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At this point last year, Brock Lesnar was the Universal Champion and AJ Styles was in the middle of his second run as WWE Champion. Charlotte Flair had just lost the SmackDown Women's Championship to a Carmella cash-in and Nia Jax triumphed over mean girl Alexa Bliss in order to represent Raw as its Women's Champion.
Things have greatly changed since then as Lesnar is currently on one of his many hiatuses during the year while Becky Lynch holds both titles for the ladies. Kofi Kingston finally reached the top of the company after 11 hard years. Seth Rollins slayed 'the Beast' that was holding the Universal Championship hostage in its cave since late 2018 and most of the year prior.
Several new superstars have joined the main roster from Ricochet to Aleister Black to Lacey Evans. How far each of those new and unique superstars will go is up in the air, but a few things can be seen from their booking after WrestleMania. Black is getting weekly vignettes on SmackDown that further explore his character while Evans is the first lady to face Lynch for the Raw Women's Championship at a PPV.
Since a lot will obviously change in the WWE between now and the end of the year, several superstars who are atop the WWE might not be sitting as pretty once December rolls around. Some will still continue their strangleholds atop the WWE. Not everyone receives the same amount of pushes in the WWE, so here are 10 superstars that will rule the WWE for the rest of 2019.
#10 The Usos
Raw desperately needed a veteran tag team from SmackDown that could help anchor the division, and they got exactly that in The Usos. A division that was reliant on novelty acts (B-Team, Deleters of Worlds) and makeshift teams (Bobby Roode and Chad Gable, Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler) for most of 2018 now had the respected duo of the Usos.
Things haven't started out the best in terms of storylines for the Usos as Raw has had them humiliate the Revival with various sophomoric tricks. I'm sure creeping on them in the shower and applying special cream to their wrestling tights wasn't something they thought they'd be doing. Although those segments are meant to paint the Revival in bad light, it actually makes The Usos look kind of like immature high-school bullies.
But the current direction for the brothers will end soon and they will be thrust into the Raw Tag Team title picture. It appears that the Viking Raiders are destined for a collision course with Ryder and Hawkins, so the Usos will likely battle the former War Raiders at some point for the belts. Even if it's in the Fall, expect the Usos to be heavily featured on Raw for most of the year.
#9 Kofi Kingston
If Kingston is booked to lose the title he fought so hard for at the first PPV after WrestleMania, then WWE will have made a huge mistake. The crowd is firmly entrenched behind Kingston just as they were behind Daniel Bryan during the latter's ascent to the main event at WrestleMania 30.
To take the title off of him so soon would probably do more damage to both the title and Kingston after they spent the better part of three months building up his story. For those reasons, I cannot see him losing the title any time soon, but it doesn't mean that he can't be involved in some good storylines over the title.
Kevin Owens has already betrayed the New Day, so the next challenger can't say that Kingston's winning of the title was a fluke if he tops Owens at MITB. Who will be the next person to try to take Kingston's dream away from him? Elias? Andrade? Randy Orton? Someone closer to him? Depending on how creative the WWE wants to get, they could have some great feuds for Kofi Kingston as the top guy on SmackDown.
#8 Elias
Elias has been featured on both Raw and SmackDown ever since debuting on the main roster, but he's been featured in different ways than the top wrestlers are. We all know that he routinely gets a segment in the ring where he lambastes the crowd and whomever he is set to feud with.
While that tactic hasn't netted him any titles, he's feuded with a lot of the top stars in WWE already. He's battled Finn Balor, Braun Strowman, Seth Rollins and currently, Roman Reigns. That's not adding into the fact that he's been confronted by John Cena throughout the last year and a half at various points as well as the Undertaker the night after 'Mania.
If he wasn't held in high regard backstage, he'd have less freedom with his promos and he wouldn't have been placed in so many high-stakes segments/situations thus far in his career. He'll continue to act as a top heel on SmackDown, but his feud with Reigns will likely end the same as every one of Reigns prior feuds - with 'the Big Dog' coming out on top.
The WWE could truly create a force of nature if they let Elias win his current feud with Reigns, but it isn't too likely. Whether or not he comes out on top of 'the Big Dog', Elias might be one of the next challengers for the WWE Championship since he was not put into the Money in the Bank ladder match. As long as he is entertaining, he should continue to receive the push he has enjoyed to this point.
#7 Drew McIntyre
If Mr. McMahon called McIntyre 'the Chosen One' in his first stint in the WWE, what nickname is worthy of McIntyre's current character? This version is leaps and bounds above the clean-shaven man-child who eventually became a member of 3MB and later left the company.
'The Scottish Psychopath' and Brock Lesnar were kept apart from each other for a reason - they were both positioned as the top heels on Raw at various points of the show for most of 2018 and so far in 2019. With 'the Beast' now gone, it's McIntyre's time to shine as the most devastating force opposing faces on Raw.
It could start with the Money in the Bank match, but even if he doesn't walk away holding the briefcase, he'll likely be battling Seth Rollins at some point soon. He's already the best heel in the company and needs a title run to lend even more credibility to that fact. Another reason why he's destined to continue a big 2019 is that although he lost at 'Mania, he had a featured match against who had been positioned as the biggest star in the company in Reigns.
If they didn't have faith in McIntyre or his ability to carry the brand, then he wouldn't have faced 'the Big Dog' at the Show of Shows. A McIntyre title reign would be refreshing as the last three main champs on Raw - Rollins, Lesnar and Reigns - have already had runs atop Raw as champion. McIntyre has not. It might happen this year.
#6 Becky Lynch
This one isn't much of a surprise, but 'the Man's' masterful work on the mic and in the ring during 2018 helped to propel her to the top of the WWE. She was arguably the top star since Survivor Series of 2018 and further proof of that was the main-event slot of WrestleMania 35.
Mr. McMahon wasn't going to let any woman main event his biggest show of the year, so he must have really bought into Lynch's work over the last year and a half. He was already a huge fan of Ronda Rousey because of her cross-over appeal and Charlotte Flair because of her pedigree. Lynch had to work twice as hard to get to where she currently is and will have to work even harder to continue to sit atop the women of WWE.
Lynch might lose one of her titles at MITB but she's not going to lose both titles soon. She'll likely hold one at least through SummerSlam. If they picked her to walk out of the first women's main event of 'Mania as dual champ, then they aren't going to book her to lose both titles sooner rather than later.
Because of that, Lynch will probably be heavily featured on both shows until someone cashes in their briefcase on her. Giving Rousey her first loss in WWE was almost as big a deal as breaking the Undertaker's streak or beating Lesnar, so expect the man to dominate going forward.
#5 Andrade
This one might seem counter-intuitive to the rest of the superstars on this list. He's been on the main roster for only a year and doesn't speak the best English. But between the ropes, Andrade is among the top performers in the company. He took AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan to the limit but was obviously going to lose to two of the biggest stars on the blue brand.
He also had fantastic matches with Rey Mysterio and must have shown management something in order to have been added to the MITB ladder match. The WWE needs to create some new top stars in both the heel and face departments because Reigns, Styles and Rollins can only challenge for titles so much.
Another big factor that could lead to success for 'El Idolo' in 2019 is that he's already targeted Finn Balor and the Intercontinental Title. While that feud might currently be on hold due to the MITB match, it could easily be reignited during or after the PPV. The title has changed hands a lot over the last two years, but that could change going forward.
Fox requested that he be moved back to SmackDown after getting moved to Raw during the Superstar Shake Up. They reportedly wanted to have him featured for their Latino market and Fox Deportes. For WWE to move him between brands a week after initially moving him means that bigger things are likely in store for him for the rest of the year.
#4 Roman Reigns
This one was a given. He's been the 'Golden Boy' of the WWE for the last four years so that wasn't going to change much this year. Although he had to take a detour due to sickness, he picked up where he left off as the Shield reformed to stomp out Baron Corbin, Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley.
Once that partnership ended again, he feuded with and defeated McIntyre at WrestleMania. The main question on a lot of people's minds is just how long it will be until he's thrust right back into title contention. Mr. McMahon might panic because of the drop in ratings and just have him challenge for it within the next month or so but that would be a mistake.
Something that might have turned some fans over the last few years was the constant push of the same superstars (Reigns, Flair, Rollins, Lesnar, Styles). While some of those wrestlers are more than deserving, it stagnates the product when no one new gets a run with one of the top titles.
Reigns is currently feuding with Elias and Shane McMahon, but any random superstar doesn't get to battle McMahon. The Miz, Styles and the Undertaker are all trusted vets who were able to get good storylines and/or matches out of the son of 'the Chairman'.
Whether he's trying to topple a McMahon or trying to reclaim a title at some point this year, Reigns is going to be one of the superstars who will continually dominate the entire company for the rest of this year and most of the next decade.
#3 Charlotte Flair
Almost everything I said about Reigns on the previous slide applies to Flair. She's an eight-time champ on the main roster and it's likely being done so that she can break her father's record of 16 title reigns. What didn't need to be done was give her a two-week title reign right before 'Mania in order to raise the stakes of a match that was already doing fine.
She did not prevail in the 'Winner Takes All' match but also wasn't pinned, which was her instant claim to yet another title shot in an endless line of them. She's totally one of the top performers in the WWE, but it's a little overkill to have already had eight title reigns in only four years. Even Roman Reigns hasn't had that many main title runs.
But regardless of what happens at MITB, Flair is going to be in the title picture for most of the rest of her career. If Lynch retains, she'll still be given title shots for one reason or another. If she wins it but is cashed-in on, then she'll be chasing the title again. If she wins and does not fall victim to another cash-in, then she's the focus of SmackDown's women's division yet again.
There are plenty of other women who are also more than capable of running the blue brand's women's division, but expect Flair to continue to either hold or challenge for the title this year. She hasn't faced the likes of Kairi Sane and Ember Moon yet, so those could be feuds for her outside of or in the title picture.
#2 Lacey Evans
Of the superstars originally slated to 'be new to the main roster' at the beginning of the year, Evans received the most focus. While her act mainly involved her walking up and down the ring ramp, the fact still remains that she appeared on almost every episode of Raw and SmackDown between January and now.
She's already in the midst of her first push, becoming the first challenger on Raw for Lynch's Raw Women's Title. It's a better direction than had it been Natalya, but Evans is already a better character than half of the women on Raw. Her heel type is different than most of the 'mean girl' types like Alexa Bliss and the IIconics and she's not a bully type in the veins of Nia Jax or Rousey.
If she defeats Lynch at MITB, then that's the proof of how she is viewed by Creative. She could just as easily lose at the PPV but be the reason as to why Lynch loses the title to a cash-in.
Evans is a new and fresh addition to the roster and the division, so I'm not against more of her in 2019. How far she can go is up to her and her booking, but she's already been booked stronger than someone like Bayley.
#1 Seth Rollins
The man who was going to beat Brock Lesnar wasn't going to be just any superstar. It was already picked to be Reigns throughout 2018, but once he had to relinquish the title, we know how things played out. Rollins 'put Raw on his back' and routinely had matches of the night throughout most of 2018 and 2019.
He was already a made man due to his status in both the Shield and the Authority, but now he truly gets to do it on his own. We already knew he was a great performer but always being a part of a team can sometimes hold someone back.
Rollins was picked to both win the Royal Rumble and dethrone Lesnar. Although the first one doesn't always translate to success (See Shinsuke Nakamura, Asuka), the second one always does. Lesnar won't agree to lose to just anyone, so the fact that Rollins defeated him means his reign will likely be more than just a defense or two.
His status in the company and ability to perform at the highest level means he should hold the title for most of the year, but if a ruthless man from Scotland wins the MITB briefcase, it might be a shorter reign than he should have. Regardless of who wins the MITB match, Rollins is the focal point of Raw and will continue to be for at least the next year.
