5 WWE Superstars who are destined to receive title matches after WrestleMania 35

WrestleMania 35 is shaping up to be the busiest event that WWE has produced in recent memory, with 16+ matches expected on the card and as many as 10 titles possibly being defended throughout the seven-hour broadcast.

So far, the following title matches have been announced for the show: Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch (Raw Women’s Championship), Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins (Universal Championship), Bobby Lashley vs. Finn Balor (Intercontinental Championship), Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston (WWE Championship), Samoa Joe vs. Rey Mysterio (United States Championship), Buddy Murphy vs. Tony Nese (Cruiserweight Championship).

As for the tag divisions, Sasha Banks & Bayley will defend the Women’s Tag Team Championships against Nia Jax & Tamina, Beth Phoenix & Natalya and Billie Kay & Peyton Royce, but it is unclear if The Revival’s Raw Tag Team Championship or The Usos’ SmackDown Tag Team Championship will be on the line at the event.

With WrestleMania 35 set to take place on April 7, let’s take a look at five WWE Superstars who are destined to receive title matches following the show.

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#5 Asuka

The SmackDown Women’s Championship situation is unclear heading into WrestleMania 35. Will the title, won by Charlotte Flair on Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live, be on the line in the main event against Ronda Rousey and Becky Lynch? Or will Rousey’s Raw Women’s Championship be the only title up for grabs in the historic match?

Either way, regardless of WWE’s rules about Superstars no longer receiving immediate rematches, it seems certain that Asuka will challenge for one of WWE’s Women’s Championships after this year’s “Show of Shows”.

“The Empress of Tomorrow” was due to face Carmella, Naomi, Mandy Rose or Sonya Deville for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 35. Instead, she lost her title in an impromptu match against Flair, which means she is now without a featured match on April 7.

WWE fans have started a #JusticeForAsuka hashtag on social media this week, so expect the popular Japanese star to be right back in the title picture sooner rather than later.

#4 Baron Corbin

Baron Corbin has been one of the most prominent characters on WWE programming since swapping SmackDown Live for Monday Night Raw in the April 2018 Superstar Shake-Up.

Whether he is barking out completely unfair orders as an authority figure or using his villainous allies to help him beat up the brand’s top babyfaces, the 2017 Money In The Bank winner has done almost everything there is to do during a busy 12 months of storylines. There is just one thing he has not done during that time: seriously challenge for a title.

The former acting GM faced Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship in September 2018 and Seth Rollins for the Intercontinental Championship in December 2018, but both matches were hastily arranged encounters that took place on Raw, as opposed to pay-per-views, so he did not have much of a chance of winning.

After the upcoming Superstar Shake-Up on April 15-16, the next natural progression in the Corbin character arc would be for him to return to the title scene on either Raw or SmackDown Live.

#3 Kevin Owens

Some Superstars can go through their entire careers without needing to win a title. Jake “The Snake” Roberts never won a title, for example, and right now there are several established main-roster names, notably Braun Strowman and Elias, whose success is not defined by title victories.

Other Superstars, such as Kevin Owens, seem to always find themselves in and around the title picture, whether they are challenging for WWE’s top prize (WWE Championship or Universal Championship) or a secondary title on Raw or SmackDown Live (Intercontinental Championship or United States Championship).

Owens was reportedly due to face Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship in one of the featured matches at WrestleMania 35. However, due to the increase in Kofi Kingston’s popularity of late, KO’s title opportunity was brought forward to Fastlane and he is now without a match heading into this year’s “Show of Shows”.

It is worth remembering that Ali, not Owens, was pinned in the triple threat match at Fastlane, so there is every chance that the man formerly nicknamed “The Prizefighter” sticks around in the title scene a little while longer after ‘Mania.

#2 Drew McIntyre

Drew McIntyre has built up a ton of momentum since returning from injury in April 2018 and becoming a member of WWE’s main roster for the first time in four years.

The Scottish initially formed a successful tag partnership with Dolph Ziggler, and then Braun Strowman, during which time he helped contribute to the demise of The Shield before embarrassing Kurt Angle in one of the most one-sided Raw main events you are ever likely to witness.

Now going it alone as a singles competitor, with help every so often from Baron Corbin and Bobby Lashley, McIntyre will enter WrestleMania 35 as one of WWE’s top heels ahead of his match against Roman Reigns.

The former NXT champion recently pinned Reigns’ fellow Shield member, Seth Rollins, on an episode of Raw, which will surely make him first in line for a Universal Championship opportunity if Rollins wins the title from Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 35.

#1 Randy Orton

There has been a peculiar pattern to Randy Orton’s career when it comes to his WWE Championship exploits over the last seven years. From WrestleMania to WrestleMania, it seems that one year he is in the title picture for a large spell, and the next he is left out of the title reckoning altogether. The next year, he is back in the title scene, the next he is out of it… and so on.

In the year prior to WrestleMania 34, Orton was heavily involved in the WWE Championship picture, having won the title from Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania 33 before feuding with Jinder Mahal. However, in the year prior to WrestleMania 35, he has only received one title opportunity (six-man Elimination Chamber) and he was only involved in the match to make up the numbers.

If this pattern continues in the year prior to WrestleMania 36, then we can expect “The Viper” to challenge for either the WWE Championship or Universal Championship at some point after WrestleMania 35, especially as his character is defined by world title reigns (13 and counting) and he is only three victories away from John Cena and Ric Flair’s record.