WWE Night of Champions 2011 Results: Top 7 Challengers for Heavyweight Title

Mark Henry is officially a world champion. Is that as shocking to you as it is to me?

I never thought I'd see the World's Strongest Man as the World Heavyweight Champion.

He's been with the WWE since 1995, and he's only briefly even sniffed the world title before. Not anymore.

In one of the shockers of the year, Henry beat Randy Orton at tonight's Night of Champions pay-per-view to win his first world title (assuming the ECW Championship doesn't count) and officially prove that his heart "don't run on Kool-Aid."

He's also now the top dog on Friday Night SmackDown, where there'll be no shortage of guys gunning for his gold.

Here are the top seven challengers for Henry and his newly won World Heavyweight title.

7. Daniel Bryan

Daniel Bryan has been booked like such a loser of late that he might as well play for the Kansas City Chiefs.

It appears that the WWE creative team thinks that having Bryan lose consistently will make it a bigger deal (or more of a surprise) when he cashes in and wins his first world title.

I could analyze the stupidity of that logic all day, but I'm on time constraints here.

So, let's get back on track and talk about Bryan being one of the top challengers for Mark Henry's World Heavyweight Championship.

Obviously, Bryan doesn't look like much of a threat to anyone these days, but he possesses something that no other WWE star has: the Money in the Bank briefcase.

Let's look at it this way: Do you really think he's going to wait all the way to WrestleMania 28 to cash that thing in?

I sure don't, and doing so on Henry would allow the WWE to book another David vs. Goliath type feud that it seems to love so much. 

6. Christian

Christian seems hellbent on getting back in the World Heavyweight Championship picture.

I love Captain Charisma, but come on, dude. You lost the title twice, had about 382 rematches and never actually successfully defended it.

I mean, that was clearly the creative team's fault, but still. 

Christian should be at the back of the line for now, especially when you consider that Mark Henry is a heel and Christian only recently turned to the dark side.

I don't want him to turn face so quickly, and he'd have to do that for an effective feud with the World's Strongest Man.

All that being said, Christian can't seem to completely distance himself from the world title scene on SmackDown, so I'm not counting him out until he drops this "I deserve one more match" gimmick he's got going on right now.  

5. The Undertaker

I feel like we've seen this match before...

That's right, we have.

While I really don't want to see another forgettable bout (or full-fledged feud for that matter) between The Undertaker and Mark Henry, I get the sense that this feud will happen at some point in the near future.

Henry's been built up so well as of late that I could certainly see the WWE bringing The Undertaker back as "the only person who can stop the World's Strongest Man."

The only question is whether or not it will involve the World Heavyweight Championship.

4. The Big Show

Does the WWE realize that The Big Show is technically a Raw superstar? Do they even care?

The answer to the first question is yes, and the answer to the second one is no.

Technically, The Big Show shouldn't be competing for the World Heavyweight Championship, but he shouldn't have been feuding with Mark Henry, a SmackDown star, earlier this summer either.

That's why I think a renewed rivalry between these two is not only possible, but is actually highly likely.

Henry "injured" Big Show's leg a couple of months ago and put him on the shelf, so I definitely wouldn't be shocked to see the World's Largest Athlete come back soon for a return feud with the World's Strongest Man.

Vince loves the big guys.

3. Kane

If it's not The Big Show who feuds with Mark Henry upon his return, then it'll likely be Kane.

The Big Red Monster united with The Big Show during the summer, and both men wound up on injured reserve at the hands of Henry.

So, when the heck are they going to come back?

No one knows for sure, but the timetables for both of their returns were roughly three months. Thus, they should be coming back within the next month or so. Possibly sooner.

A Hell in a Cell return for Kane, perhaps?

It makes sense given that he made his WWE debut during that type of match, and generally has been linked to it throughout his career as a result.

2. Sheamus

Sheamus is really relishing in the glory that's come with the best face turn of the year.

And who exactly does the Celtic Warrior have to thank for that turn? Oh yeah, Mark Henry.

It wasn't until Henry was dominating SmackDown, and someone needed to step up and stop him, that Sheamus started getting some huge babyface pops from the crowd.

The two feuded for a short while, even having a match at SummerSlam, but there was never any real resolution to their rivalry.

It seemed to just sort of stop when Henry became the No. 1 Contender for the World Heavyweight Championship, and now that he's champion, you have to think that Sheamus will be looking to rekindle that rivalry and win himself a world title. 

1. Randy Orton

Let's be brutally honest with ourselves guys: There's no way in hell that Randy Orton is going to be completely out of the world title picture.

Of course, he has an automatic rematch clause that I assume he will use at Hell in a Cell (and might even win). But that's not what I'm even talking about.

I'm just referring to the fact that I can't see Vince McMahon and the creative team having a World Heavyweight Championship feud on SmackDown that doesn't involve The Viper. 

Orton is undoubtedly the face of SmackDown, and it would just be weird to see him in a feud that doesn't involve the title.

What's he gonna do? Feud with Wade Barrett without the World Heavyweight Championship as the focus?

I think not.

As much I'd love to see something like that happen, you and I both know that it'll be Orton vs. Henry for the foreseeable future. And Orton's probably winning the title back.