WWE Rumors & Spoilers: Next WWE World Champion After Jinder Mahal Revealed?
The next WWE World Champion after Jinder Mahal for SmackDown Live may already be revealed online. For weeks, there had been jokes made of the idea of Jinder ever winning the WWE World Championship from Randy Orton. However, some fans were in complete shock when the “Modern Day Maharaja” actually pinned Orton to claim the title belt from him. Now there are odds out there which suggest the superstars with the greatest chance to become the next World Champion after Jinder. WWE fans who want to avoid any possible spoilers may want to steer clear, although keep in mind these are merely rumors at the moment.
As of this report, Jinder Mahal has held SmackDown‘s top championship for a total reign of about two weeks. He’ll be defending it against Randy Orton in an anticipated rematch at the 2017 Money in the Bank PPV. There’s also the ladder match that same night and the notion the latest MITB briefcase winner could cash in on the champion during the evening. It happened last year with “The Lunatic Fringe” Dean Ambrose as he cashed in right after Seth Rollins had defeated Roman Reigns for the title in the 2016 Money in the Bank PPV main event.
According to WWE Leaks in their report on Tuesday, Kambi oddsmakers have published new odds for the next champion. Surprisingly, Randy Orton comes in second on the list at 9 to 4 odds, while every Money in the Bank ladder match competitor is underneath him. In a bit of humor, there are two former stars listed at the way bottom of the list. CM Punk has 50 to 1 odds and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has 100 to 1 odds to be the next champion.
In terms of the MITB match competitors, AJ Styles, Baron Corbin, and Kevin Owens each have 3 to 1 odds to win the championship next. Shinsuke Nakamura has 8 to 1 odds, as does Rusev. Sami Zayn checks in with 10 to 1 odds to hold the belt next, followed by Dolph Ziggler at 20 to 1 odds. So who does that leave to become champion next? Mojo Rawley? Tye Dillinger, or Aiden English?
None other than “Mr. Hustle, Loyalty, Respect” himself leads all possible candidates on the current odds list. As the report mentions, John Cena currently has odds of 4 to 5, which moved up from 6 to 4 odds he had a few days ago. Back then, Cena was tied with “The Lone Wolf” Baron Corbin who is being discussed in WWE rumors to actually win the Money in the Bank briefcase this year.
The question here is will this actually happen, though? John Cena has yet to make his anticipated return to the wrestling ring. He’s been on hiatus ever since proposing to his longtime girlfriend Nikki Bella after they won a mixed tag team match at WrestleMania. During Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live, a graphic was shown advertising Cena’s return for July 4th in Phoenix, Arizona. When Cena returns, he’ll also have to get a championship opportunity somehow. That could come by Shane just giving him it, by Cena winning a match on SmackDown or by Cena winning the briefcase. Cena is currently not entered into that match at the pay-per-view.
There’s also the fact that Cena is chasing a record held by the legendary “Nature Boy” Ric Flair for the total number of championship reigns in their careers. The two stars are currently tied with 16 championship reigns, according to WWE’s record books. Would he defeat Jinder Mahal to break that record or a higher profile star? If so, one has to wonder where Cena’s victory might happen, because it would be a record-breaking accomplishment.
It seems far-fetched right now, but so did the idea of Jinder Mahal ever becoming champion after his previous history on the WWE roster. A match where Cena defeats him for the strap could work in terms of the USA vs. India theme that WWE may be going for. Mahal may also be more than happy to be a part of helping Cena achieve history, as his name would go in the record books for being the man Cena defeated to break Flair’s record.
Keep in mind that these WWE rumors are based on betting odds, so these will fluctuate as new storylines pop up on SmackDown Live or at the pay-per-view events. It’s entirely possible that WWE is planning for a face to finally dethrone Jinder as champion at SummerSlam, or his reign could come to a quick halt with “The Viper” defeating him this month.
[Featured Image by WWE]
