Three reasons Andrade should be the next Intercontinental Champion

This past Monday night on Raw, former NXT Champion, Andrade made his in-ring debut on the show after moving from SmackDown as part of the Superstar Shake-Up.

In what was quite the impactful debut, Andrade went one-on-one with the reigning Intercontinental Champion, Finn Balor. The match was the best match on the show. To make things even more impressive, Andrade picked up the non-tiitle victory over his opponent, teasing future matches between the two men for the gold later down the line.

While Balor may have only just recaptured his title, taking it away from him and putting it on Andrade in the near future would probably prove to be best for business.

The two men are likely to meet again in the ring, and once again, Andrade should walk away with the victory, with the Intercontinental Championship around his waist. Let's take a look at three reasons why that should be the case.

#3 He deserves it

Andrade has paid his dues over the last 12 months

Andrade is one of the hottest young talents in the WWE right now, and there is very little doubt in anybody's mind that he could work absolute wonders with the Intercontinental Championship in his possession.

His debut match on Raw against Finn Balor was an excellent example of exactly what he is capable of in the ring, and he has proven time and time again that he can put on excellent encounters with anyone on the roster.

Outside of his exceptional in-ring talent, the former NXT star also has buckets of charisma to spare and could really help extract the best out of some of his opponents on Monday nights as well.

It has been almost a year since Andrade made his debut on the main roster, and he has more than paid his dues - in terms of putting people over and making others look good since then.

He has firmly established himself as one of the most consistent performers on the main roster, and surely it is only a matter of time before the higher-ups in the company recognize that.

#2 Freshen up the upper mid-card

Raw's mid-card scene has struggled for some time now

Raw has come under a lot of criticism from WWE fans in recent years, and while some of the criticism may be a little unjust, the comments targeted at Raw's upper mid-card scene are often quite justifiable.

Raw's formula for the last year has been to just throw together a tag-match featuring any six of Elias, Drew McIntyre, Dolph Ziggler, Baron Corbin, Finn Balor, Bobby Lashley, Jinder Mahal, Lio Rush, Dean Ambrose and Braun Strowman.

As a result, all of these superstars have become increasingly irrelevant in the eyes of the WWE Universe, and it has become increasingly difficult to care about their trajectories or character development.

The inclusion of Andrade and Rey Mysterio to the mix could really help freshen things up on the brand and provide some stars with some much-needed direction.

Andrade also has the benefit of Zelina Vega, who has proven herself on multiple occasions as an excellent heat magnet for the former NXT Champion.

#1 Grooming Andrade as a future World Champion

In more recent times, the route to a World Championship has become less and less defined, with superstars often being instantly elevated to main event status based off their reputation outside of the main roster.

The more traditional format would be for a superstar to earn their stripes with a mid-card title first, before getting consideration for the main championships later on. While some fans may see this as a step backwards for stars who were established in NXT, it is still a proven formula that helps superstars build credibility with the wider WWE Universe.

A lengthy run with the Intercontinental Championship would help establish Andrade as one of the best performers in the company, and once he has made the most of that opportunity, he would then be free to move on to the main-event level on Raw, which ultimately, is exactly where he belongs.