Regardless of the popularity of other promotions like Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling, at the end of the day, the WWE is the “big leagues” – the NFL of professional wrestling. A lot independent wrestlers don’t like to admit it for one reason or another, whether it be out of loyalty to their current promotion or out of a belief that they can “make it” without the WWE.
Some wrestlers have been able to find great success outside of the WWE. Wrestlers who were never able to attain the top prize under Vince McMahon have become multiple time champions in other promotions. However, if a wrestlers wants to be seen in the most households and by the most casual fans and wants to be the next big thing, the only way to do that is through the WWE.
On top of that, almost every wrestler makes it to the WWE at some point. One of the most important stats from the past decade is the fact that AJ Styles – one of the biggest names that had never wrestled for the WWE, is currently the WWE Champion, and has been for over a year. While on the topic of championship reigns, Brock Lesnar is currently in his second reign as Universal Champion, and, if this reign is anything like his first, he will be champion for quite a long time. Down in NXT, Tommaso Ciampa has been NXT Champion for over 100 days.
All championship reigns must end one day, and this is an attempt to predict the next 10 WWE, 10 Universal and 5 NXT Champions, in order.
25 WWE Champion: The Miz
It was very surprising when Daniel Bryan defeated AJ Styles to win the WWE Championship, turning heel in the process. Bryan being a heel has brought a fresh take on his character and the opportunity for the WWE to explore a new chapter in the ongoing Miz/Bryan feud. With no long-term opponent for The Miz in sight, we could see Miz emerge as a challenger for Bryan, this time in a face role. This Miz/Bryan rivalry doesn't feel like it's over yet, and this would be a fresh take on the feud.
24 Universal Champion: Braun Strowman
As stated above, Brock Lesnar is the current Universal Champion, a reign that many people did not see coming. Almost every fan saw the match between Brock and Braun as merely a formality and assumed that Braun would be crowned as champion. Whether it was done for swerve value or for financial reasons, Brock Lesnar was given the title. However, his current contract reportedly only has 2 matches: Survivor Series and one other. Presumably, that one other match will be the one where Brock drops the Universal Championship, and it will likely be to Braun Strowman.
23 WWE Champion: Daniel Bryan
This feels like a rivalry that could go on and on. While The Miz undoubtedly deserves to be a WWE Champion once again (he's way more over now than he was back in 2011), it's unlikely he'll be viewed as a long-term champion. With AJ Styles having just held the WWE title for a year, we could see the next few title reigns end a lot quicker. A prolonged Bryan/Miz feud would likely result in the two exchanging some victories. However, Bryan won't hold the title for long either.
22 Universal Champion: Drew McIntyre
Once Braun Strowman wins the Universal Championship, he will only be able to lose it to another large and strong man. The seeds for a Braun Strowman and Drew McIntyre feud have already been planted, with Drew McIntyre attacking Braun Strowman and dissolving the trio of Strowman, McIntyre, and Ziggler. McIntyre and Ziggler are surely going to dissolve quickly as well, now that they no longer tag team champions. Once he demolishes Ziggler in a one on one feud that portrays him to be the dominant heel, McInytre will defeat Braun Strowman for the Universal Championship.
21 NXT Champion: Velveteen Dream
Velveteen Dream is one of the most over superstars in NXT, a feat that is even more surprising considering he is a home-grown talent, coming in after an appearance on Tough Enough. This article is being written before NXT TakeOver: War Games, so it is entirely possible that the Velveteen Dream is already NXT Champion after defeating the current champion. However, if he is not, it won’t be long before the Velveteen Dream gets his rematch and he will be the one to take the NXT Championship away from Tommaso Ciampa.
20 WWE Champion: Shinsuke Nakamura
It is undeniable that the WWE flubbed the Shinsuke Nakamura’s debut. He lost twice to Jinder Mahal in WWE Championship matches, and he lost to AJ Styles more than twice that amount. However, in a world where Daniel Bryan is WWE Champion instead of AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura will capture the championship from a much more vulnerable champion. A Nakamura face turn may well happen before his contract expires at some point in 2019 and the WWE may want to convince him to re-sign by offering him a world title reign.
Additionally, it is well-known that a match between Daniel Bryan and Shinsuke Nakamura is a prime factor that is keeping both men in the WWE, and what better conditions for that match than for the WWE Championship?
19 Universal Champion: Dean Ambrose
Now that Dean Ambrose has become a heel, his entire character has become reborn. When Dean Ambrose returned for a feud between Braun, Drew McIntyre, and Dolph Ziggler as part of The Shield, it was clear that Dean’s new look was a signifier that he would soon turn heel on his brothers. Drew McIntyre was part of the group that played mind games with Dean Ambrose and it is likely that an unhinged Dean Ambrose will take the Universal Championship from a newly-face Drew McIntyre.
18 WWE Champion: Rey Mysterio
Fans were clamoring for Rey Mysterio to return for years in the hopes that he would breathe new life into the cruiserweight division, with many fans even fantasy booking a feud between Mysterio and Neville. However, now that it is clear that the WWE are keeping him on SmackDown Live, he is surely going to get one more championship run. Before Mysterio came back to the WWE, it was widely known that he did not want to go full-time. Now that he has agreed, the WWE Championship is a perfect reward, and a Mysterio/Nakamura match is mouthwatering.
17 Universal Champion: Seth Rollins
Now that Dean Ambrose has become Universal Champion in our timeline, it's time for his feud with Seth Rollins to reignite. Seth Rollins is still a hugely over babyface and Dean Ambrose is still a despicable heel. These two have years of history between them, dating all the way back to when Seth Rollins first turned on The Shield. There is plenty of history for the WWE to pull from, and renewing the feud between Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins and making it for the Universal Championship makes this feud even better.
16 NXT Champion: EC3
When EC3 first wrestled for the WWE as Derrick Bateman, he was not nearly as successful as he is now, nor was he as talented. He had a feud with Velveteen Dream earlier, but EC3 is so starkly different from the Velveteen Dream that it makes the most sense for EC3 to be the superstar who takes the NXT Championship from the Dream. In fact, regardless of whether he takes the belt from the Dream or not, EC3 seems destined for NXT success.
15 WWE Champion: Lars Sullivan
Even though he lost his NXT Championship feud against Aleister Black, Lars Sullivan is still treated like a big deal on NXT television. No one in the WWE does a David vs. Goliath story better than Rey Mysterio, and, with Mysterio being a veteran of the wrestling world, he knows how to properly put over a new star. While Sullivan will likely not be a new star by this point, he still defeat Rey Mysterio in his championship match against Rey Mysterio, becoming the next WWE Champion.
14 Universal Champion: Adam Cole
By this point, it only makes sense for the Undisputed Era to have been called up to the main roster. Many fans are predicting that the Undisputed Era’s leader, Adam Cole, will be the wrestler that breaks the NXT call-up curse. Some even see Adam Cole as the second coming of Shawn Michaels. As Seth Rollins plays the perfect underdog when it comes to being outnumbered, so a 4 on 1 feud between Seth Rollins and the Undisputed Era for the Universal Championship seems the perfect way to pass the torch on to the hottest NXT call-up.
13 WWE Champion: John Cena
For many years, it seemed inevitable that John Cena was going to break Ric Flair’s “record” of 16 championship reigns. Cena himself is now sitting at 16 championships himself, but his part-time status did call into question the possibility of a 17th championship reign. However, with the lucrative business deals that the WWE have recently made, it seems even more likely that Cena will return for one more title win, and defeated Lars Sullivan might not be ideal, but billing Cena as the only one capable of stopping the monster seems equally likely.
12 Universal Champion: Finn Balor
Finn Balor versus Adam Cole is such an appealing-sounding feud. While Cole has the Undisputed Era guys by his side, Balor has the rest of Balor Club in Gallows and Anderson. On top of that, this feud is even more appealing considering the fact that both Gallows, Anderson, Balor, and Cole all are former members of the Bullet Club in NJPW. Due to the history between Balor and Cole and the fact that the numbers game would be relatively even, a Balor Club/Undisputed Era feud is enticing to say the least.
11 NXT Champion: Aleister Black
After returning recently, Aleister Black is one of the hottest talents in NXT. Since many wrestlers need time to run the ropes before they return full time from injury, it is definitely within the realm of possibility that the WWE decide to keep Black in NXT for another year. Making Black the third 2-time NXT Champion could be a way to keep Black appeased in NXT, and an Aleister Black/EC3 feud is a feud that, even with the relatively limited NXT roster, the audience hasn’t seen yet.
10 WWE Champion: Kenny Omega
If John Cena is going to have is 17th reign as WWE Champion, there is only one man that should take the championship away from him: The Cleaner, Kenny Omega. Many fans and journalists alike believe that 2019 will be the year that Kenny Omega comes to the WWE, and, if he does, he will more than likely skip developmental altogether just as AJ Styles did and come straight to the main roster. Given how good John Cena and AJ Styles was, John Cena and Kenny Omega is guaranteed to be even better.
9 Universal Champion: Bobby Lashley
Bobby Lashley’s new heel persona has finally unleashed the character that the fans all knew Lashley could be. After some significant heel runs outside of the WWE, we all hoped that a run in the WWE was imminent upon his return. While it may have taken him a while to get here, Lashley is finally now a great heel, with Lio Rush as a perfect annoying sidekick. Renewing the Lashley/Finn feud over the Universal Champion would finally give Lashley a title run that he deserves: a dominant heel championship reign.
8 WWE Champion: Keith Lee
With Kenny Omega as WWE Champion, it is difficult to decide who should be the next WWE Champion after him. However, with a body like Big Show and agility like Ricochet, Keith Lee seems like the next bet to become WWE Champion. On top of that, it would good publicity for the WWE to have a black champion, and Kenny Omega likely respects Lee more than other wrestlers, as Lee paid his dues on the independent circuit just like Omega. Plus, everyone knows that WWE love big men, and they don’t get much bigger than Keith Lee.
7 Universal Champion: Roman Reigns
Most predictions regarding a timeframe for Roman Reigns’s return is putting it at around 2 years from now. After many significant, lengthy title runs, this now seems like enough time has passed for Reigns to return. Bobby Lashley can even go on a tear, saying that everyone is afraid of him, and Reigns returns as the one man that Lashley is afraid of, considering Lashley lost to Roman Reigns in a number one contenders match back in July of 2018. Reigns will return to dethrone Lashley, to a huge babyface response.
6 NXT Champion: Johnny Gargano
After being revealed as the attacker of Aleister Black and turning heel, Johnny Gargano seems to be on a path directly towards the NXT Championship. However, other worthy contenders are in line ahead of Gargano, since he has had multiple championship matches and lost all of them.
Once Gargano gets his match, it is only fitting that it should be against Aleister Black. In a one on one match for the NXT Championship, Gargano can fully embrace the darkness that he now lives in and defeat Black, becoming the new NXT Champion.