5 Former Intercontinental Champions who could challenge for the WWE Championship in 2020

In a recent edition of The Hall of Fame Podcast, former WWE World Champion Booker T stated that he would like to see former Intercontinental Champion Big E challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship, considering the current New Day member seems like the perfect opponent for The Beast Incarnate.

Lesnar is currently set to defend his WWE Championship against company debutant Cain Velasquez, who attacked his former UFC rival on the 20th Anniversary episode of SmackDown Live in the aftermath of his WWE title win over Kofi Kingston. Given that Lesnar won the title very recently, as of now, the obvious expectation is for him to retain the Championship against Velasquez at Crown Jewel.

Well, if The Beast Incarnate does manage to walk out still as the WWE Champion in Saudi Arabia, expect him to defend the title against some of SmackDown's top stars now that the Blue brand has a stacked line-up following the 2019 Draft.

However, with that being said, we certainly cannot expect Lesnar to square up against someone like 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt or Braun Strowman for that matter in the early stages of 2020. Instead, why not have Lesnar feud against a star of the same caliber and someone who has held the Intercontinental Championship in the past? That being said, here are 5 former Intercontinental Champions who could challenge for the WWE Championship in the near future.

#5 Luke Harper

Luke Harper could be a tough opponent for Lesnar

Luke Harper recently made his return to WWE TV when he helped his former tag team partner Erick Rowan win his match against Roman Reigns at Clash of Champions. However, in the 2019 Draft, both Rowan and Harper were once again separated as the former has jumped ship to the Red brand of Monday Night RAW.

Given Harper's amazing athletic abilities, which perfectly works side by side with his immense power, the former Intercontinental Champion could certainly prove to be the perfect opponent for Brock Lesnar.

#4 Big E

Going with Booker T's option for this one, another former Intercontinental Champion Big E is also somewhat similar to Luke Harper when it comes to in-ring action. Considered to be the powerhouse of the New Day, Big E also has some athleticism up his sleeves and is known to pull off some high-flying maneuvers, as well.

With Lesnar currently being on the back off a huge WWE title win over Kofi Kingston, WWE could easily build a storyline around Big E going for retribution for his fellow New Day stablemate. He could challenge The Beast Incarnate for the WWE Championship in the near future.

Big E could definitely prove to be a tough test for Lesnar, considering the immense strength the former possesses and could also give Lesnar a run for his money if the two men ever get to collide in the squared circle. If done right, Big E vs Brock Lesnar has the potential to be an instant classic.

#3 Kofi Kingston

The WWE Universe would definitely prefer a rematch between Kofi Kingston and Brock Lesnar

Now, technically, Brock Lesnar and Kofi Kingston is a match which we could potentially witness once again in the near future. After all, Kingston, who lost the WWE Championship to Lesnar on SmackDown Live's FOX Premiere, is yet to receive his rematch and leading up to the new year, WWE could very well bank on a long-term feud between Kingston and Lesnar.

On course to winning the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35, Kingston went through an underdog storyline against Daniel Bryan, however, a similar type of storyline would definitely work better against The Beast Incarnate.

Even more so, if given the adequate amount of time, a match between Lesnar and Kingston has the potential to be a lot better than a 10-second squash match. As we've seen in the past, Lesnar works better with smaller opponents such as the likes of Finn Balor, Daniel Bryan, and AJ Style as well.

#2 Daniel Bryan

Will Bryan be the one to step up to Brock Lesnar?

Speaking of Daniel Bryan and Brock Lesnar, at Survivor Series 2018, a cocky, freshly turned heel, WWE Champion Daniel Bryan went toe-to-toe with Universal Champion Brock Lesnar and for people who haven't watched this match, it is something totally different from what you would expect from a match featuring Lesnar against a smaller opponent.

With RAW dominating the night over SmackDown Live at Survivor Series 2018, Lesnar and Bryan put on an instant classic with the former putting the icing on the cake as he put away the WWE Champion with an F-5 to make the score 6-0 on the night. Nevertheless, the match itself is worth revisiting once again and with Bryan recently turning face, a rematch between the two men at next year's Royal Rumble pay-per-view certainly wouldn't hurt.

Bryan's face turn has certainly made him into a WWE Universe fan-favorite once again and I'm pretty sure fans would love to witness a face Daniel Bryan go toe-to-toe with Brock Lesnar on this occasion.

#1 Roman Reigns

Could this rivalry be on the cards once again?

Now some fans may purely hate the idea of Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar after watching the two men pummel each other throughout the past two years at in the main event of several WrestleManias but it is just a matter of months before WWE rekindles this rivalry once again.

After all, the last time we saw Roman Reigns in the world title picture, he, unfortunately, had to vacate the Universal Championship due to leukemia and since then WWE never really considered putting The Big Dog in world title contention. However, with both him and Lesnar in the same brand once again and with the latter winning the WWE Championship recently, fans could totally expect another WrestleMania main event featuring Reigns and Lesnar with the WWE Title on the line.

Now that SmackDown Live has moved to FOX, another long-term program between Reigns and Lesnar could definitely be in talks for next year.

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