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| Foreshadowing? I think so. Photo Credit: WWE.com |
1. Daniel Bryan
Okay, Bryan as the most likely next WWE Champion is a no-brainer, if only because the cards are falling in just the right spot for him to seize the top title at SummerSlam. He's stupid over with the live crowds, can wrestle anyone on the roster entertainingly, and he is weirdly at home in the WWE's crazy multimedia world that includes reality shows, fanservice, and granting wishes. I don't think Bryan's time as Champion is an "if" anymore. If he doesn't win at SummerSlam, he will win before Survivor Series, if not at the main fall PPV.
2. Dolph Ziggler
Realistically, Ziggler seems a far way off from the title. He's freshly removed from turning good and losing the new de facto #2 title (the Big Gold Belt), and now he's tasked with wrestling against one of the NXT blue-chippers in a spot where he has to elevate Big E Langston without damaging too much of his own momentum going forward. However, a lot can change in WWE over the course of five months, and the Royal Rumble has been a great reboot spot over the last few years (Edge in '10, Alberto del Rio in '11, Sheamus in '12). Like Bryan, he's megapopular, can wrestle, and does the media thing with the greatest of ease. If Bryan is their new Bret Hart, Ziggler is the new Shawn Michaels.
3. Big E Langston
Even though he's been on the roster for eight months, I don't think WWE audiences really know Langston as well as NXT aficionados do. I'm still curious to see what he can do when fully unleashed (since I've barely gotten a chance to watch much NXT myself),. Whether through his Twitter or in the brief spots where he's been able to wrestle on the main roster, I've gotten plenty high on Big E. Besides, all Langston really needs is to get the Kane/Diesel Royal Rumble HOSS spot, and he'll be on the level of Mark Henry, John Cena, and the like.
4. Bray Wyatt
I've written before that Wyatt doesn't necessarily need a title to be a force of nature, but then again, my visions aren't always in line with WWE Creative's, right? They seem to have huge plans for him, and they haven't been too shy at pulling the trigger on someone they liked early on in their careers before. Remember Sheamus?
5. Ryback
Has Ryback's ship sailed? A wrestler can only get so many shots at the title and lose before he gets that funk around him, almost like if he were to win the title now, the moment would feel anticlimactic. However, I don't think any wrestler is beyond rehabilitation. I think he's a damn good hand who gets his role and knows how to incorporate wrinkles that differentiate him from Generic McMahon Monster #9389. I know his match with Chris Jericho at Money in the Bank wasn't well-received, but I thought he provided a look into his in-ring mind. He was called to wrestle a different kind of match, and I thought he was successful. I don't think they'll give up on him, nor should they, and I think the best shot for his number to get called would be after Mania next year if the WWE Champion retains in New Orleans.
6. Mark Henry
He said it himself to Cena after his faux-retirement; Mark Henry has a lot left in the tank. Three years can be an eternity in WWE, and Henry has proven that he's gotten better with age. I don't care if he'll be 49 when his contract is up. At any point in the next three years, I would not only buy him as WWE Champion, I would be angry if he didn't get a "gold watch" reign to close out his career. I feel like his one-month program with Cena into Money in the Bank was a trial run, as if his monster run on Smackdown in 2011 wasn't enough.