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WWE Hell in a Cell takes place on 16th September, 2018. Many bouts have been officiated for the Pay-Per-View. Many potential wrestlers including Finn Balor, Andrade Cien Almas and Elias have been left off the card, but the one superstar who stands out is the current United States Champion: Shinsuke Nakamura.
Nakamura won the US title from Jeff Hardy in a squash match at Extreme Rules 2018. Since then, he has been used as a catalyst to the Hardy/Orton feud. After retaining the title in a nice match at SummerSlam, the US Champ has barely made any appearances on SD Live, with the last one being in a match against Jeff Hardy(again) at the go-home show for Hell in a Cell.
One can understand why Shinsuke and the US title are being kept off-screen. It is because the current champ is a heel and Smackdown live has a severe shortage of credible baby-faces to contend for the title. This article takes a look at the wrestlers who can actually fight "The King of Strong Style" for the US Title on or after Hell in a Cell.
1) Andrade 'Cien' Almas
Let’s deal with the most obvious and logical options first. Andrade was drafted to Smackdown as a part of the Superstar Shake-up. He’s a former NXT Champion and has had great matches with AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan on the main roster.
However, apart from his feud with Rusev, Almas seems to have no direction as of now. He has lately been used in the Miz/Bryan rivalry and may have a mixed tag match against R-Truth and Carmella, which is pure injustice to such a talented wrestler.
With rumors coming up that Vince is keen on pushing Almas, we might see WWE pulling of an unorthodox heel v/s heel feud, with Almas winning his first title on the main roster to start off his mega push. He can have a series of interesting matches with Nakamura, elevating the credibility of the US title.
2) Harper
Due to Rowan suffering an injury at SummerSlam, Harper and Rowan, who were repackaged as the dominant ‘Bludgeon Brothers’, were made to lose the title to New Day on the SummerSlam fallout episode of Smackdown.
Harper is a talented wrestler and fans all over the world have been demanding a singles push for Harper for a long time now. Even WWE realizes his potential and has used him as a singles superstar. During his first singles run, Harper was able to win the Intercontinental championship. The 'first son' of the Wyatt Family was also included in Team Authority at Survivor Series 2014.
In his second run, he was used in the Wyatt/Orton feud and came across as a promising main-eventer. Harper had a great match with Randy Orton at Fastlane 2017 and fans were actually demanding to have Harper added in the WWE Title match between Orton and Wyatt at WrestleMania 33.
He has already started wrestling as a singles wrestler again, having a great match with Ricochet for the NXT North American Title at an NXT live event. A renewed push could see Harper putting on a great performance against Shinsuke Nakamura and capturing the US Title, much to the delight of fans.
3) Rey Mysterio
This may look like fantasy booking, but with rumors of Rey Mysterio returning to WWE coming up, this is more of a prediction. Timing is best. After Hell in a Cell PPV, we can have Shinsuke defeating R-Truth and Tye Dillinger in one-on-one matches, before claiming that there is no one left to face him.
He could issue an Open challenge on Smackdown 1000, which would be answered by the returning Mysterio. Mysterio winning the title on Smackdown 1000 would be a great way to get the former World Champion back into the mix.
Shinsuke and Mysterio are truly talented wrestlers, who can make this a decent feud. Mysterio can have a short sweet reign as the US Champ, before moving to 205 Live and elevating the Purple Brand.
4) John Cena
John Cena vs Shinsuke Nakamura is a dream feud and their first encounter before SummerSlam 2017 left the fans asking for more. Like Mysterio, we can see a returning Cena answer Nakamura’s open challenge and win the title. Also, it was Cena who was responsible for making US Title relevant with his Open Challenges.
If Kevin Owens is able to win the Intercontinental Title before Survivor Series, an excellent ‘Champion vs Champion’ match between Cena and Owens could take place at the PPV. The tag team match involving Cena and Owens at the SuperShow-Down could be a start to the Owens/Cena feud, which has already been over with the fans.
5) An NXT Call-up
Last year, we had Bobby Roode debut on Smackdown the night after Summerslam. The same was expected this year due to the fact that Smackdown Live has a serious problem on its hands: a lack of babyfaces.
But we still haven't seen anyone making a move to the blue brand from NXT. Maybe it is being saved for the Smackdown1000 episode set to take place on October 16, 2018.
Just imagine the scenario where SD Live General Manager Paige announces that "The Artist" would defend his US Title against a mystery opponent in the main event of the show, and an NXT call-up makes his way down to the ring and actually wins the US Title to loud cheers from the crowd.
This situation might have been an inevitable reality, had Alistair Black not been injured. But stars like Velveteen Dream and EC3 can surely make an appearance on the show to elevate the US Title scene.
Who would you like to face Nakamura for the US Title next and when? Do drop your valuable opinion in the comments section. :)
