WWE: 7 Possible World Heavyweight Champions

The year 2011 has seen Dolph Ziggler, Edge, Christian, Randy Orton and Mark Henry all win the World Heavyweight Championship.

So who's going to get the next run with the strap?

Well, SmackDown has no shortage of suitors for its world title, a great mix of established veterans and up-and-comers and just as many heels as baby faces.

With the way the WWE's booking usually works, though, there's really no telling who will be the next World Heavyweight Champion once Henry's current reign ends.

But today we're going to play a little guessing game.

Here are seven stars who could be your next World Heavyweight Champion, listed in order from least to most likeliest, in my opinion.

7. Cody Rhodes

When the feud between Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes first started and Rhodes got a leg up on Orton a couple of times, I thought that this would be the rivalry that elevated Rhodes to the world title scene.

But that didn't happen.

Orton wound up getting the best of Rhodes in their feud, and he officially put the nail in Rhodes' coffin with his victory in a Street Fight on last week's SmackDown.

That's not to say that this rivalry didn't help Rhodes—because it did by showing that he can hang with a main eventer—but it didn't do as much for him as I thought it would. Now, it appears as if he's back in that mid-card role for the time being.

Given that he's the current Intercontinental Champion, too, he's going to be there until he loses that belt; and the WWE will build him back up and he'll finally viewed as a full-time main eventer.

6. Christian

After two brief, forgettable runs as World Heavyweight Champion, Christian is right back in a familiar place: A mid-card role where he puts others over.

Like an idiot, I assumed that the rivalry between Christian and Sheamus would be an even-sided one, with the two men trading wins before meeting in a Team Christian vs. Team Sheamus match at Survivor Series.

So much for that.

Much like his feud with Randy Orton, Christian has been booked like a cowardly heel and a complete loser win his feud with Sheamus. Captain Charisma hasn't gotten a win over the Celtic Warrior, and I don't think he ever will.

But who really knows if the WWE's crazy booking will somehow get Christian "one more match" for the World Heavyweight title at some point.

5. The Big Show

I like The Big Show, and I think he's one hell of a wrestler for a man of his size.

But it's 2011, and Show is 39 years old, so I don't think he should be feuding with Mark Henry for the World Heavyweight Championship when there are so many young stars who the WWE should be building up instead.

Yet, that doesn't seem to matter to anyone in the WWE, because Show's looked really strong as of late—so strong in fact that a run with the World title definitely isn't out of the question.

I still think it would be a complete waste for an established veteran like The Big Show to be the one who ends Henry's reign of terror on SmackDown, but it wouldn't surprise me in the least bit if that's what happens.

4. Daniel Bryan

Daniel Bryan is currently holding Smackdown's Money in the Bank briefcase, and that means that—regardless of his guarantee to wait until Wrestlemania 28—he could cash it in at any given moment.

There are two situations I can think of where Bryan will become the next World Heavyweight Champion.

If you saw the interaction between Henry and Bryan on last week's SmackDown and have read this Friday's Smackdown spoilers, you can see that the WWE continues to tease Bryan will cash in on Henry in the near future.

Perhaps that will happen at Survivor Series.

If it doesn't, however, then I could see Henry holding onto the World Heavyweight title all the way until Wrestlemania 28, Bryan fulfilling his promise by cashing in at the show and then Bryan defeating Henry to win his first World title in the WWE.

The WWE continues to foreshadow that this could happen, and it would obviously make for a great David-vs.-Goliath-type of story. 

3. Wade Barrett

It's funny how things change so quickly.

Roughly a year ago, Wade Barrett was headlining Survivor Series 2010 in a WWE Championship match against Randy Orton, and it seemed like he was poised for a run with the top prize in all of the WWE. Then he moved over to SmackDown, led a crappy group known as The Corre, and was buried down on the blue brand's roster for much of 2011.

Now, all of a sudden, Barrett is getting a renewed push. He's picked up wins over the WWE Tag Team Champions and Daniel Bryan recently, and if you watch this Friday's Smackdown, you'll see that the WWE is pretty serious about this "Barrett Uprising."

Barrett appears to have passed up Cody Rhodes in SmackDown's heel pecking order, and he could be the next young heel to make the jump to the world title picture.

And win it. 

2. Randy Orton

I commend Randy Orton for putting Mark Henry over in a big way by losing to him clean on two consecutive pay-per-views—not many household names would do that.

But I don't think we're going to see Orton out of SmackDown's world title picture for very long.

As we all know, he is indeed the face of the blue brand, and as a result, he's going to be holding or challenging for the World Heavyweight Championship more often than not.

If he hadn't just concluded a feud with Henry, I'd say that Orton would probably be the next No. 1 contender for the World Heavyweight title.

But since he did, Orton may have to wait a little bit longer for another shot at championship gold. 

1. Sheamus

At some point in 2010, I remember thinking to myself, Man, there's no way that Sheamus can ever be a baby face.

Boy, was I wrong.

This summer, Sheamus turned face by stepping up to challenge—who else?—Mark Henry; and he's quickly become one of the top four or five baby faces in all of the WWE.

The Celtic Warrior's first feud as a face came against Henry, but I've always felt like that feud sort of just ended without any real resolution.

But I think we're about to get one.

If Henry retains his World Heavyweight Championship against The Big Show at Survivor Series, then I'll put my money on Sheamus being the next man to challenge Henry and the first one to beat him.