10 superstars who will win their first titles in 2019

This year gave us a memorable list of first-time champions in WWE, although not always in a good way.

Braun Strowman won his first title at WrestleMania, only to relinquish it 24 hours later because his 10-year-old partner needed to go to school. Carmella won her first title 24 hours after that and the SmackDown women's division would go on to be a wasteland for the next few months. Shayna Baszler won her first title the night before Strowman did, but her tenure on top has been extremely damaging to the NXT women's division, largely because she went on to nullify Kairi Sane's first title win in August. Aleister Black's NXT Championship reign turned out to be underwhelming. Ironically, it was the least interesting part of his NXT career. The less said about Nia Jax's Raw Women's Championship reign, the better.

There was a better crop, though. Adam Cole and Ricochet have set the world on fire this year. Rhea Ripley was an unexpected choice for the inaugural NXT UK Women's Champion, but she has enormous potential and will bring some spark to that title.

It's not always possible to predict a first championship win. After all, who would have predicted at the end of 2016 that Jinder Mahal would reign as WWE Champion for six months in the next year?

Nevertheless, sometimes, you get some clearer signals. These 10 superstars are likely to enjoy their first championship win in WWE at some point next year.

#1 Mustafa Ali

Along with the current Cruiserweight Champion, Buddy Murphy, Mustapha Ali has been the MVP of 205 Live this year. Routinely outshining Cedric Alexander during his championship reign, Ali is the best babyface on the purple brand, and it's really only a matter of time before he secures the Cruiserweight Championship.

An extended rivalry with Buddy Murphy should be a no-brainer. They are magic together every time they get in the ring and their personalities are the perfect clash of opposites. Survivor Series didn't hint that this would happen, but it didn't preclude it, either.

Even if Ali doesn't wind up unseating Murphy, a title win at some point in 2019 is inevitable.

#2 Keith Lee

Keith Lee has had no problem at all adapting to the NXT environment and has already gotten over with Full Fail. We've yet to see all that he's capable of, but we'll no doubt be basking in his glory throughout 2019.

While it seems unlikely that he'll become NXT Champion next year, the North American Championship is well within his reach. Ricochet won't hold onto it forever, especially if the yellow brand decides to follow up last year's ladder match with another one on WrestleMania weekend. Why not make it a yearly tradition? The North American title might change hands several times next year, particularly given that some call-ups are going to be inevitable.

Keith Lee is certainly going to be in the mix for that title throughout, and one has to think that he'll eventually be able to find gold.

#3 Matt Riddle

NXT spent months building up Kassius Ohno. It was obvious they were doing this to feed him to Matt Riddle. What wasn't obvious was that Matt Riddle was going to obliterate him in six seconds and weasel his way onto the TakeOver: War Games card to do so.

That should tell you everything you need to know about how the NXT brass views the "King of Bros."

It's inevitable that Matt Riddle is going to become NXT Champion. It's only a matter of time and who he dethrones. While late 2019 is probably the most accurate potential date, it's even possible that Matt Riddle will be the one to dethrone Tommaso Ciampa, given the mess Johnny Gargano is currently in.

In the meantime, we'll get to enjoyably watch Riddle show us more and more of what he can do on NXT as the year closes.

#4 Elias

Despite not doing much with him, Elias remains one of the most over WWE Superstars. Few can match his ability to work a crowd. This skill makes him a valuable commodity, and he's managed to get just as over as a babyface as he did as a heel. The transition was seamless.

Elias is a guy that's just begging to get a championship run with a mid-card title. If WWE doesn't capitalize on him and give him a bigger push than he's gotten, they would be foolish. It's time to put his act into more extended storylines, rather than just stand-alone skits.

I'm usually not optimistic when it comes to the main roster, for good reason, but this seems obvious. Albeit, Elias is a dark horse, but I think he'll secure a run with the Intercontinental or United States Championship at some point in 2019.

#5 War Raiders

This is the most obvious on the list. Fresh off their victory in War Games last Saturday, the War Raiders are going to unseat the Undisputed Era atop the NXT tag team division sooner rather than later. The War Raiders have had the Undisputed Era's number for months now. The champions can't dodge them forever. The title change is likely to occur at NXT TakeOver: Phoenix on January 26th.

Where the War Raiders will go from there as champions is an open question. Beneath the top tier, the NXT tag team division is still a big mess. It's likely that their feud with the Undisputed Era is going to extend for some time to come, into the spring of next year.

Their rise to the top is going to make for some enjoyable television over the next couple of months, at the very least.

#6 Velveteen Dream

Last Saturday's match with Tommaso Ciampa proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Velveteen Dream is the real deal. If that was a test of his potential as a main event player, he passed with flying colors and then some. It's only a matter of time before he secures some championship gold, and I'll make the bold prediction that it's going to come next year.

Whether it's the NXT Championship, the North American Championship, or even a main roster title, Velveteen Dream is too talented not to get a run with a title. The likeliest contender is the North American Championship. Dream certainly has some unfinished business with Ricochet, but one can envision him being successful for NXT's top prize on his second attempt, should he get it.

Whatever title it winds up being, Dream as champion is going to make for an enjoyable experience.

#7 Toni Storm

If it wasn't obvious by now, Triple H is extremely high on Toni Storm. Her Mae Young Classic victory essentially guarantees that she's going to get gold sooner or later at some point in the next year. She's already set her sights on the NXT UK Women's Championship, and one has to think that title was basically made with her in mind.

However, it's also possible that Toni Storm might set her sights even higher - on the NXT Women's Championship. Though her part-time contract might work against that, there is history to go on between her and Shayna Baszler. It's faintly possible that she'll wind up being the one to finally send the current champion packing.

If that isn't the path, she's going to be the next NXT UK Women's Champion. That much is certain. Rhea Ripley is likely on borrowed time.

#8 Mandy Rose

I thought that we might be spared from it for a while, but it looks like Mandy Rose's push has started. At this rate, it's inevitable that she will secure her first title at some point in 2019. It would be an entirely looks-based push, but when has that ever stopped Vince McMahon? Mandy Rose has the look that Vince dreams about.

We'll have to see how her coming feud with Sonya Deville goes, but so far, it appears that all systems will be go. The likely date that she'll win her title around is sometime after WrestleMania 35, which is when the company goes into its infamous "summer slump" mode and appears more willing to experiment with bad acts - see Carmella and Nia Jax this year.

Hopefully Mandy Rose will improve by then, but I'm not particularly optimistic when it comes to that front.

#9 Io Shirai

Io Shirai finally made her NXT debut proper last Saturday and was put straight into the main storyline in the women's division. With the massive hype surrounding her signing, her Mae Young Classic success, and her full-time status, it seems to stretch credulity to suggest that Io Shirai won't be NXT Women's Champion by this time next year.

Who will she take the title from, though? It's still worth holding out hope that she'll eventually turn on Kairi Sane and take the title from her at a future TakeOver event. The match would tear the house down, to say the least. However, it's also now a possibility that Io Shirai will take ultimate vengeance for her friend and send Shayna Baszler packing.

Watching Io needing to do her best to make the horrid Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke look good for the next few months won't be fun, but there will eventually be a silver lining.

#10 EC3

He won't make the top 1% on the yellow brand. He isn't going to win a title there, that's very clear. Instead, he's likely to win his first title in WWE on the main roster, for which his act is tailor made.

Vince McMahon will see EC3's physique, hear him on the microphone, and will go on to do what he does from there. A run with the Intercontinental or United States Championship suits EC3 well in Vince McMahon's vision.

When will EC3's main roster call up come? It might happen as soon as the new year starts, or at the Royal Rumble. He hasn't been seen on NXT TV for a while when he surprisingly got a victory over Adam Cole (though my hunch is that came because Pete Dunne's status was up in the air for War Games). We'll see what, if anything, happens with him on next week's tapings.

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