface to feud with after he fends off AJ Styles. Daniel Bryan is the perfect face challenger for a heel champion like Nakamura. The number of hard kicks in this match would be painful to watch.

Nakamura's heel turn has saved his WWE career from being a failure. The heel work he has done so far has been awesome, and he can be so easy to hate. This is similar to Sami Zayn's heel turn in so many ways. A beloved face turns heel in a big moment, and people don't know how will they become bad guys. But then they nail their heel personas, and people apologise for ever doubting their heelish abilities.

This is the character that has made Nakamura into something he wasn't for the entirety of his first year on the main roster, an interesting character. The mix between the two stiff workers would be really fascinating to see. Nakamura would also be the perfect foil in Daniel's redemption story, and they can do some great things before Bryan wins the WWE Championship.

#1 The Miz

Daniel Bryan vs The Miz has been brewing for two years now

This is the Daniel Bryan match that we have been wanting to see for almost two years now. Having already wrestled each other during WWE's tour of Europe, these two are about to punch each other in the face, on Smackdown. After Money in the Bank, these two can continue their long-standing story in a physical form. This is the likeliest, and perhaps the best option to be Daniel Bryan's feud this summer.

Their history dates back to 2010 when The Miz was Daniel Bryan's mentor on NXT. They did not like each other then, and the storyline turned into a feud for The Miz's United States Championship. The tension was reignited in 2016 when Bryan became the General Manager of Smackdown. The Miz laid into him on Talking Smack one week, and then this became the match we never knew we needed to see. Miz has Daniel Bryan to thank for some of his improvements as a performer, as Talking Smack truly made him what he has become today.

The Miz is certainly one of the best all-round performers in WWE today and is finally earning the respect from the fans, that he so richly deserves. This match is two years in the making, and it shouldn't disappoint. It's about time we get to see Daniel Bryan giving The Miz his comeuppance for all the dastardly things he has said since that Talking Smack promo. This is already the hottest feud of the WWE year, and it hasn't even properly started.