Predicting all of WWE's next champions (post-Survivor Series)

With Survivor Series now behind us, WrestleMania season is around the corner, as the company will soon be building up to the Royal Rumble. With that in mind, it's worth taking a look at WWE's respective titleholders and who might unseat them.

With the lone exception of the UK title, all of WWE's championships have turned over since the last time I did this. Out of 13 titles, I was correct four times, for an accuracy rating of 30%. That's not too bad considering the wild nature of this business, but there's obviously room for improvement.

Since then, we've learned a few things, and WWE has introduced a new title - the NXT UK Women's Championship. The UK brand also has tag team titles ready to debut, but they're currently vacant.

I once again won't make any predictions for the UK title, because it's still a very chaotic scene. Pete Dunne doesn't have any real rival at the moment, so it's impossible to say. The other titles have clearer pictures.

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Cruiserweight Champion: Mustafa Ali

Buddy Murphy picked up the title from Cedric Alexander at Super Show-Down last month. It took a little longer than I predicted, but he got the job done.

After successfully defending it against Mustafa Ali in another great match at Survivor Series, a rematch with Cedric Alexander now appears inevitable. I don't think the former champion will get his title back. There's little benefit to 205 Live if he does.

The far more enticing option is to have Mustafa Ali crawl his way back into title contention as the lovable hero of the purple brand, struggling against its self-proclaimed juggernaut. A dramatic rematch at WrestleMania 35 would be the best choice for 205 Live. Ali can finally fulfill his dream there.

NXT Tag Team Champions: War Raiders

This one is obvious. I was only wrong the first time because NXT wanted to send the London fans home happy by having Moustache Mountain win in their homeland. The titles changed hands back to the Undisputed Era immediately.

This won't be the case with the War Raiders.

Since declaring war on the Undisputed Era at TakeOver: Brooklyn IV, the War Raiders have gone on to defeat them in War Games. This came after they had the titles won at a TV taping, only for Adam Cole to screw them out of their victory.

The champions won't be able to dodge their imposing challengers forever. The War Raiders have had their number for months. Soon enough, the titles will change hands. It will probably happen at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia on January 26th.

The Undisputed Era have had a good run at the top of the division, but nothing lasts forever.

Smackdown Tag Team Champions: The Usos

Don't believe reports that The Usos somehow have "backstage heat." Usually, those reports turn out to be unreliable. Brad Shepard is unreliable in particular. Let's not forget that he was the one suggesting that Mike Johnson of PWInsider had a report that Asuka was leaving the company this summer, only for it to be denied by the man himself.

The Usos' victory at Survivor Series should leave them in a prime spot to challenge The Bar at some point in time. For now, it looks like the New Day feud will continue for some reason, but there's little to be gained by giving them back the titles.

The Usos and Bar have yet to have a feud and it would bring a lot more excitement than an extended New Day/Bar rehash.

Perhaps this is optimistic, but I'll make this bold prediction rather than soil it with another New Day title win.

Raw Tag Team Champions: Lucha House Party

Admittedly, I'm taking a wild shot in the dark here. The Raw Tag Team division is a complete mess right now. It's easily the worst part of the company at the moment. The Authors of Pain haven't even been treated like legitimate champions, losing to random rollups from the likes of Chad Gable and Bobby Roode this past week on Raw, despite their Survivor Series victory the night before.

No one in the division stands out, including the champions, so how do you predict who might be the next titleholders in a sea of jobbers?

The Revival don't look like they'll ever be pushed, so I'll go with the Lucha House Party because they're relatively fresh. It would also do some good cross-branding for 205 Live. At least it would be something new here, anyway. One has to admit that seeing the Lucha House Party take on the much larger Authors of Pain would make for a spectacle.

North American Champion: Velveteen Dream

After his match of the year candidate against Tommaso Ciampa last week, Velveteen Dream has proven once and for all that he's the real deal. It's only a matter of time until he gets a title reign, and with the NXT Championship otherwise closed off for a while, why not the North American Championship? It would be yet another test of Dream's mettle, to get him truly ready for what should be his role as the lead in the company.

Velveteen Dream has history that he can revisit with Ricochet, the current champion, that's for sure. It seems unlikely that Adam Cole will recapture the championship in their inevitable rematch, which will likely take place in Phoenix. New challengers will then need to come to the forefront, and few would be better positioned than Velveteen Dream. It's time for the title to get a true experience!

United States Champion: Rey Mysterio

The United States Championship is another mess at the moment. Shinsuke Nakamura, despite being champion, is the least important guy in SmackDown's midcard at the moment. Such are the mysteries of that thing we call "main roster booking."

With an almost absentee titleholder, we all wonder who is going to be the babyface in the blue brand's midcard division that ultimately dethrones Nakamura? There's no better candidate than Rey Mysterio right now.

Whether he does it only after getting past Randy Orton or as a way to introduce the title as an element in their feud, Rey Mysterio emerges as the likeliest successor to Shinsuke Nakamura by default, given the weakness of SmackDown's babyface roster at this particular point in time.

At this rate, one has to want it to happen sooner rather than later. The championship needs it and a Mysterio title reign allows a clear path forward for Andrade "Cien" Almas.

Intercontinental Champion: Dean Ambrose

This picture is much clearer, thankfully. Raw's midcard is among the most exciting divisions in the company right now, and it's likely that Dean Ambrose will take the title off Seth Rollins' waist at some point in their feud. It might happen as early as TLC next month, given the intriguing rumors surrounding the Architect at the moment. We'll get into those later.

Whether the title change happens there or not, Dean Ambrose will get even more nuclear heat by taking the title from his opponent and it's going to be a memorable sight to see. So far, this match is a major selling point for the TLC pay per view on December 16th.

I'll go out on a limb and say that Seth Rollins isn't going to get the Intercontinental Championship back in a rematch, either. He'll have bigger things to do.

NXT UK Women's Champion: Toni Storm

A lot of things in the UK division aren't clear right now, but this one certainly is.

The Mae Young Classic winner has already signaled her intention to go after the UK women's championship, and her victory (which followed a tournament loss at the tapings this summer), certainly gives her another claim for a title shot. No other competitor seems likely to emerge for the championship at the time being. The division is still in its infancy.

With her being the standard bearer for that division, one has to imagine that it's only a matter of time before Storm wins the UK women's title and brings it into maturity. Rhea Ripley is going to have to keep her head on a swivel in the coming weeks and months.

With reports of there being an NXT UK TakeOver in the works, we might expect Storm's rise to the championship to start soon.

NXT Women's Champion: Kairi Sane

It's a shame what's happened to the NXT women's division this year. There haven't been any true classic matches and the main roster has outshined NXT in this one area. That's a big step down for a title that used to be the standard bearer. Shayna Baszler is the reason for this, and while her first reign was sensible for the story that was being told and made up for the lack of classic matches in this way, her second reign isn't. Instead, it appears a device of nepotism to bring the other two, totally green, UFC signees up to speed, who would not be treated like this if it were not for their connections to Ronda Rousey.

Shayna herself has paid a price for this. She's lost the character that was the glue of her first reign. She's now another cowardly heel that can't win without help. It's hard to make sense of what's going on in this division, but Kairi Sane has had her number in all their big matches. Shayna couldn't win at Evolution or War Games without interference, and Kairi's shoulder was up on the third fall.

All of this cheating suggests that Kairi Sane will eventually get justice, but things are such a mess that there's no guarantee of that. There is a chance that Io Shirai could be the one to exact revenge instead.

Smackdown Women's Champion: Asuka

Becky Lynch's injury put the SmackDown women's division, which has been the highlight of the main roster for the last few months, into a tailspin. It's hard to know where the championship is going now and it's hard to have any confidence in Asuka as a titleholder after the way she's been treated following WrestleMania 34.

However, the women's division on the blue brand is thin at the moment. The only real top-tier contenders remain Becky, Charlotte, and Asuka, and the former is injured. Perhaps it's in this context that what appears to be Mandy Rose's coming push shouldn't be a surprise, though that still wouldn't make her title-worthy. Even in Vince McMahon's warped world, it's still way too early for her.

Whenever Becky comes back, she'll have few opponents to drop the title to. Perhaps her injury will force her to vacate it.

It doesn't appear likely that Charlotte Flair will be the next champion. Therefore, Asuka emerges through the process of elimination.

Whenever she gets the title, she probably won't reign for long, but she would be the next champion in this scenario.

Raw Women's Champion: Charlotte Flair

Despite some rumors that Charlotte Flair will face Ronda Rousey at the Royal Rumble, I still need to believe that the two are going all the way to WrestleMania. How would they justify a cross-brand match there, anyway?

The likelier outcome is that Charlotte Flair will win the Rumble and challenge for Ronda Rousey's Raw Women's Championship. That's appeared to be the idea ever since Asuka's streak was broken at this year's WrestleMania. Why else would WWE try to get Charlotte over as a babyface against Becky? Why else would WWE seem to turn Charlotte heel last week only for this week's SmackDown to seemingly go against that?

It's because all the actual signs point to Charlotte Flair clashing with Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania, in what will likely be the first women's match to main event the show of shows.

And WWE will show that its homegrown creation is superior to the UFC-created Rousey there. It's so Vince McMahon.

NXT Champion: Johnny Gargano

Johnny Gargano has never been in a darker nadir. He failed repeatedly in 2017. He failed to capture the NXT Championship in January. He failed against Tommaso Ciampa twice. His turn to the dark side didn't see success against Aleister Black at War Games last week. For Gargano, there seems nothing but despair. Nothing he does seems to work.

And yet, it's during the deepest, darkest period that the hero in the story finds a way to prevail. Johnny Gargano only needs to realize that there is something that works. The Johnny Wrestling of old defeated Tommaso Ciampa at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans.

If he can find himself and that old confidence again, he'll be on the way to getting his ultimate moment. We'll probably see that happen the night before WrestleMania, in what will be the most cathartic moment in NXT history.

WWE Champion: The Miz

The WWE Championship is another title that's wide open at the moment, given Daniel Bryan's heel turn. It's unlikely that AJ Styles will regain his title, especially with his contract set to expire. Beyond Styles, Daniel Bryan has no clear challengers. Perhaps they'll call someone like Aleister Black up from NXT (which could potentially be amazing), but The Miz looks like he's turning face at the same time as Bryan turned heel. That's probably for a reason.

With SmackDown's babyface side of the equation so weak, a new face was needed in the wake of Bryan's turn. Miz is an interesting choice. It appears likely that he'll renew his feud with Daniel Bryan, with the two competitors aligning differently this time.

Will Miz actually get the job done, though, before a new superstar shakeup comes around and gives Daniel Bryan potentially more challengers? That's harder to guess. At this juncture, though, Miz is the best guess, so we're going with him.

Universal Champion: Seth Rollins

My guess before would have been Braun Strowman, who I fingered to win the Royal Rumble after a record-tying performance at Survivor Series (and the record he tied being Roman Reigns'). However, Strowman's future is now up in the air. He's on the shelf with an injury, and though seemingly minor, his title shot appears to be against Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble, not WrestleMania, which should send up a red flag. It seems unlikely that WWE would want the Beast to fall elsewhere, and Strowman's performance against him doesn't inspire confidence.

Seth Rollins' name has emerged as a potential competitor. It's a blockbuster match and the crowd will be firmly on the Architect's side. A loss of his Intercontinental Championship to Dean Ambrose beforehand could also put Rollins in a bad place mentally, giving him another obstacle to overcome.

It's the perfect recipe for a WrestleMania match. I'll be optimistic that it will happen and that Rollins will cap off an incredible year there.

Edited by Arvind Sriram