WWE: Scouting 5 Potential Opponents for Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania

If you're a card-carrying member of the Internet Wrestling Community, April 1st, 2012 should be circled on your calender.

Not only is it the day one of the biggest dream matches ever goes down between John Cena and The Rock, but it is the night the American Dragon cashes in Money in the Bank and competes for the World Heavyweight Championship. Now WWE has eight months to build up Bryan as a main-eventer for the big show.

Of course, that's only one side of the coin. The big question on Smackdown now becomes who will be holding that World Heavyweight Championship come April. So, it seems like a great opportunity to run through the roster for a look at who could be holding the belt.

Christian

Starting with the current champion, Christian's battles with Randy Orton appear to be anything but over and it's anyone's guess who will be standing tall once this feud finally ends.

Christian doesn't really have any history with Bryan, but if you're looking for a great match, it doesn't get much better than Christian/Bryan.

Christian is one of the bigger names on Smackdown, so there's really no reason this can't happen; and it would definitely be great to see two guys who WWE have given a hard time in the past go at it.

Randy Orton

WWE has definitely put faith in Randy Orton to be the top dog on Smackdown. He's the man everyone pops for, and like Cena on RAW, he's that guy on Smackdown who you know the world title is always going to come back to.

If WWE wants Bryan, a man who isn't quite as recognized with the mainstream wrestling fans, to go up against someone who can get people invested, Orton is the man.

Face/face feuds rarely wind up being that entertaining, but these two are different enough in style and attitude to make it work. Bryan has said Orton is a guy he'd love to do more work with, so it could be a great fit.

Sheamus

The forgotten man on Smackdown, Sheamus has pretty much just been waiting on Christian and Orton to finish their business so he can challenge the winner.

In the meantime, the Celtic Warrior has been perfecting his in-ring style on Smackdown with more lengthy in-ring time. It shows, as Sheamus has a unique style and aggression that makes him stand out from other big men.

If Sheamus can get the title for Wrestlemania, him and Bryan definitely have some unfinished business from Wrestlemania 27. They were originally scheduled to compete for the US Title, but their match got pushed off the televised show, and then got turned into a battle royale won by The Great Khali.

It would be a great story to have these two compete against one another at Wrestlemania once again, and give both men a chance to pull off one of the most epic David-Goliath stories ever told at Wrestlemania.

Wade Barrett

After those three, there is a bit of a drop-off in terms of card standing. Its been said time and time again that Barrett has all the tools to be an elite heel in WWE, but through unfortunate circumstances he hasn't been able to reach that level yet. So it may be a bit of a stretch to have him hold the World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania.

But there is a story here. Wade Barrett won Season 1 of NXT, the season Bryan was eliminated from after stating he should be the one eliminated. Quickly afterward, Barrett created the Nexus, which Bryan was—in kayfabe—exiled from.

So there's some history that the two can use as fuel in a battle between the two. They're not the biggest names out there, but on what is sure to be a stacked card, it would give both men a great chance to showcase their abilities.

Cody Rhodes

Ever since Bryan was drafted to Smackdown, he has been a target for Cody Rhodes.

The feud makes sense—Rhodes is tortured because people don't look up to him anymore because he lost his good looks, yet the people still cheer Bryan even though Rhodes considers him average looking (the announcers will never tell this story of course, since that would involve doing something other than screaming at one another about irrelevant things).

This would have to involve Rhodes winning the title, and some may question if he's ready. Personally, I see a matchup with former mentor Randy Orton at Wrestlemania as being a strong possibility. But WWE had a similar situation with Edge/Jericho at Wrestlemania 26 that went over fine.

And you have to think both men would have something to prove in the feud leading up to the big night to give us some great segments topped off with a great match.