Problem: I recently came across an issue where a Nintex Workflow did not want to Save or Publish after importing it.  The Publish screen did not even show. I tried recreating the workflow and saving it, but even that didn't work. 
Solution: I ended up changing the name of the Nintex Workflow after importing it, before trying to Save or Publish and that seemed to fix the issue. 
Cause: It seems the Workflow Name was already in use, but I was unable to see it under Library Settings > Workflow Settings.