Who Will be Jinder Mahal's Next Opponent for the WWE Championship?

Jack Snodgrass

11/08/2017 03:12 pm EST

Yet another WWE pay-per-view has passed and Jinder Mahal is still WWE Champion. Since May, the Modern Day Maharajah has been booked like Ric Flair circa 1986 as he's toppled every competitor WWE placed in front of him.

While Mahal's tactics are surely questionable, the sheer length of his reign is indisputable. At 140 days, the Mahal regime has been at WWE's top longer than Undertaker, Kurt Angle, Eddie Guerrero and The Rock ever were as WWE Champion.

As the back of Mahal's baseball card continues to compile impressive statistics, it's his next defense that we're preoccupied with.

Even though Mahal may not be an all-time great, he still holds an important spot on WWE's card. That said, who's next to challenge the Modern Day Maharajah for the WWE Championship?

Well, we found 3 WWE Superstars who WWE may be considering.

John Cena

(Photo: WWE)

Oh, we can hear the trumpets blaring.

Even though John Cena will be absent from WWE until December, it's not hard to imagine his music interrupting a Jinder Mahal promo.

There are a few things to consider when it comes to John Cena vs. Jinder Mahal

- It won't happen for 2 months, which means WWE would have to either find a random filler (like Mickie James vs. Alexa Bliss) or put Mahal on ice.

- John Cena MUST win. It's one thing to lose to Roman Reigns for the sake of WWE, and it's another to lose to Jinder Mahal.

- Since we've established Cena MUST win, that means it would be his record-smashing 17th WWE Championship. Does that epochal moment really fit a random pay-per-view in December?

- If John Cena doesn't win (which he MUST, remember) then that means the Singh Brothers would be heavily involved, costing Cena multiple matches and prolonging this feud through WrestleMania.

With all of this in mind, is John Cena the NEXT challenger for Jinder Mahal? Probably not.

Probability 1/5

AJ Styles

(Photo: WWE)

All of a sudden, AJ Styles doesn't have a championship. While he'll get his rematch with Baron Corbin, don't expect him to regain his coveted US Championship.

Styles did a wonderful job as the mid-card title holder, but it's time for him to assume his role back atop WWE. However, that doesn't necessarily mean The Phenomenal One will be inserted in the WWE Championship picture. With Survivor Series approaching, Styles could easily find himself in the mix of a traditional Survivor Series match.

SmackDown has about 6 weeks until Survivor Series giving them ample time to get their wrestlers in a row. At this very moment, they may not know exactly the direction they're headed and are considering all options. That said. AJ Styles fighting for the WWE Championship is never a bad idea.

Probability 3/5

Shinsuke Nakamura

(Photo: WWE)

As much fun as Shinsuke Nakamura was supposed to be in WWE, the King of Strong Style is hemorrhaging relevance. Whose at fault is worth at least 1,000 pages of fingerpointing, but no one has the time for that, so instead let's prognosticate his chances of getting a 3rd opportunity at Mahal's WWE Championship.

Oddly, WWE chose to make Mahal look stronger at Hell in a Cell than at SummerSlam as he actually beat Nakamura (mostly) on his own. This type of result does not bode well for Nakamura's future.

However, just because he's 0-2 doesn't mean Shinsuke is done chasing Mahal. Clearly, Vince McMahon and Co. are fine with the WWE Championship being a second or even 3rd priority on SmackDown, so mailing in another Nakamura vs. Mahal match at Survivor Series wouldn't be out of the question.

If Randy Orton can lose 3 straight pay-per-view matches to Jinder Mahal, then WWE won't flinch at condemning Shinsuke Nakamura to the same fate.

Probability 3.5/5

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