WWE Bold Predictions: Are There Already Cracks In The Shield?
By Bryan Heaton
Who’s Next In Line For SmackDown’s Championships?
Heading into this week, none of SmackDown’s singles champions have an official challenger. First, Natalya defeated Charlotte Flair at Hell in a Cell, and no new number one contender has been named (although Carmella has her Money in the Bank contract).
Baron Corbin won the United States Championship at HIAC, and has already successfully defended it against former champ AJ Styles. This would seemingly take Styles out of the picture. And Jinder Mahal defeated Shinsuke Nakamura again at HIAC, leaving him without a new challenger as well.
So where does this leave the championship pictures? With plenty of time before Survivor Series to sort things out, SmackDown Live can afford to take things slow if necessary. Figure on Charlotte again getting a shot at Natalya somehow – perhaps defeating her BFF Becky Lynch. Becky did defeat Carmella last week, after all – it’s the most logical way to set a number one contender.
As for the US Title, Tye Dillinger should still be in the mix. He was part of the triple threat match at HIAC won by Corbin. Even though he was the one to get pinned, Dillinger should get a one on one chance to face The Lone Wolf. Superstars like Rusev and Nakamura could also fall into the title picture.
The WWE Championship is a bit trickier. After all, rumors of Jinder Mahal’s opponent at Survivor Series have broken, and, well, they’re not pleasant ones. But with Styles seemingly done with the US Title, he could easily slide into the world title picture.
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There’s always free agent John Cena, poised to break Ric Flair’s record of world title victories. Randy Orton is always lurking somewhere. And don’t forget the reunited best friends Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens.