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Kofi Kingston is the current WWE Champion, having held the WWE Championship for more than two months now. The high-flying veteran of the New Day (which has become one of the most dominant stables in WWE history) won the title at WrestleMania from Daniel Bryan in one of the greatest WrestleMania moments in recent memory. Kofi's eleven-year long journey to the top of the mountain has been incredible and Kofi has been riding off the momentum of his glorious victory ever since.
The current WWE Champion has had a great reign thus far. Most fans would want his fairy-tale like run as a champion to continue for an eternity, but he will eventually lose the coveted Title somewhere down the line. The million dollar question is, who will that star be?
Kofi has overcome world-class challengers, having retained the Title against Daniel Bryan, AJ Styles, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, and Dolph Ziggler. Samoa Joe is the recent challenger who has stepped up to challenge the Jamaican-born WWE Champion.
As much as Kofi would love to keep hold of the WWE Title, there's a myriad of hungry and talented stars waiting in the back to have their shot at the WWE Champion.
With the Wild Card Rule in place, inter-brand matches have become more common on pay-per-views. Hence, any star from Raw or SmackDown Live could become the next WWE Champion.
This list will focus on 3 WWE stars that could become the next WWE Champion.
3. Samoa Joe
The current challenger to Kofi Kingston's WWE Championship might just be his toughest one. Samoa Joe is a vile monster that will do just about anything to get what he wants. Unfortunately for Kofi, Joe has set his sights on the WWE Championship. Joe and Kofi are set to fight for the WWE Championship at Extreme Rules.
Joe has had countless opportunities at the WWE title, and we saw how low he went to win the title. His mind games with AJ Styles agitated Styles and brought out a side of him that we had never seen. Many anticipated that Joe would've been the one to dethrone Styles last year, but that didn't come to fruition.
We expect Joe to torment Kofi mentally, physically and emotionally over the next few weeks. The question is whether Kofi will be able to hold his own against Joe or if Joe win the WWE title for the first time.
2. Ali
In case you didn't know, the reason why Kofi is WWE Champion is due to Ali's untimely injury which occurred a week before the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. WWE opted to replace him with Kofi, and that marked the birth of KofiMania.
Kingston would have career-defining performances in a Gauntlet match in February and the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship. However, these performances were initially planned for Ali.
Even though Ali is a babyface right now, the high-flying talented star could always challenge for the WWE Championship as a babyface or a heel. After all, he does have a bone to pick with Kofi as the push that Kofi received was planned for Ali initially. Kofi Vs Ali has the potential to be something marvellous, both from an in-ring perspective and story-line perspective.
Ali was fingertips away from winning the Money in the Bank contract, but Brock Lesnar crashed the party at the last moment and spoiled his dream. Although Ali didn't win, he came out of the match looking very strong. He deserves another opportunity, and he looks like a prime future challenger for Kofi Kingston.
1.Andrade
Andrade has been conspicuously missing from television since WWE Super Show-Down. The reason for his absence was his mother's unfortunate passing. Due to his absence, his ongoing feud with Finn Balor over the Intercontinental championship was cut short. His absence has killed the momentum he had built up.
When Andrade returns, he would want to work his way to the top of the card. The most feasible way to do that is to go after the WWE Champion, Kofi Kingston.
The Mexican star is loaded with talent and charisma, he definitely deserves a shot at Kofi's WWE title. Andrade hasn't won championship gold on the main roster. With the help of Zelina Vega, Andrade could target Kofi Kingston just like Samoa Joe did. He could viciously attack Kingston and lay him out, making his message loud and clear.
WWE management is high on Andrade, he has won the hearts of many backstage officials and has rightfully earned an opportunity to challenge for WWE's most prestigious title. Andrade will be a great challenger for Kofi and I certainly wouldn't be surprised if Andrade did defeat him to win the WWE title.
