Who Will be a World Champion in 2013?
Posted by James Tee
There are many superstars within WWE that many of us see as future world champions. However, this year, we saw only four men have the honour of being a world champion; CM Punk, Sheamus, Daniel Bryan and The Big Show. With Punk’s reign now stretching over the 400 day mark, it is safe to say between now and Wrestlemania that Punk will lose the title.
Many of us believe that it will be The Rock who will end Punk’s reign at the Royal Rumble. It may not be that simple though; here is my list of people I believe will be a World Champion in 2013.
CM PUNK
It goes without saying that CM Punk will start the year as WWE Champion. The longest reigning WWE Champion in over twenty five years will almost certainly face The Rock at the Royal Rumble, but whether he leaves the Rumble as champion is another question. Rumours of matches against Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Undertaker at Wrestlemania are everywhere, and after the Rumble, we will have a better idea of Wrestlemania plans for Punk.
BIG SHOW
The same as Punk, The Big Show will enter 2013 as the World Heavyweight Champion. I believe that this reign of Show has been a success, if not for any other reason than we haven’t seen a dominant heel champion who can win clean time after time. His three matches with Sheamus have been much more entertaining than many of us expected, although I do not want to see a fourth PPV match at the Royal Rumble. It seems at this time that a match with a newly turned Alberto Del Rio or Randy Orton, injury depending.
DOLPH ZIGGLER
I am a massive Ziggler fan; the man seems to have everything that is needed for a long run at the top. He sells moves like nobody else, has an amazing move set and now has a female valet in AJ, and an enforcer in Big E. Langston. It is surely not long before Dolph becomes champion. With his Langston in tow, there would be no better way to introduce Langston to the main event scene by having him turn on his boss for a feud in the early summer.
RYBACK
Vince loves this guy, so surely there must be a title reign in the stars for the man from Sin City. He stills gains great reactions from the WWE Universe, but I feel he would be much more effective as a heel champion. There seems to be a real shortage of top heel talents at the moment, and Ryback could easily work as a heel towards the end of the year.
WADE BARRETT
2013 has the potential to be a huge year for Wade Barrett. Rumours were rife pre Wrestlemania last year that Barrett would win a Money in the Bank match at Wrestlemania before a major elbow injury put him out of action until September. His return saw him return with a gimmick based on his bare knuckle boxing history, and with this, I see Barrett winning the title around Survivor Series and carrying the title into 2014.
DANIEL BRYAN
In my opinion, along with Punk, this man is going to carry the WWE into the near future. He is brilliant as a heel, and brilliant as a cocky face. His programme with Kane as Team Hell No has been proper comedic relief in a time where many superstars go for the overly serious approach to gimmicks. There will be a title reign in 2013 for Bryan, for the simple reason that no one gets over like he does.
I have to be honest, and say that there are plenty people I haven’t mentioned because there are so many potential stars who could carry the belt. For the first time in many years, there are maybe ten or twelve men who could legitimately hold the World Title.
One person I left off this list on purpose is The Rock. I honestly cannot see WWE putting the belt on a part time performer. That is not meant as disrespect, but I feel that it would do the title a disservice if they put it on a man who won’t appear at any house shows.
Linked with this, the only way I could see John Cena winning a title this year is if he defeated The Rock at Wrestlemania. I feel that Cena’s time as a World Champion is almost up, similar to how HHH slowed down his career in 2008/2009. I feel that this year will be dominated by Cena helping mid-carders such as Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow reach main event status.
This is a year where WWE has to create stars. Of course there are The Shield, and all three of those men should go on to be stars of the future. Out of the group, it is Dean Ambrose who impresses me the most. His mic work has been nothing short of brilliant, and his in-ring work is renowned amongst the IWC; something that was confirmed at TLC. It wouldn’t surprise me if they play on the relation between The Rock and Roman Reigns at some point over the next month or two.
Then there are people such as Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow and Kofi Kingston. The three of them all need to just keep working hard, and I feel that 2014 will see some sort of title reign for all of them.
And what about Randy Orton? 2013 is a year of redemption for the Apex Predator and I definitely do not see a title reign for Orton. I think that he needs to prove to management that he is a reliable main event star, without injury or suspensions.
Of course, this is all opinion based, and I know that almost all of you will disagree. Feel free to comment below, and may I take this time to wish you all a Happy New Year.
Download - iPhone | Android | iPad
Well surprise, I agree with you…And the thing with the Rock a Cena is that if they don't put the belt on them I think they will book some kind of story that won't make sense and I prefer to go with the original plan.
OK, this is what I think should happen, depending on how much time the Rock spends wrestling. The Rock is running the Shield. Boom, that's it. Think of all the story lines.
I'm not going to take anything away from Cena's drawing power, as he is undoubtedly The Guy in WWE at the moment. While I am not a fan of his in-ring performance, I do feel that he no longer needs the WWE or World Heavyweight championship.
Take Ric Flair, for example, at any point after he returned to a WWE ring in the early 2000s, WWE could have put the strap on him. But, he's Ric Flair with the belt just as he is Ric Flair without the belt and Cena is pretty much in the same boat as another WWE title reign would really just be ANOTHER WWE title reign.
Not having the title won't diminish Cena at all. But promos such as the one Cena cut on CM Punk claiming his WWE championship reign had been meaningless because it wasn't Cena he was defending against does more damage to the championship by sending out the message that he feels nobody but he is worthy enough to fight for or hold the title.
If we saw WWE using Cena to give young stars that push they need to break into the main event picture, not merely losing to them but putting them over, I would have much more respect for Cena as opposed to the Superman "never lose clean" (unless your name is The Rock) yet always winning clean Cena we have now. I mean, 12 WWE/World championships is nothing to scoff at, he's pretty much done it all and at some point he needs to give back to the business and help make a legitimate star to carry the WWE banner into the future.
In regards to CM Punk's inevitable dropping of the WWE championship, I think given that it has been such an epic reign that the logical point for it to end would be at WrestleMania. While a Punk/Bryan championship match at WrestleMania would be incredible to see, I could see WWE having Punk finally having no way to evade Ryback and having the equivalent of the Hogan/Goldberg title change.