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The Superstar Shake-up is now over and WrestleMania 35 season is officially behind us. With new champions crowned and the rosters freshened up for the coming WWE calendar year, it's time to assess the current champions and the possibilities they currently face.
Since the last time we did this list, the women's tag team titles have finally been introduced, and there are now a whopping 17 championships in WWE (albeit, with 16 holders at the moment), which shows how expansive the company has become.
Which champions have the most going for them right now? Which the least? Who should you be most excited about watching? Let's take a look.
#16 The IIconics
Unfortunately, the new women's tag team titles aren't off to a good start. The Elimination Chamber match in February exceeded expectations, but Sasha and Bayley were then booked poorly as champions, and they dropped the belts to the least capable team in the company, the IIconics, on the biggest stage, leading to backstage turmoil.
Since WrestleMania, the IIconics have proven over and over again that putting the titles on them was a mistake. They are among the poorest ring workers in the division and their promos rarely elicit much reaction from the crowd.
Watch the eight-woman tag team match from this week's SmackDown and you can see immediately just how much superior the other six women in the match were, even Mandy Rose.
For the sake of the titles and their credibility, we can only hope that Asuka and Kairi Sane, with Paige as their mouthpiece, take them as soon as possible. That combination of three former NXT Women's Champions would be poised to establish the prestige of these fledgling championships. As long as the IIconics hold them, that prestige will steadily decrease.
#15 The Viking Experience (War Raiders)
The surprise call up of whatever you want to call these guys means that the prospects for their reign in NXT have been cut off at the knees. Some quick replacements will need to be found.
Will NXT go the safe route and have them drop the titles back to the Undisputed Era? Probably, though it feels like a regression. No other team is quite ready, it seems. Who else could it be? The Street Profits, who are popular but have no real momentum? The much worse Forgotten Sons?
Either way, this reign is going to end in a scrambled, jumbled fashion because of Vince McMahon's chaotic management style. We can only hope that there will be a great tag team championship match, but the writing is on the wall, so they need to be ranked this low.
#14 Shayna Baszler
Enough is enough. It's time for Shayna Baszler to drop the NXT Women's Championship. Why she didn't at TakeOver: New York is still a mystery. Her second reign is beyond stale, it's downright destructive. NXT needs to be rid of her so that its women's division can grow, and after how badly Raw's women's division got hit in the Shake-up, her services are better used elsewhere.
Last night's episode of NXT was yet another derivative Baszler match, but her treatment of the departing Kairi Sane set up the coming feud between her and Io Shirai well. Nevertheless, the way this was set up mandates that Io defeat her for the championship cleanly and decisively. If she doesn't, the NXT women's division might as well just file for bankruptcy.
The ending of this story will be what determines how successful it is. If it doesn't end happily, it's a disaster.
#13 Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins
What do you know, the Raw tag team titles aren't ranked the lowest this time! That's because it was a feel-good moment to see Hawkins finally snap his two and a half year losing streak, even if it was a burial for The Revival.
Raw's tag team division got a massive boost in the Shakeup. The tag team franchise players, The Usos, came over from SmackDown. Aleister Black and Ricochet remain together. The War Raiders/Viking Experience got a surprise call up.
With those three teams around, there's no way Hawkins and Ryder's title reign is long for this world, but it will be fun to see the division back on the upswing again. There should be a ton of great match combinations to come this year, so expect to see the Raw Tag Team Champions ranked higher the next time this list comes around.
#12 Toni Storm
Toni Storm's reign continues to underwhelm me. I'll be honest - I was once on the hype train, but the more I see her, the more I just don't get it. She has thus far reigned over a division that has lacked in credible contenders, now that Rhea Ripley has been dismissed from the title picture.
The recent arrival of Piper Niven (known as Viper from her days on the independent circuit and promotions like World Wonder Ring Stardom) raises some intriguing possibilities, though. Niven competed in the first Mae Young Classic and should be in line to do some great things in the UK division.
A clash between Piper Niven and Toni Storm is probably in the works at some point, but when and where it comes is still a mystery. Until things heat up, though, the reign will continue to underwhelm me.
#11 The Hardy Boyz
Matt and Jeff Hardy are a safe, respectable choice to carry the SmackDown Tag Team Titles in this period of transition. Nevertheless, they aren't the performers that they once were, which will make their title matches feel lacking compared to what we will soon see from their Raw counterparts.
The SmackDown tag team division certainly got the worse end of the Shakeup, having lost The Usos, missed out on Black and Ricochet, and failing to obtain the Viking Experience. The addition of Heavy Machinery doesn't begin to compensate. SAnitY is now disbanded and Gallows and Anderson are invisible and on their way out of the company.
Nevertheless, The Bar and, eventually the New Day, will make for a solid core, and Rusev and Nakamura, though random, add something. Regardless, expect the titles to rank lower than their red brand counterparts the next time that this list comes out.
#10 Tony Nese
Tony Nese is a very good wrestler, though not quite on the level of Buddy Murphy, which will probably invite unfavorable comparisons. Regardless, Tony Nese has his work cut out for him as Cruiserweight Champion. 205 Live lost Mustafa Ali in December. It now lost its two other biggest stars, former champions Murphy and Cedric Alexander, in the Superstar Shake-up.
This means the division is wide open again, with plenty of people available to step up and challenge Nese, but it's also one that lacks in brand names, meaning that he's going to have the responsibility of rebuilding 205 Live in this time of transition. That could mean some rough waters ahead for his reign.
For now, we'll simply need to put our faith in Nese. He's been off on a tear to start 2019, but now we're reaching deeper waters. Let's see if he has what it takes.
#9 Becky Lynch
This is no doubt going to be the most controversial decision, but hear me out. Becky Lynch has reached her great moment of glory by defeating Flair and Rousey in the main event of WrestleMania, but her dual reign doesn't look like it's off to the best start.
She's immediately been thrust into a rivalry with Lacey Evans, who has potential but is clearly not ready for championship contention yet. Every indication is that Evans is one of Vince's pet projects and it will be up to Becky to try and get her over. Compared to the women she could have faced (Bayley, Sasha Banks, Asuka, Ember Moon, Kairi Sane, etc.), it's simply an underwhelming choice and will drag her reign down for at least the next month.
We saw hints of those better match possibilities on SmackDown this week, but there isn't much indication that they will happen on a big stage.
#8 WALTER
Ranking WALTER this low is hard, especially after his match of the year candidate with Pete Dunne this month, where he finally ended the 685 day reign of the Bruiserweight. It's just that the competition gets a lot tougher from here, and he's as much a victim of timing as anything else.
A rematch with Pete Dunne is coming, but WALTER will almost certainly retain during the second confrontation. After that, what competition does he have? The UK division will need to build some people up. Nobody really feels credible right now. That might make for some relatively underwhelming rivalries for WALTER as he gets started with his title reign.
There's no doubt that WALTER, should he reign long, will probably get a much higher spot on the next list. Right now though, there are many question marks that surround him and his newly won title.
#7 Zack Gibson and James Drake
No matter where Zack Gibson and James Drake turn, they have good opponents waiting for them, whether it's a renewal of their rivalry with Moustache Mountain, a clash with Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch, an eventual showdown with Gallus, or more. The only thing that's really working against them right now is their placement on the UK brand, which is one of WWE's most obscure, which means more people won't be able to watch them.
As for who eventually takes the titles from them, it's still anybody's guess, but as we mentioned, there are no truly bad options right now, which is more than can be said about most other champions and their potential title challengers.
For however long they reign, they should be in line to have good feuds and matches without anything dragging them down.
#6 Velveteen Dream
Again, it's hard ranking Dream this low. His North American Championship reign has already gotten off to a great start, with successful title defenses against Matt Riddle and Buddy Murphy. Dream has stepped up to the plate every time NXT has given him the chance. He might well have the best North American Championship reign seen so far.
Now it looks like Velveteen Dream will enter into a rivalry with Dominik Dijakovic. Dijakovic is a good big man, and Velveteen Dream should play off his ruthless persona nicely. Nevertheless, the coming rivalry doesn't seem like it will quite be up to par with what seems to be coming for the other champions ahead of him, even though Dream is already better as a performer than a lot of them. Dream vs. Dijakovic can only be downhill from Dream vs. Riddle or Dream vs. Buddy Murphy.
#5 Kofi Kingston
This might seem a bit low for the beloved new WWE Champion, but I can't shake the feeling that his title reign won't last long, so we just need to enjoy it while we can. It's almost a certainty that Kevin Owens will turn on him and Xavier Woods. There's a very realistic chance that Kofi Kingston will drop it to the Prizefighter as soon as next month, cutting his reign short.
The match should be good at the very least, but Owens' issues in the main event have been well publicized in the past, with his underwhelming Universal Championship reign and his neverending feud with Shane McMahon in the leadup to WrestleMania 34. Somehow, I don't think this one will be much better.
Either way, let's just enjoy the high that we're currently on with Kofi and his title reign.
#4 Finn Balor
A jump to SmackDown Live was long overdue for Finn Balor and he's taken the Intercontinental Championship with him. His reign there is already off to a great start, as he just had a welcoming match with Ali that was a tantalizing preview for the possibilities to come.
A Balor vs. Ali rivalry would certainly be a welcome one, but there's an even greater possibility beyond it. Later in the night, former Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy announced that he, too, would be joining the SmackDown roster shortly. How's that for an Intercontinental Championship match on pay per view?
Either way, Finn Balor seems poised to reinvigorate the title, being a champion closer to The Miz and Seth Rollins than Dean Ambrose and Bobby Lashley. SmackDown's midcard seems a bit thin compared to Raw's, but if there's anyone that can carry it, it's Balor.
#3 Samoa Joe
This is how the man makes the title. The fortunes of the United States Championship have improved markedly over the past month or so since Samoa Joe won it. That shouldn't be a surprise. No matter what, Joe carries a certain aura that can't be taught or even destroyed despite his previous losses.
Now Joe will take that title to Raw, where a rivalry with Braun Strowman awaits him. If you remember that summer of 2017, where Braun Strowman and Samoa Joe were two of the four components in the war that led to that titanic fatal four way at SummerSlam, you should be excited.
Beyond Strowman, there are potential matches with the likes of Cedric Alexander, Aleister Black, Ricochet, and more. Joe will have a lot of good stuff waiting for him on Raw. It's exactly what the US title needs.
#2 Seth Rollins
Hallelujah, the Universal Championship is back on TV! Now that the Brock Lesnar nonsense is behind him and Roman Reigns is on the blue brand, Seth Rollins is free and clear to have his Universal Championship run without interference.
That isn't to say sailing will be entirely smooth. He'll probably have to get through the trio of Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, and Baron Corbin, which will threaten to hold his reign (and the show) down. Nevertheless, there's a glorious rainbow awaiting when those clouds pass.
AJ Styles came to Raw in the superstar shakeup. AJ Styles vs. Seth Rollins is, astoundingly, a match we've yet to see on television. Put your money on that match being the SummerSlam main event.
It should be a great one, too. It's just what the Universal Championship needs after the dark age it's been in for the past two years.
#1 Johnny Gargano
After a grueling two out of three falls match against Adam Cole, Johnny Gargano finally had his moment and emerged as NXT Champion. Yet, he won't have long to revel in his accomplishment. Adam Cole already wants revenge and the Undisputed Era will be there with him along the way.
The injury to Tommaso Ciampa was a tragedy, but Johnny Gargano has seamlessly transitioned from one heated rivalry to another. It's well within bounds that Johnny Gargano is in the feud of the year for the second time in a row, this time against Adam Cole and his "boy band," as the champion called them last night.
There will be twists and turns along the way, and we need to see what other stipulations will be involved, but excellent things are bound to happen. It will all ensure that NXT remains WWE's best produced show.
