5 WWE Superstars who could replace Big Cass as a main heel on SmackDown Live

WWE announced the surprise news on Tuesday that, just two days after facing Daniel Bryan at Money In The Bank, William Morrissey (aka Big Cass) had been released by the company.

From a storyline perspective, the seven-footer had been positioned as a top heel in non-title storylines on SmackDown Live since his return from injury in April, effectively taking the position that Baron Corbin held for much of his time on the blue brand.

Cass’s shock departure leaves The Miz, Shinsuke Nakamura and Samoa Joe as the only three male singles competitors on Tuesday nights who could realistically be slotted straight into the main-event scene or into a major one-on-one storyline as a heel.

So, who will WWE choose to replace Enzo Amore's former tag partner? Will they look to NXT to call up a new name? Will they split up a tag team and have someone break out as a singles star? Or will a babyface turn heel in the next few weeks?

In this article, let’s take a look at five WWE Superstars who could fill the void left by Cass on SmackDown Live.

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#5 Andrade “Cien” Almas

Zelina Vega does much of Andrade "Cien" Almas's talking for him

Okay, Andrade “Cien” Almas might not have had the best of starts to life on the main roster, but he is ready-made to step up and become a top heel on SmackDown Live.

The former NXT champion defeated local talents Jake Constantinou and Kevin Bennett in consecutive weeks in May and he was then scheduled to go one-on-one with Sin Cara on an episode of SmackDown earlier in June, only for the match to be postponed due to the masked high-flyer picking up an injury.

Almas and his business manager, Zelina Vega, appeared in a video on WWE’s website this week saying that, sooner or later, Sin Cara will have to face “El Idolo” in a match, which suggests that WWE will revive the storyline on television soon.

Once Almas inevitably picks up the victory in the rivalry, expect him to move up the card and take on babyfaces such as Daniel Bryan and Jeff Hardy.

#4 Rusev

Rusev will face AJ Styles at Extreme Rules

After becoming one of the most popular Superstars in WWE over the last eight months, Rusev finally ascended to the top of the SmackDown Live card this week by earning an opportunity at AJ Styles’ WWE Championship at Extreme Rules.

The “Rusev Day” phenomenon is a perfect fit for a babyface superstar but, as we’ve seen throughout 2018 so far, it seems that WWE is reluctant to fully turn the former United States champion into a good guy.

Right now, he is definitely more of a babyface than a heel, but it wouldn’t be at all surprising if “The Bulgarian Brute” returns to his wicked ways over the next few weeks and becomes a nasty heel again in the build-up to his match with babyface Styles next month.

#3 Velveteen Dream

Velveteen Dream is one of WWE's brightest prospects

Since Velveteen Dream’s match against Ricochet at NXT TakeOver: Chicago last week, there have been persistent rumours that he could be set for a swift call-up to Raw or SmackDown Live.

According to the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer, the former Tough Enough competitor was on a list of NXT names to join the main roster following WrestleMania 34 in April, so WWE clearly intends to call him up sooner rather than later.

With Big Cass gone and SmackDown Live seriously lacking top heels right now, it’d make much more sense for Dream to begin his main roster career on the blue brand rather than on Raw, where he would almost certainly get lost in the shuffle.

#2 Sheamus

How much longer will The Bar be a team?

Let’s be honest, Sheamus and Cesaro are doomed as a tag team. As good as they were for over a year as The Bar on Raw, they lost their Tag Team Championships to a 10-year-old at WrestleMania 34 and there’s just no coming back from that.

Both guys are far too good to be without a meaningful storyline for too long, so the smart money would be on WWE splitting them up, possibly by having Sheamus turn against Cesaro, and allowing them to become singles competitors again in the near future.

“The Celtic Warrior” is a brilliant heel, either in a tag team or when he’s competing by himself, so it would be a low-risk decision if WWE wanted to add the Irishman to their short list of heels on the blue brand.

#1 Dean Ambrose

Dean Ambrose was SmackDown Live's first pick in the 2016 WWE draft.

As an outside bet, wouldn’t it be great to see Dean Ambrose as a heel? The Shield member has been a babyface for over four years, yet he was the one who showed the most heel characteristics when “The Hounds of Justice” were bad guys during their first 15 months in WWE.

Of course, not only is “The Lunatic Fringe” currently injured but he is also a Raw Superstar, so it’d be a surprise move if WWE sent him to SmackDown Live when he returns in the next few months.

Still, we saw plenty of unexpected roster changes in 2017 – Kane and Jason Jordan spring to mind – and if WWE wants to keep the latest Shield reunion on hold for a little while, maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad move to reintroduce Ambrose with a new personality on a separate brand.