Best Challengers for Kevin Owens' WWE United States Title for Rest of 2017

Kevin Owens' WWE United States Championship reign has the pieces in place to be historically great.  

The Face of America is a brash, disdainful bully and one of SmackDown's most compelling characters. He delivers in the ring, as we've seen in his U.S. titles bouts against Chris Jericho and AJ Styles.   

Rematches with familiar rivals, clashes with fresh foils, showdowns with aerialists and bruisers are among the best options for Owens as his title reign continues on until the close of 2017. 

As great as KO and Sami Zayn are as enemies, WWE would be smart to delay their next meeting. It's best to build some anticipation rather than overdo this longstanding rivalry. Instead, Owens should welcome challenges from the likes of The King of Strong Style, Shinsuke Nakamura.

Battleground: Shinsuke Nakamura

Two-time NXT champ Nakamura has already pinned Owens a number of times in recent weeks. He will have a clear claim to be a top contender.

And both men are set to meet in the Money in the Bank ladder match, a contest that could easily heighten the animosity between them.

Owens and Nakamura haven't hit their peak together. Their first meeting under the WWE umbrella, on the most recent edition of SmackDown, didn't produce the kind of electricity these two are capable of creating.

Jason Powell of Pro Wrestling Dot Net wrote: "I'm sure the match was disappointing for viewers, who were hoping to see a long and competitive match given the wrestlers involved."

That can happen post-Money in the Bank, with more bad blood between them and more time to claw at each other's flesh at the Battleground pay-per-view in July.

SummerSlam: John Cena

Cycling back to Owens' feud with John Cena would set up a match worthy of SummerSlam.

Cena was KO's first target when he arrived on WWE's main roster in 2015. The heel and the hero had stellar chemistry. They thrived in a trilogy of PPV matches.

Booking Owens vs. Cena IV would guarantee another barn burner.

It would give Cena a goal to focus on upon his return from hiatus. And WWE would have an easy time drumming up their old issues.

Plus, if Owens can fend off the great and powerful Cena, his reign will be solidified and his star will grow. There are few things as powerful in today's WWE as a clean win over the company's golden boy.

September: AJ Styles, Open Challenges

Brian Campbell of CBSSports.com is among those anxious to see a rematch between Owens and AJ Styles:

The Money in the Bank storyline caused their rivalry to lose focus. KO and Styles are focused on claiming that contract-filled briefcase now and have not zeroed in on each other.

Eventually, it makes great sense to give their story some closure. Styles can demand another shot after his fluky loss. And the enemies could settle the score in a lengthy TV match.

Owens and Styles have great chemistry, the kind that WWE has to exploit again.

And the company should have KO reprise his Face of America Open Challenge. In April, he mocked Cena's old open challenges by taking on Gary Gandy, a jobber with no business being in the ring with the champ.

This didn't lead to a great contest, but it showed off both Owens' cowardice and viciousness. Beating up on some other no-name guys between his marquee matches is an easy way to keep the U.S. title center stage.

October-December: Luke Harper

Former Wyatt Family member Luke Harper is a hard-hitting bruiser, a mysterious figure and arguably WWE's most underused talent. The U.S. title scene is the perfect fit for him.

He and Owens would tear down the house in a series of physical matchups.

WWE could showcase Harper, Owens and the U.S. crown as these two deliver knockdown-drag-out affairs to close out the year. Owens vs. Harper would bolster the as-yet-unnamed SmackDown October PPV, and it could end in a wild ladder match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in December.

Owens would have quite the resume as champion by the end of all that.

He'd have bruises to show for those battles, but as such, fans are bound to be talking about him and the U.S. title, so it would have been well worth it.