WWE SmackDown: Will Daniel Bryan face Shinsuke Nakamura next?

Neither Daniel Bryan nor Shinsuke Nakamura emerged victorious from their WWE Survivor Series 2019 matches, but with Bryan likely still hunting for a championship, could he challenge for The King of Strong Style’s new-look Intercontinental Title?

Daniel Bryan and Shinsuke Nakamura are two of the biggest legends in wrestling today, but WWE fans have yet to see them feud. Nakamura has been involved in rivalries with the likes of AJ Styles, Jeff Hardy and Finn Balor since joining the WWE main roster in 2017, but he hasn’t crossed paths with many of the company’s biggest names.

Hopefully, this will change soon. Bryan recently faced “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt at Survivor Series and lost in a Universal Title match for the new “blue” championship. But Bryan could still pursue a different championship with a new look in Nakamura’s new “black” Intercontinental Championship, which manager Sami Zayn unveiled on the WWE SmackDown go-home show before Survivor Series.

Nakamura hasn’t been involved in a real feud since beating former NJPW star Finn Balor for the IC Title. He beat Roman Reigns on an episode of SmackDown thanks to cheating from Baron Corbin and had a program with Mustafa Ali teased, but those high points were brief.

WWE has always needed to give Nakamura something to sink his teeth into as a champion, as his United States Title run was doomed due to a lack of rivalries. The same fate won’t befall Nakamura as a champion on FOX, since WWE would be crazy to lower the prestige of the IC Title and mess up a good thing they have going with Zayn and Nakamura as an uber-talented heel tandem wrecking the upper mid-card.

Bryan is more than an upper mid-carder, but the upper mid-card in WWE is fluid due to the sheer amount of talent on all the rosters. He’s held the IC Title before, which he used as a springboard to more mainstream success after starting out as the “good worker”. Nakamura, meanwhile, has settled into the upper mid-card after a couple of WWE Championship programs on SmackDown.

With Wyatt occupying the Universal Title scene and Roman Reigns likely joining him, the IC Title scene has a chance to be a vibrant place for other talents. Wyatt will have the major storylines as champion, but Nakamura should be the one putting on the barnburners with the IC Title.

And how many matches could conceivably be better in the SmackDown Men’s Division than Nakamura vs. Bryan? These two men are artful story-tellers in the ring with devastating strikes, scary-good selling, an arsenal of jaw-dropping submissions, and the experience that comes with being a true superstar at multiple promotions.

There’s no guarantee Bryan will move on to face Nakamura after losing to Wyatt at Survivor Series, but this seems like a great feud for both men that would help the IC Title’s stock rise on FOX. WWE needs some strong feuds for the early winter before Royal Rumble season begins, and Nakamura vs. Bryan would be a dream come true for many.