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Since being split up from his New Day partners Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods during the 2020 WWE Draft, Big E has seen his singles career go from strength to strength in WWE on Friday Night SmackDown.
Big E became a two-time WWE Intercontinental Champion when he defeated former Champion Sami Zayn on the December 25 episode of Friday Night SmackDown last year. This Intercontinental Championship victory further solidified Big E as a singles force on Friday nights, indicating what could be to come in the future for Big E as a singles competitor in WWE.
Being the Intercontinental Champion on the road to WrestleMania often has its perils for WWE Superstars. Nevertheless, as of writing, it would appear that Big E will be the Intercontinental Champion heading into the Showcase of the Immortals.
Many members of the WWE Universe have already begun to speculate who Big E could face at WrestleMania, should the positivity powerhouse defend his Intercontinental Championship on the Grandest Stage of Them All.
Let's take a closer look at five possible WWE WrestleMania opponents for Big E.
#5 Big E vs. Apollo Crews (WWE Intercontinental Championship)
Judging by recent events on SmackDown, Apollo Crews challenging Big E for his WWE Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 37 looks increasingly likely.
After unsuccessful challenges for Big E's Intercontinental Championship on multiple occasions, Apollo Crews finally snapped several weeks ago on SmackDown when he violently attacked both Big E and Shinsuke Nakamura with steel ring steps. This marked Crews' first heel turn during his WWE career.
After the assault, Big E was stretchered out of the WWE ThunderDome and loaded into an ambulance, being taken to a local medical facility. It was later revealed in a storyline injury update that Big E had sustained a brachial plexus injury.
Since then, Apollo Crews has fully embraced his new heel character, reverting to his Nigerian roots and speaking with a Nigerian accent. Crews has demanded another WWE Intercontinental Championship opportunity from Big E once he returns from his injury.
Could we see Big E vs. Apollo Crews for the WWE Intercontinental Championship once more on the Grandest Stage of Them All? It certainly looks increasingly likely to happen.
#4 Big E vs. Seth Rollins (WWE Intercontinental Championship)
After going on hiatus from WWE television in November to take paternity leave, Seth Rollins returned to WWE television at the Royal Rumble in January. Since then, the former WWE Universal Champion has continued to portray his Messiah-like SmackDown Savior character on Friday nights.
Rollins continues to preach about his vision for the Blue brand on FOX. Recent weeks have seen Seth Rollins clash with Cesaro on SmackDown in an effort once again to improve the show for "the greater good."
However, one must wonder how much change Seth Rollins can really enforce on Friday Night SmackDown without a championship at his disposal. The SmackDown Savior has not held a singles championship since losing the WWE Universal Championship to "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt at WWE Crown Jewel in October 2019.
Perhaps the key to converting the SmackDown roster, and WWE Universe for that matter, into believing in Seth Rollins' vision lies with a possible Intercontinental Championship reign for the Messiah.
Seth Rollins is a former two-time WWE Intercontinental Champion and whoever Rollins faces on the Grandest Stage of Them All will be a featured matchup. Rollins has squared off against the likes of Triple H, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar and Kevin Owens during his WWE career. Perhaps a WrestleMania showdown against the current WWE Intercontinental Champion Big E for his championship could be next for Rollins.
#3 Big E vs. Cesaro (WWE Intercontinental Championship)
If there was one word to describe Cesaro's WWE career, it would be "underrated." The WWE Universe and WWE locker room often waxes lyrical about how talented and misused the Swiss Superman truly is in WWE.
WWE Chairman Vince McMahon has even gone on record publicly stating that he feels that Cesaro is missing "something," a missing element that the WWE officials are still yet to find all these years later.
In recent years, Cesaro has continued to prove his worth to WWE by being a company guy and making anything pitched or given to him by WWE creative work. This has often included being placed into a makeshift tag team with another random WWE Superstar, a regular sign that WWE creative has no real ideas for two singles competitors.
Nevertheless, Cesaro has been able to form fantastic and successful championship-winning tag teams with the likes of Tyson Kidd, Sheamus and Shinsuke Nakamura.
However, in recent months Cesaro and Nakamura look to be focusing on singles aspirations once again on Friday Night SmackDown. Cesaro has subsequently been involved in a brief feud with Seth Rollins on the Blue brand, leading fans to hope that Cesaro could finally be on the rise as a singles star in WWE.
Cesaro has never held the Intercontinental Championship during his career. Perhaps a WWE Intercontinental Championship match against Big E on the Grandest Stage of Them All at WrestleMania is exactly what Cesaro needs to finally break through to the higher levels as a singles star.
#2 Big E vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (WWE Intercontinental Championship)
When Shinsuke Nakamura made his WWE debut in 2017, the King of Strong Style was one of the most popular Superstars on the WWE roster. After a wildly successful run in WWE NXT, including becoming a two-time NXT Champion, many within the WWE Universe were incredibly excited to see what Shinsuke Nakamura could bring to the main roster of WWE on SmackDown.
A relatively successful first year saw Nakamura win the 2018 Men's Royal Rumble match and challenge for the WWE Championship against AJ Styles at WrestleMania 34.
Since then, however, it's become increasingly apparent that WWE officials feel Nakamura is best suited to being a mid-card talent whose main priority is to put over younger Superstars, something which infuriates sections of the WWE Universe.
Fans of Shinsuke Nakamura's work in New Japan Pro Wrestling and WWE NXT know exactly what The King of Strong Style is capable of and can produce on the big stage.
Earlier this year, Shinsuke Nakamura turned babyface for the first time since his heel turn in the aforementioned WrestleMania 34 WWE Championship match against AJ Styles. Nakamura also brought back his popular "Rising Sun" entrance theme as part of this babyface turn, leading some to believe that Nakamura could once again be on the rise in WWE as a singles star again.
Shinsuke Nakamura is a former Intercontinental Champion on SmackDown. A WrestleMania showdown against the current Intercontinental Champion Big E could serve as the perfect opportunity for the two to put on a WrestleMania classic and prove that they are both worthy of much higher positions on future WWE match cards.
#1 Big E vs. Daniel Bryan (WWE Intercontinental Championship)
Daniel Bryan has been very open that his days of being a full-time WWE Superstar are most likely coming to an end. The former WWE World Heavyweight Champion made a miraculous return to the ring at WrestleMania 34 in 2018 after being forced to retire due to concussion-related injuries two years prior.
Since then, Daniel Bryan has turned heel, captured the WWE Championship once more, switched back to babyface and joined the SmackDown creative team in the process.
Over the past 12 months, Daniel Bryan, a veteran of the WWE roster, has been seen putting over younger, less established stars on SmackDown in an effort to create new stars for the future. Bryan has feuded with the likes of Jey Uso, Drew Gulak, "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt and Sami Zayn to help such Superstars get to the next level in WWE.
It is apparent that the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion wants to leave a lasting legacy in the WWE of helping create new stars and leave the SmackDown roster in a better position than he initially found it.
One such WWE Superstar who could benefit from Daniel Bryan putting them over is Big E. Since focusing on his singles career once more, many have tipped Big E to reach the main event, World Championship-level in WWE. Perhaps all that is needed for Big E to reach the next level and compete for World Championships is to defeat a Superstar the caliber of Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania and retain the Intercontinental Championship in the process.
It would certainly be in keeping with Daniel Bryan's recent efforts to help elevate younger, promising WWE Superstars.
