Daniel Bryan wants Samoa Joe, Shinsuke Nakamura on WWE roster
Smackdown General Manager would have loved to fight Lesnar
Last Updated: 26/08/16 6:11pm
Smackdown General Manager Daniel Bryan has urged WWE to elevate NXT Superstars Samoa Joe and Shinsuke Nakamura to the main roster.
Joe lost the NXT Title to Nakamura at the brand's TakeOver event in Brooklyn on Saturday night, The Submission Specialist eventually beaten after the Japanese administered two Kinshasa kicks.
Bryan believes the seasoned Superstars should be promoted to Raw or Smackdown - a move he feels the newly-injured Finn Balor should have been awarded far earlier than July's Draft.
"Samoa Joe should already be here and Shinsuke Nakamura should already be here as those guys are in their primes," said Bryan in a WWE.com sit-down interview with Michael Cole.
"The longer we wait, the more bumps they take, the more bruises they get and the more susceptible they are to injury.
"Everyone knows there's a finite amount of hits you can take in your career, and you don't know what that number is.
"The more times you take those hits down in NXT, the less hits you're going to be able to take [on the main roster]."
Balor defeated Seth Rollins at SummerSlam to become the inaugural Universal Champion but suffered a shoulder tear during the bout and had to relinquish the title the next day.
The Irishman - the longest reigning NXT Champion in history - has since undergone successful surgery but is set to be out of action for an estimated four to six months.
"The most tragic part is that [the injury] happens as soon as Finn gets up here and one of the things that really upsets me is that he should have been here a year and a half ago," said Bryan.
"I understand that NXT is a very important part of our programming, but he was a Superstar when we signed him.
"Some people have to adjust to the WWE style, but that takes no more than six months for a guy like Finn, someone who turned 35 the day he debuted on Raw."
Balor's victory at SummerSlam come shortly before Brock Lesnar crushed Randy Orton via technical knockout and left The Viper needing 10 staples in a head wound.
Bryan, who was forced to retire from the ring earlier this year on health grounds, added: "I wish I was cleared as my dream match was always against Lesnar
"I've always been an underdog and what bigger underdog match is there than Brock Lesnar versus Daniel Bryan? That's like David vs Goliath.
"I was working on this new style before I was told I couldn't wrestle anymore - it was really unlike anything else in the way that I moved.
"I don't know if Brock would have been able to handle it."
Watch WWE Smackdown every Tuesday night (Wednesday morning) at 1am on Sky Sports 5.
