When Sami Zayn ends up losing the WWE United States Championship, the company should continue weekly open challenges on TV.
With the open challenge concept having brought a lot of excitement to recent editions of SmackDown, the revolving door of competition should definitely continue.
Here are eight potential replacements for Sami Zayn in terms of accepting weekly open challenges on TV.
8. The Miz
After taking aim at Carmelo Hayes after Melo Don’t Miz broke up in a backstage segment, perhaps The Miz will have a new chip on his shoulder.
Potentially wanting to re-establish himself as not only a veteran on the blue brand but also a top talent in the locker room, The Miz may want to pick up the open challenge mantle.
Facing talent from WWE SmackDown and even NXT, The Miz could also be an important bridge to an entirely different group of potential opponents.
Bringing back fan favorites like Nic Nemeth or Matt Cardona from TNA Wrestling to have one-off bouts against The Miz could be incredible.
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7. Fraxiom
While their tag team run in NXT was very dominant including a combined 356 days as NXT Tag Team Champions across two reigns, Nathan Frazer & Axiom have yet to capture gold on the main roster.
Perhaps shifting focusing from attempts at claiming the WWE Tag Team Championship and rather establishing themselves as top competitors on the brand, Fraxiom could host their own tag team open challenge.
Leading the way to appearances from the likes of the somewhat underutilized War Raiders from Raw or even DarkState from NXT, there could also be a pair of familiar foes that could answer the open challenge as well.
Having competed in the past in NXT against Matt & Jeff Hardy, the match could be run back on SmackDown to an even bigger audience.
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6. Nia Jax
Opposite of Sami Zayn’s babyface open challenge could be the dastardly Nia Jax.
Leading to some interesting match-ups, there could be a lot of fascinating debut moments that are set up via having the Irresistible Force hosting her own revolving door of challengers.
Facing off against powerhouses like NXT’s Zaria or Lash Legend could be one set of challengers, but other ambitious upstarts like Thea Hail or Kelani Jordan could throw themselves into battle on SmackDown as well.
Offering a proving ground for women across the WWE roster, there could be some very fun nostalgic returns too with Nia Jax facing challengers like Trish Stratus or even Paige.
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5. Randy Orton
Randy Orton would need no title nor specific reason to institute his own open challenge on WWE SmackDown and get a line-up of challengers.
With talent across WWE Raw, NXT and TNA Wrestling seemingly thrilled to be able to share the ring with The Viper, it could be an incredibly enjoyable side quest for this babyface version of Randy Orton.
While Orton remains beloved by fans, an open challenge concept provides him opponents without the emotional weight of having to engage in full blown feuds.
Able to continue to tease his potential (and seemingly inevitable) turn on Cody Rhodes much more gradually if he is well occupied with a revolving door of weekly challengers, we could end up seeing Orton vs. Rhodes at WrestleMania 42.
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4. Dominik Mysterio
With Dominik Mysterio managing to continue to hold on to the WWE Intercontinental Championship since his big WrestleMania 41 victory, it could be fun to see him face a series of unknown opponents.
Potentially being elected by WWE Raw GM Adam Pearce to pick up the open challenge concept on Netflix – since of course, Sami Zayn is doing the United States Championship open challenge on SmackDown – there could be a series of hilarious results.
Dominik would likely attempt to orchestrate his own opponents, leading to some iconic showings from the likes of Akira Tozawa or even Mr. Iguana from AAA who he would surely underestimate.
While Dirty Dom could still find a way to sneak by with the IC Title every week, he could continue to establish himself as willing to lie, cheat and steal his way to the top in WWE.
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3. Los Americanos
Making their debut on WWE Raw, there are now three different Americanos on Netflix.
With El Grande Americano (Ludwig Kaiser), Bravo Americano (Tyler Bate) and Rayo Americano (Pete Dunne) all in competition, perhaps there should be a Los Americanos Open Challenge.
While the trio could keep their representative close to the vest until the actual time of the match, it could provide an opportunity for some of the less utilized talent on WWE Raw to showcase their skills as well.
With the likes of American Made, the Alpha Academy and even the War Raiders still looking for some competition outside of the tag team title picture, an open challenge from the Americanos could lead to some intriguing matches.
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2. Carmelo Hayes
Now that Carmelo Hayes has dropped The Miz as a tag team partner, it doesn’t seem their dynamic is entirely over yet.
Since The Miz took out Hayes from behind while the latter attempted to answer Sami Zayn’s most recent United States Open Challenge on SmackDown, the pair seem set to collide again soon.
Potentially looking to establish himself as a more serious competitor than he has been portrayed as so far on the main roster, Carmelo Hayes might look to set his own weekly open challenge.
Taking up opponents from anywhere in WWE or NXT, Hayes could get some TV time to rebuild his character as a dominating force while also bringing a showcase to some other less utilized talent in the process.
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1. AJ Lee
An opportunity that would have seemed impossible merely months ago could become reality for a whole group of next generation WWE women’s talent if there were to be an AJ Lee open challenge on WWE Raw.
Sparking potential for the likes of Roxanne Perez, Bayley or even Nikki Bella to answer in order to demonstrate their abilities once and for all against one of the best to take the ring, AJ Lee could serve as a crucible to the rest of the women’s locker room.
Not only could current Raw stars be eligible to answer the call, it would be particularly fun if AJ Lee were faced with even more unique opponents like Natalya’s Nattie Neidhart persona from the indies, Tatum Paxley from NXT, Wendy Choo from WWE Evolve or even crossovers from TNA Knockouts division.
With the nostalgic favorite also able to be a lightening rod for the returns of the likes of Paige or Victoria Crawford (Alicia Fox), perhaps there could be surprises at every turn during AJ Lee’s open challenge.
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