Yesterday, we looked at 5 low-rank wrestlers that could carry Raw as the Universal Champion. It would not be fair to leave out the land of opportunity, which happens to be the place of the original idea for the article, and not give it the same treatment.
Jinder Mahal went from jobbing rockstar to WWE Champion in a matter of a few years and even survived an original release to come back bigger and better than before. The Maharaja shocked the world when he beat the Viper Randy Orton at Backlash to win the top prize in the business.
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It’s certainly not often that someone with very little build and such a low rank would even get an opportunity to go one on one with the WWE Champion, never mind win it! I can only think of a few times in history where this has even happened on television.
However, it got me thinking as to who else on the SmackDown Live roster could carry the brand and the company if they won the strap out of the blue? Who would be able to cope with the pressure and draw big crowds as the new WWE Champion?
One thing is for sure; they would have to make the title look fashionable…
Also read: 5 low-rank wrestlers that could carry Raw as Universal Champion
#5 Tyler Breeze
Tyler Breeze is generally considered one of the failed NXT call ups. Only recently, he has taken a gimmick that was absolutely awful and made it into one of the most entertaining things on the SmackDown Live weekly broadcast. He’s a comedy act at the heart of it, though, and is about as low rank as you can get when you’re on TV.
In NXT, he was one of the most popular characters on the show despite portraying a heel. He was always flirting with the main event of the show but often came up short in the number one contender matches and actually never got a chance to hold the prestigious title before his call-up to the main roster.
I think if he were to split with Fandango and get a shot at the WWE Championship, not only would he look brilliant with it, but it would also create a lot of matches we never got to see from Breeze, such as him taking on AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura and Kevin Owens.
As a singles wrestler, everyone wanted him to capture the NXT Championship, and quite frankly, it’s a crime against wrestling that he never did. It’s time for Prince Pretty to get the push he deserves.
#4 Tye Dillinger
The perfect 10 could have a perfect career boost if he were given a chance to hold the WWE Championship. He is more over with the crowd than the majority of the roster purely because he has a gimmick that is relatable and easy to get involved with.
Even when he is not wrestling, at certain events, people take over count outs, pinfalls and such with shouts of 10. A lot of what is needed to be WWE Champion is to garner a reaction from the crowd whether that be as a heel, face or Roman Reigns…
Therefor, Tye is already halfway there. He is still a rookie as his current character but is actually very experienced, having competed in WWE before on the ECW brand. He’s 36 years old, and he has hit upon a brilliant gimmick so why not propel him to the top immediately and have him carry the championship?
It would be worth giving him the championship if only to hear the crowd reaction. It would be deafening.
10! 10! 10! 10! 10!
#3 Luke Harper
In case you’ve forgotten, Luke Harper is a former Intercontinental Champion. He is cetainly championship material. Under Bray Wyatt, he was very successful with Erick Rowan and Randy Orton. He’s always been surrounded by success as well as having some of his own.
However, ever since his most recent separation from Bray Wyatt, he has been left in limbo and is now becoming more and more low rank. He still has matches on SmackDown now and then, but he is nowhere near as featured as he used to be.
The one thing for me letting him down is his attire as he dresses like Dean Ambrose, but if we sort that out, he has the theme music, the look and the facial expressions to make it big. More importantly, he is also one of the most technically gifted big men in the WWE. He can wrestle a match with ease.
He is also very talented on the microphone and would be able to carry interviews and promos as the WWE Champion.
#2 Mojo Rawley
Up until last night, Mojo Rawley had not been on TV for a few weeks despite being the Andre The Giant Battle Royal winner at WrestleMania. All previous winners of this memorial statue, have been prevalent in programming and benefitted from the win.
Just look at Baron Corbin and Cesaro. Cesaro is a tag-team champion, and Corbin is vying for a shot at the WWE Championship at Money in the Bank. Mojo has been nowhere to be found and last night came up short in a losing effort against current WWE Champion Jinder Mahal.
I think Mojo would bring an energy and a feeling to the top title on SmackDown that we’ve not seen since The Ultimate Warrior. Getting the crowd hyped and keeping them hyped as he takes on the best SmackDown has to offer would be the challenge for Mojo Rawley, not to mention that he is still quite green.
It would be interesting when his partner Zak Ryder returns to the ring to see how well his partner has done while he’s been out. There is a top feud in the making there…
But who could be next on the list? Who?
#1 Big E
Big E is part of one of the most popular stables, if not the most popular stable in WWE at the moment, New Day. He is a former NXT Champion so he has shown that he can carry a brand as the top champion so it wouldn’t be as big of a risk putting the championship on him as it would be with others on this list.
What makes it even more of a viable option is the fact that he could stay in the New Day as Champion and if the other members were to capture the tag team championships as well, it would make them one of the most powerful stables since The Shield.
He has shown he can be the dominant type of competitor, but he also has the versatility to work in a comedic role too as we have seen in the New Day. He would be able to captivate audiences around the world as WWE Champion especially if he did have his friends backing him up. He already has everything needed to become champion apart from the opportunity.
I see nothing wrong with a stable holding multiple championships, and quite frankly I think that Big E is too good for a mid-card title at this point so putting the WWE Championship on him would be a great decision and make SmackDown ratings skyrocket.
Because…!!!
NEW DAY ROCKS! NEW DAY ROCKS!
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