Predicting The Next 5 WWE Champions
Anyone but Jinder.
2017 has been a terrible year for the WWE Championship.
Starting off in AJ Styles' hands, he soon lost the belt to facilitate John Cena's 16th World Title win, before Bray Wyatt scored an unlikely victory inside the Elimination Chamber. Things went off a cliff thereafter, with a dreadful rivalry between 'The Eater Of Worlds' and Randy Orton providing some of 2017's worst programming, before Jinder Mahal entered the scene, dealing further damage through turgid feuds with 'The Viper' and Shinsuke Nakamura.
It's supposed to the company's top prize, but the WWE Title has been treated like dirt in 2017, and its prestige is in pieces. It'll require a long series of reigns from universally popular stars to recover, but fortunately, WWE have all the tools needed to make this happen.
Predicting the belt's immediate future is relatively straightforward, but the company could send it in a number of different directions afterwards. Whatever happens, restoring its value must take precedence over everything else.
Step one is removing it from 'The Maharaja's' clutches. Could this happen as soon as Hell In A Cell (October 8th), and if so, where will WWE head from there? Let's take a stab at it.
5. Shinsuke Nakamura (Hell In A Cell 2017)
Shinsuke Nakamura will challenge for Jinder Mahal's WWE Championship at Hell In A Cell, and while much has been made of the company's decision to not hold their showdown inside the titular structure, it shouldn't make a big difference. The Singhs would find a way to get involved regardless, as HIAC hasn't been effective in preventing interferences for years, and the lack of stipulation shouldn't have any bearing on the outcome.
There's a chance 'The Maharaja' could screw 'The King Of Strong Style' out of another victory, but it's time for the Jinder experiment to come to an end. He's not getting over, Indian's Network subscription rate has declined throughout his reign, and his comeuppance is long overdue after recent forays into xenophobia. Mahal should lose cleanly at Hell In A Cell, and there's a great chance it'll happen.
Fans have been crying out for a WWE Champion they can believe in for much of 2017, and they'd get that in Nakamura. His coronation would finally allow SmackDown's main event scene to escape the mire it has been stuck in since Randy Orton turned on Bray Wyatt prior to WrestleMania, so here's hoping it happens.