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It is that time of the year again! Time for us to predict who will be the next five WWE Universal Champions and when that will happen. In the previous "Predicting the next 5" we had RAW and NXT Superstars winning the Smackdown Live WWE Championship. So, who will surface to win this Raw championship?
The Universal Championship has a unique history as compared to any other championship in the WWE, with Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, Goldberg, and Brock Lesnar being the only four champions. In that short list, we have two NXT alumni along with two living legends in the WWE. One has to imagine that the next five champions would match that uniqueness.
As of right now, champion Brock Lesnar has been untouchable. Who would be the one to dethrone him? So let's dive in and predict the next five Universal Champions, starting with...
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#5 Roman Reigns, WrestleMania 34
The man that the WWE Universe seemingly wants nowhere near the Universal Championship will be, without a doubt, the next WWE Universal Champion. With the match already being set at WrestleMania 34 for Roman Reigns to face the seemingly UFC bound Brock Lesnar, the ending seems to be written in the stars.
There is a wonderful narrative that goes with this match if fans can get past the fact that this will be Roman Reigns' fourth consecutive WrestleMania main event. The two faced off in a surprisingly great match at WrestleMania 31 for the WWE Championship, only to be interrupted by Seth Rollins' well-timed Money in the Bank cash-in.
Without a threat of a cash-in, it will undoubtedly be a few Superman Punches and a couple of Spears to keep "The Beast Incarnate" down for the three count and finally move Raw into the Era of the Reigns Empire.
After this awesome victory, who would step up to topple the champion? This familiar foe will have something to do with Reigns' downfall...
#4 Braun Strowman, Raw after WrestleMania 34
The night after WrestleMania 34, Roman Reigns would come to the ring being booed out of the building, claiming that he was "the Guy" and that he was a fighting champion. He would talk about how he sent "The Beast" to the inferior UFC and that he is willing to, unlike Lesnar, put the title up for grabs any night.
This would then lead to the notorious "BRRAAAUUUNNNN" hitting the speakers and "The Monster Among Men" would make his way to the ring. He would talk about their storied past, and say that they have each had victories in their war, but that he wanted to see if Reigns was a man of his word and put the Universal Championship up for grabs that night.
Reigns would agree, and Kurt Angle would make the match for the main event of Raw that night: Roman Reigns vs Braun Strowman for the Universal Championship. Their match would be competitive, but after kicking out of two Spears, Strowman would drop Reigns with four consecutive Running Powerslams, allowing him to get the pin on Reigns, making Braun Strowman the new Universal Champion.
After going a full year with one Universal Champion, Brock Lesnar, the new Universal Champion, Roman Reigns, only will hold the championship for 24 hours. After that dominating performance from Braun Strowman, there was only one man that could win the championship from him...
#3 Roman Reigns, Backlash 2018
After winning the Universal Championship at the Raw after WrestleMania 34, Braun Strowman goes on a rampage on the Raw roster. Not only does he dominate every competitor placed in front of him, he interrupts many other matches as the nights go on. He tells General Manager Kurt Angle that he needs competition and that he won't stop destroying people until he gets some.
Angle tells Strowman that he has a match set for him at Backlash against an unnamed opponent. Strowman says that wasn't enough, and that he wants his competition in a Steel Cage Match to which the General Manager agrees. At Backlash, Strowman waits in the middle of the cage for his competition, when Roman Reigns' music hits to a sea of boos. Reigns hadn't been seen since losing the Universal Championship at the Raw after WrestleMania 34.
After a long fought battle and three Spears, Reigns pins Strowman to reclaim the Universal Championship. "The Big Dog" would hold on to the Universal Championship for some time, until...
#2 Kenny Omega, TLC 2018
After beating Braun Strowman at Backlash, Roman Reigns goes undefeated for months until TLC 2018. During those months, many different superstars rise up to challenge "The Big Dog" and they all fail. General Manager Kurt Angle decides that at TLC there will be a Six Pack Challenge TLC Match for the WWE Universal Championship.
It would be Roman Reigns vs Dean Ambrose vs Seth Rollins vs Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn vs a mystery opponent. The rumors had been running strong that the WWE had signed New Japan star Kenny Omega, but they were just rumors. After years of being rumored to show up, Kenny Omega truly was the mystery opponent in the TLC Match.
The crowd would explode for "The Cleaner" louder than they had in a long time. After a grueling fight, it would be Omega that would sneak up the ladder while Reigns was Spearing everyone outside the ring. Kenny Omega would be the Universal Champion and would hold on to the title for a short time when this man would steal the title...
#1 Kevin Owens, Clash of Champions 2018
Kenny Omega would successfully defend the Universal Championship against Roman Reigns at Survivor Series. After that, he asked for anyone who thinks they can challenge the best wrestler in the world to come out, which led to Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn to answer the call. They wanted to know who Kenny Omega thinks he is.
Owens wondered if Omega thought he was special because he beat Roman Reigns or because he beat Chris Jericho in front of Japan? Owens would then say that he beat both of them in front of bigger crowds then Omega could even imagine. Zayn would be backing up everything that Owens said. Kurt Angle would then make the match for Clash of Champions between Kevin Owens and Kenny Omega for the Universal Championship.
On that night there would be a highly contested match between the two, but after a V-Trigger Sami Zayn would distract both Omega and the ref, allowing Owens to hit a low blow followed by the debut in WWE of the Package Piledriver for the win and the Universal Championship.
After such a long reign as the WWE Universal Champion by Brock Lesnar, 2018 will be the year of many different WWE Universal Champions. Predicting the next five WWE Universal Champions is not easy. The direction of the belt could go many different ways.
These champions do not just feel like the right ones, but also the most fun and realistic direction that the company could go with the belt. Feel free to go back and check out my previous article in this series "Predicting the Next 5: WWE Champion" and there will be much more added in the future. Remember, these are just predictions but you never know...
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