The Next ROH World Champ?

[FairPlay]

I like Cole being the guy who ends Elgin's unstoppable reign (who in turn ends Generico's "Thank You"-reign, who in turns ends Kevin Steen's ROH career for good).

Why take Steen away from an already thin roster?

By the time Steen's career would be ended by Generico, HOPEFULLY the roster won't be so thin...and if it is, god help us all.

[DanielBryanson]

If I had to put my money on someone, I'd honestly say Jay Briscoe right now.

Good choice!

[DXvsNWO1994]

If not El Generico, I'd definitely have to go with Michael Elgin or Adam Cole

[Colt45]

Adam Cole!

[abekoby]

I vote for Roderick Strong, as his in-ring work was great when he was TV champ, culminating in an awesome match with Cole where he lost the belt. He's grown a lot as a character and in interviews since his last run too. It'd be nice to see him get another chance with the strap.

But if I had to guess, it seems like they're trying to groom Mondo for the title.

[GardenStateSaint]

Michael Elgin or Adam Cole.


But based on the way things are going, it'll probably be Mike Mondo!

Haha! I can see it now, Mondo wins the belt, gets on the mic and curses alot and makes the crowd feel all sorts of awkward.

[SeanWrestling]

If I had to put my money on someone, I'd honestly say Jay Briscoe right now. The guy's promos are amazing, his work is consistently good, and a what better way than a Jay title reign to give the Briscoes some much needed time off from tag-team dominance?

This, Generico, or Cole.

[KL_]

How about...... Jimmy Jacobs ?

[FairPlay]

I'm going with Cole. He's really grown in the past year and by the time Steen would be ready to drop it, I'd like to think that Cole would be where he needs to be the ROH World Champ. #justsayin'.

[Blackshirt30]

Jay Briscoe

[MFKR78]

Jay Briscoe I'd like to see but I don't know if they'd be prepared to have him as the main singles champ. The guy deserves it but would they make him the number 1?

Adam Cole I can see in future definitely, but I think he's a way away from it just yet.

Michael Elgin I would have said yes he'll be the next champ, but his shot coming soon makes me think it's too soon to do it yet, unless it's the first one before more. I see Elgin being the right type of guy to beat Steen for size and power.

Outside of Davey coming back and winning it which is an outside bet, I'd have to go Elgin thinking about it. Just don't think it will be just yet.

Oh and I guess there is Generico too but there's the whole contract thing as people have said. It would work well if things come together but it's got to be quite far down the line for me so that Steen has a good reign and because we've seen so many Steen/Generico matches in ROH and PWG in recent times. The matches are always great but you can have too much of a good thing.

[Heyzel]

jay briscoe or ciampa

[SamoaNOAH]

If the crowd's not chanting "Next World Champ," that means there's no obvious choice.

I honestly don't know who's most worthy. I would say Davey, but that doesn't seem likely. Eddie was only good when he was feuding with Davey (so we were made to believe). And Roddy has been there, done that.

Seems like we're buying time for Elgin or Cole. And while I appreciate the Jay Briscoe references, the tag team division is a mess. That doesn't necessarily benefit the roster.

I frankly vote for a new, suprise roster entrant. Alex Shelley. Kenny Omega. Low Ki ...

The title used to represent the best wrestler in the indy's, and one of the best in the world. Steen is clearly on top of the indy's, but his reputation is domestic only. Any of those 3 guys could really represent the title on both of those qualifications. One can dream (and catch heat in the process, I'm sure).

[Jeremy]

My answer before, and even after his recent controversies, is Kyle O'Reilly. He should be the next champion.

Some argue that he's not at the level, and they are right in one sense. But honestly, after the brief Eddie Edwards reign that upset the fans, and the year-long disaster of Davey Richards, and now the rocky Kevin Steen, the title has clearly fallen on hard times. To anybody honestly saying it's at the level it once was is kidding themselves.

O'Reilly winning it would not only elevate him in a major way, it would be completely fresh and create new possibilities for matches (Which, let's face it, they repeat way too many now) as well as helping elevate new guys.

I look at it this way; In 1999 Mike Awesome returned to ECW and won their title literally out of nowhere. It went from "This guy returning after over a year of inactivity is now in a world title match?" to "Wow, that was awesome, what's next for him?" in the span of 30 minutes of the show. It renewed interest and made people actually CARE about the title again, and just like that you had new match-ups for main events.

I'm aware ideally this set-up could be used for any midcarders on the roster, but I think O'Reilly could benefit the most from it.

[ROHIsWrestling]

What about Jay Lethal? I would love for Lethal to turn heel and be the one to de-throne Steen for the belt. For weeks now, Lethal has been asking for a title shot and Cornette is turning him down saying he doesn't have the killer edge to beat Steen.

As we saw at Boiling Point with Lethal beating Ciampa after a lowblow followed by the Lethal Injection, he will continue to get darker and using more shady tactics to win. Eventually he will simply go over the line and turn heel completely. By that time, hopefully Cornette will be the heel and Steen will be the face.

Lethal has the experience and the wrestling ability to be a great ROH World Champ. He definitely deserves a title run and seems like the best option to me since most are still green and the only other one close to Lethal would be Ciampa or Elgin imo.

[SamoaNOAH]

My answer before, and even after his recent controversies, is Kyle O'Reilly. He should be the next champion.

Some argue that he's not at the level, and they are right in one sense. But honestly, after the brief Eddie Edwards reign that upset the fans, and the year-long disaster of Davey Richards, and now the rocky Kevin Steen, the title has clearly fallen on hard times. To anybody honestly saying it's at the level it once was is kidding themselves.

O'Reilly winning it would not only elevate him in a major way, it would be completely fresh and create new possibilities for matches (Which, let's face it, they repeat way too many now) as well as helping elevate new guys.

I look at it this way; In 1999 Mike Awesome returned to ECW and won their title literally out of nowhere. It went from "This guy returning after over a year of inactivity is now in a world title match?" to "Wow, that was awesome, what's next for him?" in the span of 30 minutes of the show. It renewed interest and made people actually CARE about the title again, and just like that you had new match-ups for main events.

I'm aware ideally this set-up could be used for any midcarders on the roster, but I think O'Reilly could benefit the most from it.

I agree the title reigns of late are rocky, but don't you think calling Davey's time as champ a "disaster" might be a little much? To me, it's more of a depiction on the roster, and the lack of elite challengers. Guys like Joe, Bryan, and Nigel had the benefit of fly-ins and legitimate world challengers. Davey and Steen, thus far, have been extremely limited in their programs. Davey had some great matches, with Eddie (to win it) and Elgin (at Sun: Night 2). I think he did the best he could in a Cornette Smokey Mountain/Sinclair world.