10 Current WWE Superstars Who Should Be World Champion In The Next Year

It's lonely at the top. That saying is especially true in the world of wrestling, where it feels as though at least one of John Cena, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar, and Roman Reigns has held one world championship or another for the past seven years. With the recent opportunities afforded to the likes of Kofi Kingston, Jey Uso, and Drew McIntyre, the door may just be opening for some fresh blood to enter the main event scene.

In both the men's and women's ranks, events like the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania are becoming more predictable with each passing year. Rumble matches are at their best when they are stacked with top-level talent who could feasibly have their hand raised at the end of the night. Boosting the profiles of the Superstars would go a long way to creating some exciting competition and brand new rivalries at the top of the card.

All of the names featured have earned the right to be talked about as future world champions. Only one is a former world champion (in WWE), but every person here has a wealth of quality matches, memorable moments, and title-holding experience.

First up, a woman who hasn't made her way to the main roster yet. After losing her NXT Women's Championship it seemed like a brand transfer was calling for the Australian, yet she has remained on the black and gold brand until this point. As Raw and SmackDown are both struggling for high-caliber women's wrestling right now, bringing in Ripley as soon as possible would be a wise move.

Call her up to SmackDown, build her up through the ranks with some dominant, classy victories and a couple of solid feuds. Put Ripley in against Natalya, then whichever one of Bayley and Sasha Banks isn't the champ at the time. Once there is nobody left on the undercard, she completes her ascent and takes out the champion.

Ripley has literally all the tools to be on top of the mountain, and showed in her WrestleMania 36 match with Charlotte that she can thrive with the best in the company on the biggest stage. A 'Mania crowd would have busted the roof off any venue for that match. On the mic and in the ring, Ripley has the main event in her veins.