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.
Videos by PopCulture.com
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
Oh, we can hear the trumpets blaring.ย
Even thoughย John Cenaย will be absent from WWE until December, it’s not hard to imagine his music interrupting a Jinderย Mahalย promo.ย
There are a few things to consider when it comes to John Cenaย vs. Jinderย Mahal
– It won’t happen for 2 months, which means WWEย would have to either find a random filler (like Mickieย James vs. Alexaย Bliss) or put Mahalย on ice.ย
– John Cenaย MUST win. It’s one thing to lose to Roman Reigns for the sake of WWE, and it’s another to lose to Jinderย Mahal.
– Since we’ve established Cenaย MUST win, that means it would be his record-smashingย 17th WWEย Championship. Does that epochal momentย really fit a random pay-per-view in December?
– If John Cenaย doesn’t win (which he MUST, remember) then that means the Singhย Brothers would be heavily involved, costing Cenaย multiple matches and prolonging this feudย through WrestleMania.ย
With all of thisย in mind, is Johnย Cena the NEXT challenger for Jinderย Mahal? Probably not.
Probability 1/5
AJ Styles
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.ย
Styles did a wonderful job as the mid-cardย title holder, but it’s time for him to assume his role back atop WWE. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean The Phenomenalย One will be inserted in the WWEย Championship picture. With Survivorย Series approaching, Styles could easily find himself in the mix of a traditionalย Survivor Seriesย match.ย
SmackDown has about 6 weeks until Survivor Seriesย giving them ample time to get their wrestlers in a row. At this very moment, they may not know exactlyย the direction they’reย headed and are considering all options. That said. AJ Styles fightingย for the WWEย Championship is never a bad idea.ย
Probability 3/5ย
Shinsuke Nakamura
As much fun as Shinsukeย 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 opportunityย at Mahal’sย WWEย Championship.
Oddly, WWEย chose to make Mahalย look stronger at Hell in a Cell than at SummerSlamย as he actuallyย beat Nakamuraย (mostly) on his own. This type of result does not bode well for Nakamura’sย future.ย
However, just because he’s 0-2 doesn’t mean Shinsuke is done chasing Mahal. Clearly, Vince McMahon and Co. are fine with theย WWEย Championshipย being a second or even 3rd priorityย on SmackDown, soย mailing in another Nakamuraย vs. Mahal match at Survivorย Seriesย wouldn’tย be out of the question.ย
If Randy Orton can lose 3 straightย pay-per-view matches to Jinder Mahal, thenย WWE won’t flinch at condemningย Shinsuke Nakamura to the same fate.ย
Probabilityย 3.5/5
