Four Potential Partners for Daniel Bryan against The Bludgeon Brothers 

Daniel Bryan's story took a surprising twist this week when he was attacked by the SmackDown tag-team champions, The Bludgeon Brothers, during a gauntlet match to decide the new number 1 contender for AJ Style's WWE title.

Follow Sportskeeda for the latest WWE news, rumors and all other wrestling news.

There are many theories as to why the WWE decided to do this. One train of thought is that The Bludgeon Brothers were hired by The Miz to take Bryan out, but given that they had another interaction just before the match, this seems unlikely.

What seems more likely is that the original plan was for Big Cass to come out and attack Bryan during the match but the WWE had to change plans late on when Cass was released from his contract on Monday.

Regardless of why it happened, it makes sense that Bryan will meet The Bludgeons in the ring at Extreme Rules and if that is the case, he will need a tag team partner to help him out.

Taking a look at the SmackDown roster, and taking into account projected matches for Extreme Rules, there really aren't that many options for Bryan to choose from, so let's take a look at four superstars who could team up with Daniel Bryan against The Bludgeon Brothers at Extreme Rules.

---

#1 Tye Dillinger

Dillinger is one of few babyfaces available for Bryan on SmackDown

If Bryan is going to choose his own partner, then the SmackDown roster really has few potential allies for him. It stands to reason that he would choose a fellow babyface, and the SmackDown mid-card is fairly thin on the ground in that department.

Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton are the brand's other top babyfaces currently not on the card, but Jeff is likely to be defending his US title, and Orton is currently out injured.

That leaves Tye Dillinger as Bryan's only real option. The perfect 10 has never been given a break on the main WWE roster and forming a team with Bryan to take down The Bludgeon Brothers would definitely help elevate the former NXT star.

#2 Samoa Joe

A short-lived partnership between Joe and Bryan could benefit from both parties

The Bludgeon Brothers may not have had any interaction with Samoa Joe on this week's SmackDown, but given the nature of the three characters, their paths crossing wouldn't be too much of a leap.

Like The Bludgeons, Joe is out for himself, and he doesn't give a damn about who he hurts along the way. The tag champs could easily anger the former NXT champion, leading to Joe and Bryan agreeing to put their differences aside to deal with their mutual problem.

There is every chance Joe is going to move on to face AJ Styles at this year's SummerSlam and if that is the case, a brief run with the tag team gold and a short-lived partnership with Daniel Bryan is not likely to do him any harm.

#3 Kane

A one night only Team Hell No reunion could be a massive draw

Another option that Bryan has, of course, is calling on an old ally to lend him a hand. Kane may be a Raw superstar, and busy with his new mayoral role, but I'm sure if the WWE really wanted to, they could convince to turn up for one night for nostalgia's sake.

Seeing Team Hell-No reunited would be a huge draw for the event, and it would also help give Bryan a serious boost before he heads into a match with The Miz at SummerSlam.

Of course, considering Kane's current situation, it is unlikely that the team would be victorious, but having The Miz cost them the match, and then brutalize Kane in front of Bryan could add even more drama to the duo's rivalry.

#4 The Miz

The Miz and Bryan could be forced to get on the same page

From a storyline perspective, this one definitely makes the most sense. While there are many fans who believe that The Miz hired The Bludgeon Brothers to attack Bryan on this week's episode of SmackDown, that wouldn't really line up with the tag champ's characters. So far, The Bludgeon Brothers have been no-nonsense ass-kickers who say very little, revealing them as hired guns wouldn't really make that much sense.

The Bludgeons could easily get involved with The Miz in the coming weeks, forcing Paige to make a tag-match pitting The Bludgeons against the unlikely team of Bryan and The Miz.

The dynamic between the two men would make for some excellent viewing, with fans well aware that they ate each other's guts.

The unlikely bedfellows' scenario has been used to death in the past, but this could really play quite nicely into to a match between The Miz and Bryan at this year's SummerSlam event.