3 Best options and 3 worst options to dethrone Kofi Kingston

Whenever someone new becomes champion, focus often turns to which person will be the one that dethrones the new champion. People always wondered who would take the Universal Championship from Brock Lesnar, but after the likes of Braun Strowman, Samoa Joe and even Roman Reigns all failed, things started to seem bleak.

Luckily, Seth Rollins was operating on another level for most of 2018 and the beginning of 2019. WWE finally folded and had Rollins dethrone 'the Beast' at WrestleMania 35. On the same card, Kofi Kingston completed his 11-year journey of never getting a one-on-one match but capitalizing on his chance when it came.

Now that Kingston is the champ, the bullseye is squarely on his back. Kevin Owens already aimed and almost hit the mark, but he was unsuccessful in his bid to dethrone Kingston. With the Money in the Bank contract and SummerSlam both looming, Kingston will have to keep his eyes on his back now more than ever.

All challengers are not created equal in the eyes of the fans. Some potential Superstars would be received a lot better than others if they were the ones to take the title off of Kingston's waist. Here are three of the best options and three of the worst options regarding who the wrestler will be that dethrones the current WWE Champion. The choices exclude any Wild-Card rule shenanigans.

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Best Option - Aleister Black

What's the best way to have Black 'arrive' as legit Superstar and immediately make him a big deal? Have him be the one to dethrone Kingston. He has both the mic skills and in-ring talent to match anything Kingston can do, and he's unlike any other Superstar currently on SmackDown.

It's been said many times before but WWE desperately needs to create new stars, and different ones at that. Black is an anti-hero but depending on how he is portrayed, he could either be a heel or a face. It seems that they might try him out as a heel due to the messages in his backstage promos.

WWE needs to pull the trigger on someone new, and Black is just that. It would mark another new face getting a chance in the main event rather than recycling the same four or five wrestlers. Kingston as a new presence was a good start, so if SmackDown is still the land of opportunity, they should continue the trend of new champions with Black.

Worst Option - Shane McMahon

If WWE really wants to enrage fans and have them stop watching its programming, then having Shane McMahon be the one to dethrone Kingston would be a mistake of astronomical proportions. Reports of this possibility even came out last week.

McMahon already takes up too much time on both Raw and SmackDown. It's mostly at the expense of some heels that could use the chance in the limelight (Andrade, Elias, Bray Wyatt, Aleister Black). Having him win a major title and win it from a huge fan favorite will only turns fan off.

McMahon can win a match here and there, but if he continually is beating some of your top stars like Miz and Reigns, then you are devaluing those wrestlers in order to make the non-wrestler look good.

I know that he didn't outright own the Miz or Reigns in any of his matches, but as he has boasted, he is 4-0 against the two men. The end game cannot be a WWE Championship run. It would only prove that WWE has lost their minds and that All Elite Wrestling will be better. If they want another 'if Cena wins, we riot' moment, this would be it.

Best Option - Elias

A better use of McMahon in a title feud would be as an ancillary piece of that feud. Instead of him winning the title, he could abuse his power, just like his father and push one of his buddies to a championship match with the New Day Champion.

Someone who needs a big push to some sort of meaningful title is Elias. He has been aligned with the McMahons since his first night on SmackDown during the Superstar Shake Up. Shane could simply decide to 'reward' him by pitting him against Kingston at some point in the near future.

While it wouldn't surprise me if Shane took the accolade instead, they need to seriously consider the damage that a McMahon winning the title would do to their company. Elias is already over as a heel or a face, and him cheating to win the title due to interference from Shane would be more believable and better received.

'The Drifter' has already shown that he's ready for a big run at the top. He deserves better than the usual 'performance' angles they do at big PPVs that lead to him getting dropped by returning legends. Creative might think he can recover from those types of situations due to being over with the audience, but that type of booking only lasts for so long.

Worst Option - Brock Lesnar

Of the worst options, this could be the most likely one to occur. Lesnar holds the briefcase and has mainly focused on Seth Rollins and the Universal Championship. When he finds that he might be barking up the wrong tree, he could turn tail, go away for a few months and return to torment Kingston instead.

Lesnar is one of the biggest stars in the industry and has cross-over appeal due to his career in MMA. Mr. McMahon loves stars with that appeal, even if pushing them comes the expense of other members of his roster. Just ask the women of WWE how they felt during Ronda Rousey's run as Raw Women's Champion. While she was actually more present than Lesnar, the similarities still exist.

The move to Fox might also force WWE to simply book Lesnar to win another title in order to amp things up for SmackDown. I've said this a million times before, but giving him another title run will make the second half of 2019 seem like 2018 or any other time he held a title. We probably won't like it when Kingston loses the title, but some options are better than others. This is one of the worst choices.

Best Option - Big E

I enjoy the New Day just like most of the rest of the WWE Universe. They are always entertaining and relevant and often carry most of the feuds that they are in. Any one member of the group could do the same as a singles star.

While I do think some fans wouldn't receive it all that well, I wouldn't be upset with a heel turn of Big E. Maybe it's both Xavier Woods and Big E, but if someone turns on Kofi AND gets a title shot, it has to be Big E.

He's incredibly charismatic and hilarious, but he's also the most formidable member of the trio. He could legitimately beat up both Kingston and Woods by himself. It would be another Shield implosion situation, and if done right, would be a huge storyline for SmackDown going forward.

The chances of it happening are 50/50, but it could happen. Big E and/or Woods could say 'yeah, it was great that you finally got your title shot and won, but we won the match that got you to the title shot. Where's our/my title shot?'

Jealousy is an easy storyline to write in WWE, especially if one star always gets the accolades and others are overlooked. The New Day might be too valuable as a group to break up, but it would be a storyline that could carry SmackDown through the Summer and/or second half of the year.

Worst Option - Roman Reigns

Although the fans are still cheering Roman Reigns due to his triumph over leukemia, the luster will eventually wear off. It's easy to cheer him against the likes of Shane McMahon and his lackeys, but what happens when he starts a feud with someone new, and someone that the crowd actually likes?

Kingston and Reigns are both faces, so choosing Reigns for another title run with it also being at Kingston's expense would create a problem for the WWE. They want to put a major title around his waist again at some point, but how long can they wait?

It's good to give other Superstars a chance at a title run, especially if they've never had the chance like Kingston. Reigns ending his run would turn a large portion of the crowd against him and only cause the boos that have gone away from Reigns to return.

I know they would likely have Kingston lose to a heel first and then have 'the Big Dog' beat the heel, but they might panic or try to have the biggest match possible for SummerSlam. Reigns would be a big match, but it would undo a lot of the good will he has built up currently with the crowd.