Top 5 Most Likely Winners of the 'Night of Champions' Pre-Show Battle Royal

While much of the attention regarding the WWE in the last few days has been focused on the health and well-being of Jerry "The King" Lawler (and deservedly so), the fact remains that the WWE will still be holding their annual Night of Champions PPV this Sunday night.

With that comes the promise that every title belt in the WWE will be defended for one of the only times of the year. 

One of the titles that has no clear story or No. 1 contender heading into the event is the United States Championship, currently held by Antonio Cesaro. 

To solve this issue, the WWE has opted to go with a Battle Royal to determine the belt's No. 1 contender in the pre-show at 7:30, right before the start of the event.

The Battle Royal will likely be filled with a mixture of mid-card heels such as David Otunga, Tensai, Damien Sandow and Heath Slater, jobbers like Curt Hawkins, Yoshi Tatsu and JTG, and members of tag teams with nothing else to do like the Prime Time Players, and Primo and Epico.

However, the battle royal will more than likely be won by a mid-card face who can enter into a feud with Cesaro. Since Cesaro is unlikely to drop the belt so early in his reign, it seems likely that the winner will have to be someone who can afford a loss right now (i.e., not Ryback).

Having said all of that, here are the top five most likely contenders to pick up the win in the battle royal and challenge Antonio Cesaro on Sunday for the United States Championship. 

5. Sin Cara

Sin Cara has been on a relative hot streak since he returned from injury a few months ago, and he has been getting the better end of his feud with Cody Rhodes as of late.

Sin Cara has also benefited from teaming with Rey Mysterio and I wouldn't be surprised to see him pull of a win in this battle royal and challenge Cesaro. 

Sin Cara would likely be even higher on this list, if I wasn't predicting him to actually get a shot at the Intercontinental Championship on Sunday instead. 

With Cody Rhodes seemingly including himself in the feud between Mysterio and The Miz, it would make sense for Rhodes' arch-rival Sin Cara to be thrown in as well to make the match a Fatal 4-Way. 

However, if WWE opts to not go that route, Sin Cara could be challenging for the United States championship instead. 

4. Santino Marella

Although Santino Marella just recently finished his forgettable reign with the United States Championship, don't be surprised if the WWE forces him down our throats again this Sunday.

Marella's "feud" if you can even call it that, with Cesaro and Aksana is still relevant enough where they could bring it back for one more night at Night of Champions by having Marella pull off an upset in the Battle Royal.

The one positive about Marella becoming the No. 1 contender would be that more than anyone else on this list, Santino can take a loss without being affected too much.

Considering he already has lost to Cesaro multiple times (including losing the belt), another loss wouldn't do much to hurt the comedic shtick that keeps Santino around.

3. Brodus Clay

Since picking up his first loss since his re-debut as the Funkasaurus, Brodus Clay has been consistently losing momentum.

Although he is still relatively protected, a weekly Brodus Clay appearance is far from a guarantee, and his opponents are nowhere near the caliber they were when he was facing The Miz and Dolph Ziggler.

Considering his silly gimmick, Brodus Clay will never likely be a main-event star in the WWE. However, I would be extremely surprised if he doesn't pick up steam in the near future and win a mid-card title like the US or Tag Team championship.

A good place to start for Clay would be picking up a win in the Battle Royal on Sunday and facing Antonio Cesaro for the United States championship at Night of Champions.

Winning and entering into a lengthy feud with Cesaro would keep Clay relevant and aid his spot on the roster, even if he doesn't take the belt away at this time.

2. Zack Ryder

There is perhaps no superstar in the last decade of the WWE that is as over as Zack Ryder is, but who is also drastically underutilized.

Ryder was at his peak in the WWE in December when he was United States Champion, but after losing the belt (he is still waiting for that rematch), Ryder has been getting destroyed by Kane, getting pinned at WrestleMania, and more often than not, missing out on TV all together.

Still, Ryder is a likely winner for the Battle Royal because he is need of a feud, and considering that the WWE has built up him a little recently with a couple of victories on Raw, Ryder seem to be primed for another run at a mid-card title.

Even if Ryder won the Battle Royal and got pinned by Cesaro on Sunday, I could see those two having an on-going rivalry over the strap that could take up several PPV's if used correctly.

1. Tyson Kidd

Tyson Kidd was receiving his first real push in years in the WWE this past July before Money in the Bank when he picked up an upset victory over Tensai, and also beat Jack Swagger to get into the Money in the Bank match.

Kidd though has not been doing much else since, until this past Monday when he faced off against Alberto Del Rio in Canada on Raw.

Kidd was extremely impressive (which he usually is), and was allowed to go a solid amount of time with Del Rio, and even came close to pulling off a massive win.

While a lot of this assuredly has to do with the fact that the show was in Montreal, the fact that Tyson Kidd was allowed to avoid getting squashed by the No. 1 contender for the World title tells me someone backstage believes in Kidd's abilities and that he will be given a shot.

What better way to start than by having Kidd win the pre-show Battle Royal and then challenge Antonio Cesaro for the United States championship?

Kidd and Cesaro, while maybe not being greatly over with the crowd, are both excellent in-ring wrestlers, and a bout between them could be a potential show-stealer.