John Cena's Next Championship Contender Must Be Dolph Ziggler

Since March, John Cena has injected new life into the United States Championship and has brought the belt to new heights. From Rusev to Kevin Owens to Seth Rollins, he has knocked off all comers, but now he shifts his focus to whoever is next in line waiting to challenge him for his title.

In recent weeks, Cena has been embroiled in a mini-feud with The New Day, beating Big E and Xavier Woods on back-to-back episodes of Raw. With New Day already scheduled for a WWE Tag Team Championship defense at Hell in a Cell, Cena's role at the event remains unknown.

That said, there isn't a better opponent for Cena at Hell in a Cell than Dolph Ziggler.

WWE planted the seeds for a feud between the two on this week's Raw when Ziggler accepted Cena's U.S. Open Challenge and was ambushed by New Day. Following Cena's match with Big E, Ziggler re-emerged to make the save for Cena, only to accidentally lay him out with a superkick.

Last week's Total Divas season finale saw Ziggler tease "having feelings" for Cena's real-life girlfriend Nikki Bella, leading to speculation (h/t Wrestling Inc) that WWE is interested in having Ziggler and Cena feud on WWE programming.

From a storyline standpoint, it wouldn't make sense to incorporate Nikki Bella in the angle, considering her relationship with Cena isn't acknowledged on TV, but that shouldn't stop WWE from putting them in a program together over the United States Championship.

Despite being organically over with the audience, Ziggler has been floundering for the better part of 2015. His feud with Rusev, which has hopefully come to an end, has stagnated his character greatly, and it's time for him to embark on something new.

Although Cena and Ziggler are no strangers to each other, it's been several years since they last clashed. They traded several victories in the final few months of 2012 and the early part of 2013, but they've mostly remained separate since then.

To boot, they've always had excellent in-ring chemistry together, and another series of matches between them would be nothing short of stellar. Having contested countless Match of the Year candidates this year alone, Cena's strong streak of marvelous matches would continue in a program with the bleached-blonde Superstar.

Ziggler may never be a regular in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship scene again, but a rivalry with Cena would be the next best thing for him at the moment. It could help elevate him to a higher spot on the card where he deserves to be, as long as he doesn't come out of it looking weaker than he did going in.

As for Cena, what other fresh faces could he defend against next? He plowed through a decent portion of the roster during his previous reign as U.S. champion, so there isn't much credible competition left for him do battle with.

Ziggler has a strong connection with the crowd as a babyface, but there's no denying he's a natural heel. He hasn't come off well these past few months, and a change in character could be exactly what he needs to get his career back on track.

Furthermore, with it being reported by F4WOnline.com (h/t Wrestle Zone) that Cena will be taking time off following Hell in a Cell, it'd be an ideal time to transition the title onto Ziggler for the remainder of the fall season.

Along with Cesaro, Ziggler is among WWE's most misused and underutilized competitors today. As a heel, he can revitalize his character while having a handful of excellent matches with Cena in the process.

If they could resist centering their story around Nikki Bella, WWE could strike gold with a Ziggler-Cena feud as the annual October event quickly approaches.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, is a journalism major at Endicott College. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.