3 WWE Superstars who can become Universal Champion after Brock Lesnar

The Universal Championship is currently held by Brock Lesnar, and the situation is now reminiscent of his last run, as he held the title for more than a year without appearing or defending the title frequently.

Brock Lesnar won the vacant Universal Championship at the WWE Crown Jewel event against Braun Strowman in November, and since then he has not appeared much on Raw, nor did he defend the Universal Championship at the recently concluded TLC PPV.

He faced WWE Champion, Daniel Bryan, in the main event of Survivor Series last month, and has returned to obscurity since then. He is now scheduled to defend the Universal Championship against Braun Strowman at Royal Rumble.

Predicting the result of this match has become a bit confounding, given the ambiguity surrounding Brock's current status with WWE, and his possible UFC aspirations. In this slideshow, we look at various booking possibilities in the immediate future for the Universal Championship.

Here are three superstars who may hold the big red belt after Brock Lesnar.

Honorable mentions - Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley

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#3 Braun Strowman

Braun Strowman battling Brock Lesnar at No Mercy 2017

If WWE really wants its audience to believe in their promise of rejuvenated WWE programming, then they need to end the part-time Universal Championship reign of Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble PPV, and present Braun Strowman with a long-awaited victory, as another loss will definitely hamper his credibility as the top superstar.

Braun Strowman has been in pursuit of the Universal Championship for the better part of the last two years, as he challenged Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns on multiple occasions, but failed to emerge victorious.

Braun Strowman is currently scheduled to challenge The Beast Incarnate for the Universal Championship at the upcoming Royal Rumble PPV.

Analysing the current booking trends, it seems highly unlikely Braun Strowman will win the Championship at next month's PPV, as WWE seems to be adamant on having Brock Lesnar carry the Universal title at least until WrestleMania 35.

But if WWE decides to book the Raw Women's Championship match to main event WrestleMania 35, or if Brock Lesnar decides to jump ship to UFC early next year, then Braun Strowman will in all likelihood emerge victorious at Royal Rumble.

#2 AJ Styles

Former WWE Champion - AJ Styles

Right now there is a dearth of main event calibre babyface superstars on WWE's flagship show. The unfortunate departure of former Universal Champion, Roman Reigns, is one of the major reasons for such a void in the main event scene of Monday Night Raw. Superstars like Braun Strowman and Seth Rollins have been carrying the division in the absence of The Big Dog.

WWE has a great opportunity at Royal Rumble next month, as they can book AJ Styles to win the Men's Royal Rumble match, and then transfer him to Monday Night Raw so he can face the WWE Universal Champion in the main event of WrestleMania 35.

As he is a proven draw and also one of the most popular wrestlers on the planet, WWE can surely bank on him to successfully carry the company's top championship.

This may solve many recurring problems WWE is facing on Raw these days.

Raw will have a phenomenal primary champion who shows up regularly, it will also freshen up the upper mid-card of Raw, and opens up possibilities for numerous fresh match-ups involving AJ Styles along with likes of Drew McIntyre, Finn Balor, Braun Strowman, and Seth Rollins.

If not after the Royal Rumble PPV, he will in all probability be transferred to Monday Night Raw during the next edition of Superstar Shake-up.

#1 Seth Rollins

The Beast Incarnate has some unfinished business with The Architect

The King Slayer has been away from the primary championship for far too long now, as he has not even challenged for the Universal Championship since the fag end of 2016. For the last one year, he has been the prime performer on Monday Night Raw, and has consistently delivered in the ring.

Seth Rollins is touted by many to be the superstar to take the spot of Roman Reigns on the main event scene of Raw, and fulfill the promise made by his Shield brother who vowed to end the part time reign of The Beast Incarnate earlier this year, before his unfortunate hiatus.

Seth Rollins is considered a strong favourite to win the 2019 Royal Rumble match, as at time of writing.

Seth Rollins and Brock Lesnar clearly have some unfinished business in the ring, as their previous WWE title match at WWE Battleground PPV in 2015 ended abruptly due to interference from The Deadman who looked to exact some revenge for the loss of his iconic streak.

Seth Rollins played the role of a heel during all of their previous encounters, but the dynamics have changed this time around, as he is now a red-hot crowd favourite, so the WWE has a golden opportunity to bury the failures of recent years by booking a fan favourite as winner at the main event of The Show of Immortals.

Brock Lesnar's tendency in recent years to have classic encounters with medium sized wrestlers also makes Seth Rollins the ideal challenger for him at the grandest stage of them all, as they both can combine to produce a marvelous main event, and send the fans home satisfied (if Seth Rollins is booked to win) after WrestleMania, which has not been the case for the last few years.