Possible Opponents for Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania + Kofi the Front-Runner for Fastlane

Kofi Kingston

Kofi Kingston is the front-runner to be Daniel Bryan’s opponent at Fastlane, according to Dave Meltzer.

Kofi was originally not planned to be Bryan’s opponent as of Monday morning, but plans changed based on the crowd reaction to Kofi in the gauntlet match and at Elimination Chamber, and it’s expected that he’ll be announced as Bryan’s opponent tonight on SmackDown.

Fastlane takes place on March 10 in Cleveland.

WrestleMania Plans

As for Daniel Bryan’s WrestleMania opponent, assuming that he’s still the champion, as of Monday morning, WWE’s plan was for his opponent to be a wrestler who is returning to action, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio.

Names that were listed as possibilities were Bray Wyatt, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Kurt Angle, Undertaker, John Cena, and Batista. Those names have all been in discussions as possible opponents for Bryan, but Meltzer added that you can probably cross off most of them as unlikely.

The most realistic-seeming possibilities are probably Bray Wyatt or Kevin Owens.

Bray Wyatt – Wyatt has been ready to return for months now, but WWE has just been waiting for the right storyline for him. It’s possible that Rowan (and maybe Harper) could fit into a feud against Daniel Bryan.

Kevin Owens – Meltzer pointed out that Owens has been doing things like eating junk food in his video vignettes, which could just be a totally unrelated thing, but could also maybe have something to do with Daniel Bryan’s gimmick.

Undertaker – Undertaker’s name has been “batted around” as of a couple of days ago. Before that, WWE did not have any plans for him for WrestleMania or the May show in Saudi Arabia, but now it seems like they might.

Batista – Batista seems unlikely. The plan was for him to face Triple H, but it’s not known if Triple H will be able to return in time from his torn pectoral muscle. Batista was in talks with WWE as of last week. There were also reports that AEW is interested in him, but according to Meltzer, Batista is not interested in going to AEW as of now.

John Cena – John Cena is “unlikely” to be Bryan’s opponent, Meltzer said. The original plan for him was to face Lars Sullivan at WrestleMania, but there’s no telling where that situation stands right now.

Kurt Angle – There has been talk of Kurt Angle doing a retirement match at some point, Meltzer says, and WrestleMania could be a possible time for that to happen. Angle has been in discussion for the WrestleMania card.