5 Superstars who should be WWE Universal Champion in 2018

The WWE Championship and Universal Championship scenes have been quite different this year. While four different Superstars would hold the WWE Championship on SmackDown in 2017, RAW would see only three Champions throughout the year. Even though there is a difference of only one number, it is the title length and reigns that matter.

Kevin Owens started the year as the Universal Champion, would lose it to Goldberg at Fastlane in February, only for him to drop it to Brock Lesnar the following month, who is still the Champion. Considering the legit fighter that Brock Lesnar is, the Universal Championship needs to be held by someone who can defend it on every RAW pay-per-view of the year and occasionally on RAW, and I don't just mean the guys who are planned by management to eventually win it like Roman Reigns.

I mean the Superstars who work every bit as hard and can get further on television as the Champion. The following five Superstars need to be the WWE Universal Champion in 2018 to either build themselves back up, give the best quality performances, or are just the best option to be the Champion of WWE's A brand.

#5 Seth Rollins

Seth Rollins had one of the most memorable WWE Championship reigns in recent history. Rollins had cashed in on Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns WWE Championship main event of WrestleMania 31 and held the title until November 4 during a match against Kane at a WWE live event in Dublin, Ireland when Rollins tore the ACL, MCL and medial meniscus in his knee.

Rollins is yet to have a Universal Championship run since the belt's inception in 2016. Following his feud with Triple H, Seth is to even challenge for the Championship and had spent the second half of 2017 challenging for and winning the Tag Team titles with Dean Ambrose and Jason Jordan, which is a bit of a far cry from being WWE's top heel in one of the longest WWE Championship reigns in the previous seven years before he won it.

#4 Samoa Joe

Although Samoa Joe has now had two high profile injuries in one year, the second of which has only begun as of this writing, Joe was also arguably one of the best wrestlers in the world in 2017.

Joe was in the main event of several pay-per-views this year which included challenging for the Universal Championship twice, first at Great Balls of Fire and once more as apart of a Fatal Four Way at SummerSlam. Although Joe came up short on both occasions, he proved he could be one of the best if not the best challenger to go toe to toe with Brock Lesnar.

The match between Joe and Brock may have only lasted just over six minutes, but Joe made the most of it giving an excellent performance. If Brock does indeed part ways with WWE in 2018, Joe could easily replace him as the toughest legit fighter in all of WWE.

#3 Finn Bálor

As of this writing, Finn Bálor is not just the only superstar on this list to be the WWE Universal Champion, but he was the first ever Universal Champion, defeating Seth Rollins at SummerSlam 2016 for the honour. Finn's reign would also be the shortest in history thus far as he relinquished it after 24 hours due to a shoulder injury suffered in the match.

Not only does Balor deserve a makeup reign, but his current situation would make for an interesting Championship run. Finn recently reunited with his former Bullet Club teammates Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson to form the Bálor Club. Since the group reunited, he has been teasing a heel turn.

"The Demon King" was the best foreign heel in NJPW history during the birth of the Bullet Club and he could be that good again, and what better to help make him that good than to be WWE Universal Champion.

#2 Braun Strowman

There has been no other superstar in all of WWE who is as impressive as Braun Strowman in recent memory. Braun has become one of the biggest reasons to tune into WWE RAW every Monday night as no one knows what he will do next.

Braun challenged Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship in the main event of two pay-per-views in 2017, as apart of a Fatal Four Way at SummerSlam and in a one-on-one match at No Mercy. When SummerSlam proved to be a strong match, No Mercy saw a poor main event match between Braun and Brock as the match was just 9 minutes and like every other Brock Lesnar match for the last 2 years, ended after one F-5.

While this kind of booking would have hurt a lesser man's career, Braun has been able to bounce back in quick fashion and prove that he deserves a Universal Championship run in 2018.

#1 The Miz

The Miz has been WWE's best heel for several years now. While the like of Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe implore the best heel tactics on TV, The Miz is pretty much the only male heel in WWE who is still booed the way a heel should be.

The most prestigious WWE Intercontinental Champion of the past 14 years, The Miz has proved that although he wants the IC Championship to remain prestigious with him as the Champion, that he has also outgrown the title and this former WWE Champion needs to be back in the main event every week.

The Miz is now one of the most reliable and hardworking, if not the most, in all of WWE today. The Miz has everything required to be a top heel World Champion in WWE and needs to be in that spot as soon as possible.

If WWE is going to have another heel as Universal Champion int he coming months, there is no better choice in all of WWE than The Miz.

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