5 wrestlers who could be top babyfaces on Smackdown after recent events
Last week's Smackdown shook things up atop the main event card of the Tuesday night brand.
The two top faces of the brand, AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan, have been slated for decidedly different roles going forward.
Styles is in the midst of negotiating a new contract that will see his dates reduced a la Randy Orton's last few contracts.
The grind of being the champion for over a year took its toll (much like Samoa Joe suggested during their feud) and Styles wishes to spend more time with his family. If that's the case, he might not be as featured as he had been once his rematch/feud with Bryan over the title ends.
In the match between Styles and Bryan, Bryan effectively turned heel when he kicked Styles below the belt. He confirmed as much on this week's Smackdown with his promo of how the 'Yes Movement' is over. He ran down the fans during the promo and appears to be one of the top heels on the brand going forward.
So with the top two babyfaces effectively leaving in one way or another, who are left to pick up the slack atop the card?
Here are several options that could do so.
#5 Rey Mysterio
Bryan is going to need challengers after Styles, and Mysterio is likely to be one of them. Although his best days are behind him, he's still super over with the crowd and can still put on an entertaining match.
The styles of Bryan and Mysterio would mesh well with fast-paced action and technical wrestling. It would be a huge change for Bryan getting to portray the 'bigger' wrestler in a potential feud.
Mysterio is currently embroiled in a feud with Randy Orton, but that should hopefully be over within the next two months.
They wouldn't have brought Mysterio back if they didn't still think he could have some use and a short run atop the card while Bryan is a heel champion could help stem the tide.
He likely won't win the title but there aren't exactly a ton of face options left on Smackdown as things currently sit.