5 Superstars who could dethrone Finn Balor for the Intercontinental Championship
WrestleMania 35 was a very big night for one individual known as Finn Balor, as Balor had walked into the event as "The Demon" to take on Bobby Lashley for the Intercontinental Championship.
Balor would go onto win the Intercontinental title for the second time in his career, as The Demon managed to overcome The Almighty on The Grandest Stage of them All.
However, Balor was then drafted to SmackDown Live during the Superstar Shake-Up which has moved the title to the blue brand. With Balor's big win, comes a huge amount of superstars who are more than willing to take his championship gold away from him.
So here are 5 Superstars who could potentially defeat Balor for the Intercontinental title.
#5 Ali
On April 16, 2019, episode of SmackDown Live, we saw Ali face Finn Balor in a match on the champion's first night for the blue brand. Despite the fact that Ali had lost, he still emerges as a candidate to possibly take the Intercontinental Championship away from Balor in the future.
Ali was set for big things when he first debuted on SmackDown, as he had introduced himself by confronting Daniel Bryan, who was the WWE Champion at the time.
Kazeem Famuyide, who was a former SmackDown writer for the WWE had revealed that Bryan was campaigning for a 'hyoung babyface' to be on SmackDown live due to the fact that all the top babyfaces were getting old.
This was the main reason why Ali was being pushed heavily until he had suffered an injury that had prevented him from competing in the Elimination Chamber 2019 match for the WWE Championship.
Ali may not be in the WWE Championship picture anymore, but that provides an immense amount of options for Ali in the upper mid-card scene as a win over Balor could be a great way to kick-start Ali's momentum again.
#4 Buddy Murphy
Another superstar who is set to make a switch to the blue brand is none other than Buddy Murphy. The Australian superstar claims to be WWE's "best-kept secret" and after his run on 205 Live, who can blame him for having a stake to that claim?
Murphy is a former Cruiserweight Champion, and he practically ran 205 Live for 7 months before dropping the title to Tony Nese at WrestleMania 35 on the kick-off show.
He has also held tag team gold over on NXT, where he was one half of the Tag Team Champion alongside Blake as the duo "Blake and Murphy" in 2015.
The reason why he may be next in line to be the next Intercontinental Champion is that WWE seems to be very high on him, especially as Triple H has publically supported Murphy in the past.
He has put on plenty of great matches over on 205 Live, as his experience on the Cruiserweight brand has allowed him to build up his confidence not only in the ring but on the mic as well.
After working hard on NXT and 205 Live to finally move up to the main roster, there is no denying that Murphy emerges as a contender to defeat Balor for the Intercontinental title in the near future.
#3 Aleister Black
During the Superstar Shake-Up, Aleister Black was announced as one of the superstars who would be moving over to SmackDown.
Black had debuted in the WWE on the February 18th 2018 episode of Raw where he had defeated Elias, before forming a tag team with Ricochet as the two men had reached the finals of The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic on NXT Takeover: New York as well as competing for the Raw and SmackDown Tag Team Championships.
However, the team of Black and Ricochet had split up due to the roster changes as Black now seems to be destined for success on the blue brand. The fact that Black is also a former NXT Champion suggests that WWE trusts him more than enough to carry a brand by himself.
Due to Black's mysterious character, this makes him very unique as it sets him apart from all the other superstars on the SmackDown brand. Being on his own will allow him to get over with the fans independently, as this will increase the magnitude of his character.
Black has also clearly got used to life on the main roster, so he definitely can't be counted out as a superstar that can take the Intercontinental Championship away from Finn Balor.
#2 Andrade
The Mexican superstar also known as Andrade is another superstar who should be in contention to dethrone Finn Balor for the Intercontinental title.
Originally, Andrade was moved to Raw due to the Superstar Shake-Up as he faced off with Balor in his first Raw match in a winning effort that shocked the WWE Universe.
However, he was then quietly moved back to SmackDown Live. This was most likely because of his relationship with Charlotte Flair, who is also on the blue brand.
Andrade's valet in Zelina Vega also moved to SmackDown with him, and this decision was also relationship-based as Vega is currently married to Aleister Black in real life.
A rivalry between Andrade and Balor would be great to see, as we've seen the two men face off before on Raw. A potential PPV match between both men would most certainly steal any show in the WWE.
El Idolo is one of the best in-ring performers on SmackDown Live, but he has yet to hold a title on the main roster.
However, the fact that Andrade currently holds a win over Balor suggests that he should not only have a shot at the Intercontinental Championship, but he should also be the superstar to take the title away from the extraordinary one.
#1 Lars Sullivan
And last but definitely not least, we have none other than SmackDown's next biggest monster in Lars Sullivan.
On the post-WrestleMania 35 edition of Raw, we finally saw Lars Sullivan debut as he had brutally attacked Olympic Gold Medalist in Kurt Angle. It was a moment that had not only annoyed the WWE Universe but also increased the credibility of Sullivan.
The following night on SmackDown Live, we then saw Sullivan take out The Hardy Boyz before the monster had brutally attacked Rey Mysterio and R-Truth the week after that on the April 15th and 16th episode of Raw and SmackDown respectively.
It's clear that Sullivan is being pushed heavily, and why wouldn't he be? Vince McMahon has always loved the big superstars, and Sullivan definitely fits his criteria of what it takes to be a star.
It was also rumored that Sullivan would be taking on John Cena at WrestleMania 35, but this plan clearly didn't come into fruition. This makes me believe that Sullivan will be the next Intercontinental Champion.
Sullivan is a superstar that needs to be booked strongly from the get-go, and winning championship gold will cement his status on the SmackDown Live roster. The fact that he has destroyed the likes of Angle and The Hardy Boyz suggested that he will be a very big player on the blue brand, which is why he is the perfect foil to defeat Finn Balor for the Intercontinental title.
Who do you reckon will be the next Intercontinental Champion by defeating Finn Balor? Drop your opinions on the comment section below!
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