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On last week's SmackDown Live, Edge made his dramatic return to WWE after being away since WrestleMania, when he would ambush Roman Reigns and leave the WWE Universal Champion down on the mat to end the show.
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It was then confirmed that Edge would be taking on Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal title at the upcoming Money In The Bank pay-per-view, but there are some, myself included, who feel the Rated-R Superstar doesn't deserve a title opportunity.
That's because Roman Reigns has already emphatically defeated Edge this year at The Grandest Stage Of Them All, WrestleMania. Sure, it was a Triple Threat match with Daniel Bryan as well, but WWE literally went out of their way to give Reigns a decisive victory over both of them by having him stack Bryan and Edge on top of each other for the pin.
So given that Roman Reigns has already defeated Edge quite easily, shouldn't he, along with Daniel Bryan, go to the back of the line? I'd argue that he should and so, with that in mind, let's look at five SmackDown Superstars who are more deserving of being next in line for a title shot than Edge.
#5. WWE SmackDown Superstar Commander Azeez
Apollo Crew's bodyguard may be limiting himself by being an enforcer for the current Intercontinental Champion, but from what we've seen so far on SmackDown, Commander Azeez could easily carry a championship if he wanted to.
He's also undefeated on SmackDown, albeit after competing in only one match, which was a tag-team match with Apollo Crews where the duo took on Kevin Owens and Big E. Azeez looked dominant though and made short work of two impressive wrestlers in Big E and Owens.
Edge's win-rate may be 75% this year, including an impressive 30-man Royal Rumble win. But if you put Edge in the ring with Azeez, I'm confident the massive Commander would make short work of him, and as for Roman Reigns, I doubt he'd be able to topple the dominant Azeez either.
#4. WWE SmackDown Superstar Big E
Whilst Roman Reigns currently holds the best win/loss record on WWE SmackDown Live for 2021, at 100%, the next best is Edge at 75% (including his impressive thirty-man Royal Rumble win). However, Edge has only wrestled in four matches this year, so who has the best win/loss record out of the active competitors?
Well, it's Big E of course. Big E has been doing extremely well going it alone on SmackDown Live without the rest of The New Day to back him up. He was a recent Intercontinental Champion, only losing the title due to outside interference at WrestleMania 37.
But he's wrestled in 19 matches, which is significantly more than Edge's four, and he has an impressive win rate of 65.79%. That, combined with the fact that he's really SmackDown's top babyface, should really mean he's next in line for the Universal Title.
#3. WWE SmackDown Superstar Dominik Mysterio
Yes, SmackDown's Dominik Mysterio deserves a title opportunity against Roman Reigns way before Edge does in WWE. It could be argued that a match between The Head Of The Table and the son of legendary luchador Rey Mysterio makes the most sense.
Roman Reigns was scheduled to face Rey Mysterio at Hell in a Cell after The Tribal Chief decimated the Mysterios to stop them from beating The Usos in a SmackDown tag team title match.
Mysterio challenged Reigns to a match in the hellish structure, which Reigns accepted. Instead of taking place at Hell in a Cell, it took place on Friday Night SmackDown and Rey Mysterio was soundly beaten by Roman Reigns inside the cage.
Surely, then, it makes the most sense for Dominik Mysterio to ill-advisedly attempt to avenge what happened to his father inside the cell and challenge Reigns for the title next.
For those who might think that Dominik Mysterio isn't good enough to face Reigns, he's also the next person behind Big E in terms of best win/loss record on SmackDown Live, winning 60% of the 20 matches he's been involved in.
#2. WWE SmackDown Superstar Shinsuke Nakamura
It's a travesty that SmackDown Superstar Shinsuke Nakamura, a multi-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, hasn't won a world title during his time with WWE and that alone should be reason enough for him to be ahead of Edge in the line.
However, Nakamura is arguably better than he's ever been now that he has found himself a partner in Rick Boogs and has overcome King Corbin to win the King of the Ring crown and crown himself King Nakamura.
While Nakamura was doing all of that and triumphing over Corbin, what was Edge doing? Sitting at home and doing nothing, that's what! It's not fair that someone like Edge could be missing for months on end and then return and take opportunities away from Superstars that are on a roll like Nakamura.
Besides, who wouldn't want to see a feud between The Tribal Chief Roman Reigns and the newly coronated King Nakamura?
#1. WWE SmackDown Superstar Otis
Otis has been unstoppable on WWE SmackDown since his recent change of attitude and since he started working under the tutelage of Chad Gable, with the big man absolutely annihilating the Street Profits.
In fact, Otis' current work is definitely reminding me of Mark Henry's Hall of Pain run, where Henry simply didn't think twice about hurting people and deliberately went out of his way to shorten or even end their careers.
When you then think about the fact that SmackDown star Otis probably had a chip on his shoulder because he won the 2020 Money in the Bank Ladder Match. Since he lost the briefcase to The Miz after his ally Tucker turned on him, it makes the prospect of him going for the world title he should've had an opportunity for all the more interesting.
I know you can't really have a heel vs heel world title match but Edge was a heel heading into WrestleMania and he still seems like a heel now, so there's no reason not to have done Otis instead. Especially as Otis with Chad Gable vs. Roman Reigns with Jimmy Uso is a damn sight more interesting.
