With the WWE Universe still feeling the impact of the recent Superstar Shake-up, SmackDown Live’s main event scene is looking fresh and ready to deliver quality television. With new WWE Champion Kofi Kingston leading the way, who will emerge as SmackDown’s top players? The New Day doesn’t seem to be breaking up anytime soon, Lars Sullivan has debuted on the Blue Brand, Kevin Owens has distinguished himself as targeting the World Title, and Roman Reigns is now on SmackDown.
Without further ado, here is what SmackDown Live’s main event scene is shaping up to look like.
Kofi Kingston and The New Day
With constant and recent affirmation that the New Day will be staying together and Kofi Kingston leading the charge, The New Day are the centerpieces of the SmackDown main event scene. In my estimation, the WWE Title will stay around Kofi’s waist until at least SummerSlam.
Because Kofi is still working with the New Day, Big E and Xavier will allow for more fresh match-ups for trio and the New Day should be an intensely charismatic and capable group to carry SmackDown Live. Kingston could face the likes of Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, Shinsuke Nakamura, and more to prove himself as a worthy and credible champion.
Roman Reigns
With the recent and miraculous return of Roman Reigns, it shouldn’t take long until he is challenging for the WWE Championship. After beating cancer in just four months, it is just a matter of time before he conquers most of the roster and expands his Roman Empire across the blue brand.
WWE must be smart about this though because Reigns defeating Kofi may re-turn fans against Reigns. Despite this, I believe Roman will quickly become part of the main event scene on SmackDown and is a future WWE Champion regardless if he wins it from Kingston or not.
Lars Sullivan
In a recent interview, Lars Sullivan claimed a “realistic goal” of his was to become WWE Champion in just 18 months. In order for that to happen, Lars must bulldoze through his competition, something that he is already doing. If he is booked correctly and continues his good work, the former NXT freak will be challenging for the World Title in no time.
The land of opportunity may prove to be Sullivan’s playground as he has destroyed everyone in his path so far. Standing at 6 foot 3 and weighing 330 lbs, Sullivan is extremely athletic for his size and a real threat to everyone on the roster.
Kevin Owens
Most likely the next challenger for the WWE Championship, the newly returned Kevin Owens staked his claim as next in line when he turned on Kofi and powerbombed Woods on the ring apron last Tuesday on SmackDown. Owens is more than capable of a main event run and I believe he is the perfect challenger for Kingston’s Title.
In addition to this, Kevin Owens has a feud with Big E just waiting for him when Big E returns making this a good move for Owens. Going into Money in the Bank, this is suddenly one of the most intriguing and heated programs on the card and I cannot wait to see Owens take on Kingston.
Daniel Bryan
Last but not least, assuming he returns from his injury, Daniel Bryan will most likely challenge Kingston in a rematch for the WWE Title upon his return. As a first ballot HOF’er and grand slam champion, there is nobody more qualified to carry SmackDown than Bryan.
Even if he does not regain the title from Kofi, he should remain a staple of the main event scene. Bryan’s injury has been kept quiet, but hopefully it is not serious and he get get back to tying human knots in no time.
