Top 5 Favourites To Become The Next Universal Champion

The Universal Championship, according to WWE, is the top championship in the company. Being the top title of RAW, most often Universal Championship matches headline pay-per-views. However, as we all know, the big red belt has been around on RAW that much from the start of 2017. After Kevin Owens dropped the belt to Goldberg, the Universal championship began enjoying the "part-time" status. The belt was then transferred to Brock Lesnar, who kept it hostage for well more than a year. However, when Roman Reigns finally defeated the beast incarnate at SummerSlam 2018, we thought the dreaded reign was finally over, and we could see the belt on a weekly basis.

Unfortunately, within a few weeks after SummerSlam, Reigns had to relinquish the title due to his medical condition. Thus, at WWE Crown Jewel, Brock Lesnar collided against Braun Strowman to crown the new Universal champion. Lesnar won that match and had since not defended his championship.

With the WrestleMania season fast approaching, fans are speculating that the beast will soon drop his title soon. Even various betting sites have published their odds for the next Universal Champion.

In this list, we will take a look at five potential superstars who could dethrone Brock Lesnar and become the next Universal Champion.

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#5. Bobby Lashley

Lashley's return to WWE has been uneventful so far.

Bobby Lashley is now a generic comedy heel accompanied by his hype man "Lio Rush". However, the dominator is still a genetic freak and sometimes, that is all one needs to reach to the top of the mountain.

Last year, Lashley told multiple times that he returned to WWE to face Brock Lesnar. With both Lesnar and Lashley having MMA background and are physically intimidating, a battle between these two behemoths would be a huge draw in itself.

Skybet gave Lashley a 14/1 odds to become the next Universal Champion.

#4. The Rock

The Rock competed in a six seconds squash match against Erick Rowan at Wrestlemania 32.

The Rock has not wrestled a match more than 30 seconds since his 2013 clash against John Cena. Since he suffered an injury during that bout, the great one refused to wrestle again - at least in longer matches.

However, The Rock has been a huge favourite to return to WWE at the upcoming Royal Rumble, win it and headline Wrestlemania 35 against Brock Lesnar in a Universal Championship match. The rumours that Saudi Arabia is offering WWE tons of money to have a rematch between The Rock and Lesnar at WWE's show in the Kingdom further solidifies the possibility of The Rock's return.

Even though the fans might have different opinions on this, WWE always has been keen on a Rock vs. Brock rematch. Thus, if The Rock's Hollywood schedule allows him to compete, we could see the great one returning to the ring very soon.

#3. Drew McIntyre

Drew McIntyre could be a huge threat to Brock Lesnar's title reign.

Since his return to WWE's main roster after Wrestlemania 34, Drew McIntyre has been on a great run. He captured the RAW tag team championship with Dolph Ziggler, put forward numerous great matches throughout the year, and solidified himself as a top-tier competitor in the WWE food chain.

The next destination for the Scottish Psychopath is the Universal Championship held by Brock Lesnar. However, owing to the lack of opportunities, McIntyre has not yet crossed paths with the beast since his return.

However, according to most of the betting sites, Drew McIntyre could be well on the way to Suplex City. The Celtic Colossus has a solid 3/1 odds in favour of him to become the next Universal Champion. McIntyre could win the Royal Rumble match or even claim his opportunity in some other ways.

#2. Braun Strowman

Can Strowman finally capture the Universal championship?

Since Wrestlemania 33, Braun Strowman has received five opportunities to capture the Universal Championship. However, the monster among men fell short of victory every single time. While Brock Lesnar pinned Roman Reigns and Kane respectively at Summerslam 2017 and Royal Rumble 2018, the monster among fell flat against Lesnar at No Mercy 2017 and Crown Jewel. His bout against Roman Reigns was interfered by Brock Lesnar - causing a no contest.

So the question is, can Strowman capture the Universal title at least in his sixth chance? At Royal Rumble 2018, Strowman goes one on one against Brock Lesnar for the big red belt.

Since Strowman was "cheated" at Crown Jewel by Baron Corbin and such a threat no longer lingers, one could say that it is finally the time for Lesnar to "get these hands". Strowman has a strong odds of 5/2 in his favour to be the next top champion on RAW.

#1. Seth Rollins

The Kingslayer would be looking forward to slaying the beast.

While 2018 has been a slightly negative year for many WWE Superstars, Seth Rollins emerged back to the top of the RAW roster. Rollins started the year as a generic tag team wrestler who had minor niggles with his tag team partner. However, he ended the year by cutting a savage promo against Triple H and taunting Brock Lesnar.

The architect is currently the most favourite superstar to become the next Universal Champion with an astounding odds of 10/11. According to various rumours, Triple H is incessantly pushing for Seth Rollins to dethrone Lesnar at Wrestlemania 35 whereas Vince McMahon wants Strowman to end the beast's reign at Royal Rumble.

Rollins and Lesnar have already crossed their paths before - after Rollins cashed in on Lesnar at Wrestlemania 31. However, the dynamics have hugely shifted since then. At that time, Rollins was a scared heel. However, now the architect is one of the biggest babyfaces on the RAW roster.

If Rollins could finally get his hands on the Universal title, he would become only the third superstar to hold both Universal and WWE Championship, only behind Brock Lesnar and his Shield-mate Roman Reigns.