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We are currently in the midst of the build-up to the 2019 Royal Rumble event as things are clearly getting heated up. The current Intercontinental Champion is none other than The Moral Compass of WWE himself - Dean Ambrose, as he had defeated his nemesis in Seth Rollins at TLC 2018 to gain the championship gold.
Ambrose is at the beginning of his third reign as the Intercontinental Champion, as he had turned heel on the 22nd October 2018 edition of Raw by attacking his former friend in Seth Rollins - just hours after their fellow Shield-brother in Roman Reigns had announced his real-life battle with leukemia.
However, this allows the opportunity for a babyface to dethrone Ambrose to take the Intercontinental title away from him. Here are 5 possible superstars who could defeat The Lunatic Fringe.
#5 Elias
On the April 10th, 2017 edition of Raw, Elias made his debut on Monday nights by appearing on the stage along with walking through the crowd shortly after that. From there, it was clear that the WWE had faith in Elias to be something special as they gradually built up towards his debut on the May 22nd episode of Raw - against Dean Ambrose himself, in a match where he had won via disqualification following interference from The Miz.
Fast forward to October 22nd, 2018 on Raw, we witnessed the face turn of Elias after he had attacked Baron Corbin with a guitar. Prior to the face turn, Elias was slowly getting more and more over with the WWE Universe as they would cheer along to his performances in the ring.
It's clear that the WWE sees something in Elias, and The Drifter makes a good option to take the Intercontinental Championship away from Ambrose. Elias clearly has the support of the WWE Universe, and he does look strong right now considering the fact that he had defeated Bobby Lashley on the 17th December 2018 edition of Raw in a Miracle on the 34th street fight.
Elias seems to be very established at the moment, and he would make a great opponent for Dean Ambrose. WWE did a great job of turning Ambrose into a solid heel, due to the fact that he had turned on Seth Rollins on a night that was crucial and heartbreaking for The Shield. A win for The Drifter could be the key to making the entire WWE Universe officially walk with Elias in his first reign as the Intercontinental Champion.
#4 Heath Slater
The One Man Band is the epitome of a superstar who has been falling in the pecking order as there really hasn't been a lot for him to do. He was embroiled in a tag team with Rhyno, as the two men had success at the beginning of their journey as a team- when they became the Smackdown Tag Team Championships. The duo was very over with the fans until they moved to Raw and began to flounder.
This led to Heath Slater being forced to compete in a match against his partner in Rhyno, with the stipulation of the loser being fired from the WWE. It was Slater who managed to come out on top, but instead of being given the opportunity to continue as a wrestler- he was forced to take the role of a referee instead.
Slater's time as a referee was an awkward one, as he would attempt to screw faces such as Elias and Seth Rollins out of a win during their matches. However, his run as a referee came to an end at TLC 2018 when Slater took off his referee shirt during the TLC match between Braun Strowman & Baron Corbin - as Slater along with many other faces went onto screw Corbin out of potentially becoming the Raw GM.
On the December 24th episode of Raw, we saw Rhyno return to help his partner out after Jinder Mahal had attacked Slater. Despite the fact that this tag team seems to be back on, Vince McMahon had promised Slater that 2019 would be his year- which poses the question of whether Slater will have an opportunity to win a title this year?
Of course, it seems highly unlikely that he will contend for the Universal Champion. But Slater has never won a mid-card title in the WWE, so it may be possible that he could challenge Dean Ambrose for the Intercontinental Championship. We have never seen Ambrose and Slater involved in a rivalry before, so this would have the potential to be something fresh.
And after all, Slater does indeed have kids. He needs to feed his family, and the best way for him to do that would be to dethrone Ambrose to become the new Intercontinental Champion.
#3 Bray Wyatt
After an appearance at Starrcade 2018 where we saw Bray Wyatt defeat Baron Corbin in a match, we have yet to see The Eater of Worlds on Raw. Wyatt had a decent 2018 after a Raw Tag Team Championship reign with Broken Matt Hardy- as the two men briefly ran havoc on the Raw Tag Team division.
With Wyatt clearly being set to return, there wouldn't be a better option for him than to go face to face with Dean Ambrose. We have seen the two men involved in a rivalry before, back in 2014 where Ambrose and Wyatt had a series of matches in a feud that was won by Wyatt after he was the victor during their final match in a Miracle on 34th Street Fight on December 22nd, 2014 episode of Raw.
However, their feud was very lacklustre. But this time, the roles would be reversed due to Wyatt being a face and Ambrose being a heel. And considering the fact that Wyatt also hasn't won a mid-card championship before, a rivalry with Ambrose could be excellent as both characters have clearly been rejuvenated.
Having a title in the mix would give both men a purpose in a potential rivalry, and there would be no doubt that Wyatt would have the entire world in his hands - as it's highly likely that the fans would be rooting for him to take the title away from Ambrose. Most importantly, it would give Wyatt something worthwhile to do so that he doesn't get lost in the shuffle.
#2 Finn Balor
Balor has also been floundering on the Raw roster, which is disappointing considering the wrestling talents that this man possesses. Ever since he returned from his injury, he hasn't been given the opportunity to be at the top again.
He has had multiple shots at the Intercontinental Champion, but he has come out short in all of them. He even received his one on one Universal Championship match against Roman Reigns whilst he was the champion, but he also lost that bout.
However, a possible rivalry with Dean Ambrose sounds very intriguing as we have never seen this match-up before. Balor would be the perfect superstar to question Ambrose's past decision to turn on Seth Rollins, due to the respect that he has for The Architect. We have yet to see Balor win a mid-card championship in the WWE, which makes him a viable option to take the title away from Dean Ambrose.
The fact of the matter is, Balor is desperately in need of some credibility as well after his momentum has been drained constantly. He has been booked to lose so many times, which is baffling considering the strong start he had when he first debuted on Raw. Balor not living up to the expectations could be something that Ambrose could use in an attempt to play mind games.
A possible rivalry with Balor and Ambrose would provide brilliant matches as Balor could be the perfect babyface for Ambrose to go up against. When it comes to the microphone and promos, Balor simply isn't as strong as Ambrose- but if this potential rivalry was given the heat and personal issue that it would rightfully need, there would be no doubt that Balor & Ambrose could both deliver with segments.
#1. Kevin Owens
And finally, at #1 on the list, we have none other than Kevin Owens.
On the December 17th, 2018 episode of Raw, we witnessed a vignette that hyped up the fact that The Prize Fighter was making his return to Monday nights. The last time we saw Owens appear on Raw was October 6th, 2018- when Owens went face to face with Bobby Lashley in a match where we saw a double turn occur, with Owens turning face for the second time in his WWE career- with the first being when he debuted on NXT.
Owens was written off television due to the fact that he had suffered injuries on both of his knees which required surgery. It would make perfect sense for Owens to return and immediately go after Bobby Lashley for injuring him, but there is no denying that after that rivalry is settled - he could go after Dean Ambrose in a quest to regain the Intercontinental Championship, a title which he has already held twice.
We have seen Owens and Ambrose battle multiple times before, and their past rivalry was also for the Intercontinental title. Ambrose was the one who had taken the title away from Owens in 2016, as their feud culminated in a Last Man Standing Match at the 2016 Royal Rumble event. At that time, Owens was a heel whereas Ambrose was wrestling as a babyface.
But with both men's alignments now being changed, we could see a change in style for both men in the ring as well as segments. Ambrose & Owens can hold their own in a mic, and we could see a war on the mic as well as the ring as well. The two men have put on great matches before, so there would be no qualms in the two superstars having excellent matches again.
Most importantly, if Owens to challenge Ambrose - it would give Ambrose the perfect match in terms of opponents. Both men are brutal with their styles, and they both always have intentions to destroy their opponents. The Prizefighter would be an exceptional foil for Ambrose, and he could the one to take the Intercontinental Championship away from The Moral Compass of WWE.
What makes Sting special? His first AEW opponent opens up RIGHT HERE.
