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Kofi Kingston cemented his status as the most popular babyface in WWE when he fulfilled an 11-year dream by winning the WWE Championship from Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 35.
At the time, it appeared as though the New Day member could do no wrong and that fans would stick by him no matter what happened in the next stage of his career.
As it has turned out, the majority of the WWE Universe is still supportive of the WWE Champion, but it cannot be denied that sections of fans are beginning to grow tired of what has been a somewhat repetitive four months with Kingston as the main good guy on SmackDown Live.
For example, between April and July, he won 21 consecutive matches on WWE television, with almost every victory coming via his Trouble In Paradise finisher, and the outcomes of his title matches against Bryan, Sami Zayn, AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, Dolph Ziggler and Samoa Joe were very predictable.
Although the strong booking of Kingston’s character has helped legitimise him as a top guy since WrestleMania, it was quite clear at SummerSlam that many fans in attendance in Toronto would have been happy with him losing his title to Randy Orton.
In this article, let’s take a look at five Superstars who could potentially take over as the next top babyface on SmackDown Live if Kingston continues to lose momentum.
#5 Kevin Owens
It is ironic that Kevin Owens’ initial push as a babyface was derailed by the rise of ‘KofiMania’, and now he finds himself battling it out with the WWE Champion once again to be viewed as the most popular good guy on SmackDown Live.
The stop-start face turn that Owens underwent earlier in 2019 left a lot to be desired, but his new persona and new Stone Cold Stunner finisher have immediately captured the attention of the audience.
With eight months to go until WrestleMania 36, there is no reason why the former Universal Champion cannot keep up this momentum and become one of WWE’s major players heading into next year’s show, much like how Becky Lynch transformed herself from mid-carder to main-eventer in the same amount of time before WrestleMania 35.
#4 Rusev
In 2019, Kofi Kingston won over the WWE Universe and received one of the biggest ‘WrestleMania moments’ of the decade when he defeated Daniel Bryan to become WWE Champion.
In 2018, Rusev won over WWE’s audience in a similar way, with “Rusev Day! Rusev Day!” being chanted in matches that he was not even in, but he had to settle for a spot in a Fatal 4-Way United States Championship match at WrestleMania 34.
Now, given the crowd reactions that he received in late 2017/early 2018, it is fair to say that WWE’s failure to capitalise on the “Rusev Day” phenomenon has gone down as one of the biggest missed opportunities in recent memory.
Vince McMahon prefers to see “The Bulgarian Brute” as a heel, according to Lana, which explains why the three-time United States Champion never made it to the next level as a babyface.
Looking ahead to future storylines, perhaps Rusev could make a Kevin Owens-esque comeback by returning as a good guy when his leave of absence is over, potentially reviving the "Rusev Day" craze in the process.
#3 Aleister Black
“Aleister Black enters the ring with total composure and masterful precision, emerging from the quiet darkness just long enough to knock someone’s head off.”
Those words, taken from Aleister Black’s WWE.com profile bio, perfectly describe a heel character who should be feared by the WWE locker room and maybe even the audience at home.
However, there is something about Black’s mysterious persona that makes him a fan favourite with the WWE Universe, hence why he has been involved in rivalries with heels ever since he became a frequent presence on NXT television in early 2017.
Right now, “The Dutch Destroyer” is slowly building his character week-by-week on SmackDown Live, and he is currently looking for a new Superstar to knock on his door following his recent victories over Cesaro and Sami Zayn.
If and when he is given enough television time to become a bigger part of the blue brand’s weekly programming, it is not too unrealistic to believe that we could see the former NXT Champion as a top good guy on SmackDown Live in the near future.
#2 Finn Balor
Finn Balor has been lost in the SmackDown Live shuffle ever since he moved to the brand in the 2019 Superstar Shake-Up after WrestleMania 35.
The Irishman donned his “Demon King” attire at ‘Mania to win the Intercontinental Championship from Bobby Lashley for the second time, but he spent most of his 98-day reign with the title watching on from backstage as other Superstars were given opportunities to show what they can do on Tuesday nights.
Moving forward, many fans are expecting Balor to join AJ Styles, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson as a member of The OC on Raw when he returns from his two-month post-SummerSlam sabbatical, but it is worth remembering that WWE has previously used backstage segments to tease a possible alliance between Balor and Styles but nothing has ever come from it.
If WWE takes a different direction and attempts to push the former Universal Champion to the main-event scene on SmackDown Live upon his return, he would definitely rival Kofi Kingston as a top babyface on the show.
#1 Roman Reigns
We recently looked at five Superstars who could potentially replace Seth Rollins as the top babyface on Raw over the next few months.
Despite his SmackDown Live status, the ‘Wild Card Rule’ has enabled Roman Reigns to appear on Monday and Tuesday nights in recent months, so it was only natural that “The Big Dog” was among our top contenders who could take Rollins’ position on Raw.
That being said, since that article was published, Rollins has overcome his doubters by reclaiming the Universal Championship from Brock Lesnar in the main event of SummerSlam, while Reigns’ mystery attacker storyline has featured a lot more on SmackDown Live than it has on Raw.
Various reports have suggested that WWE could go back to having separate rosters when SmackDown moves to FOX on October 4, which means that Reigns might only be on the blue brand in the final few months of 2019.
If that is the case, the four-time WrestleMania main-eventer is almost certain to be positioned as the show’s main good guy instead of Kofi Kingston.
