Predicting the Next Challengers for the WWE Championship

At Backlash, Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles will face off for the WWE Championship a third time. It’s clear that this feud is coming to an end. While it’s hard to say who’s going to win, it’ll be exciting regardless.

Once the dust settles between Styles and Nakamura, who will step up to the plate? Who will be on the prowl for the gold? Who will be the next challenger for the WWE Championship?

Samoa joe

This is kind of cheating because Joe straight up said so himself that he was gunning whoever holds the WWE Championship. Once Joe finishes up his beef with Roman Reigns at Backlash, he can easily be inserted into the title picture, regardless of who wins.

If Nakamura wins, then it wouldn’t be too hard for Joe to be placed in a triple-threat match. That would be a big money match, no doubt about it. I feel those three could put on an absolute classic of a match.

If Styles wins, then WWE just books a simple face v. heel feud for the title. They don’t even have to acknowledge the history between the two men. It would be cool if they did, though.

A program between Joe and Styles would be worth watching. Joe is unmatched on the mic. He comes off as a complete and total badass. The good wrestling is just icing on the cake. Give Joe and Styles 15 minutes and you’ll have a classic on your hands.

randy orton

It’s been nearly a year since Randy Orton was in a match for the WWE Championship. Right now, he would be a very welcome addition to an already stacked main event scene.

Orton only fought AJ Styles once. He only fought Nakamura once. These are matches that WWE needs to revisit, because they were simply that good. They weren’t even PPV matches; they both occurred on Smackdown. A PPV showdown between Orton and either Styles or Nakamura would truly be something else.

Should Orton lose to Jeff Hardy at Backlash, give him a month or two to regain his momentum. Once he’s rolling, he’s an easy shoe-in to the title picture. The fact that there are so many fresh matches for Orton in the main event scene is definitely enticing.

Should Orton win the WWE Championship again, I definitely wouldn’t complain. Think of Randy Orton v. Samoa Joe for the WWE Championship. Heck, if WWE wanted to, they could easily have Orton v. Andrade Almas for the title. Or they could opt for tried and true classics against Nakamura, Styles, and Bryan.

So many options.

daniel bryan

Daniel Bryan was the hottest babyface on the roster until his unfortunate injuries and subsequent retirement. Now that he’s supposedly healthy and ready to step back between those four three ropes, it’s a no-brainer to put him back in the WWE Championship picture.

Bryan against a dastardly Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE Championship would be worth watching. I don’t know if they’ve ever faced each other before WWE, but I know they were in a dark match against each other recently. A full-blown PPV program between the two would be great.

WWE also wasted no time giving us a match between Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles. With no build up whatsoever, Styles and Bryan put on a great match. Imagine what they could do with some more time.

the miz

After his run as Intercontinental Champion on Smackdown back in 2016, people were ready for Miz to re-enter the WWE Championship picture. Unfortunately, he was moved to Raw, and he got nowhere near even sniffing the Universal Championship. Now that he’s back on Smackdown, we’re one step closer to another WWE Championship reign with the Miz.

Miz is sort of an average wrestler, but he’s put on some great matches with the right opponents. His matches against Dolph Ziggler were some of his best, and his match against Baron Corbin is underrated. I feel that someone like AJ Styles could bring the absolute best out of the Miz.

Should Styles retain, I wouldn’t mind a program between him and the Miz. They could have some solid matches that would be worth watching.