5 RAW Superstars who could challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship after Rey Mysterio

The post-Crown Jewel episode of Friday Night SmackDown was hampered by the traveling woes of WWE's roster, making it must-see TV just to see how the company would pull itself out of this hole. And boy, did they. It was a great show, thanks to the NXT roster showing up and that excellent main event between Adam Cole and Daniel Bryan.

SmackDown opened with WWE Champion Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman, who returned from Riyadh before the rest of the roster. Heyman essentially announced that the Beast was quitting SmackDown and going to RAW, so he can get his hands on Rey Mysterio without any restrictions.

This seems to be a permanent move, with the Blue brand's Bray Wyatt capturing the Universal Championship at Crown Jewel. With Lesnar returning to the Red brand, he has a whole host of names he could face once he is done with Mysterio. The best part is that Paul Heyman might have the liberty of handpicking Lesnar's opponents himself, as Executive Director of RAW.

Here are five Superstars on the Red brand who could challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE Title, once he is done with Rey Mysterio.

#5 Rusev

Rusev has been at the receiving end of one of WWE's most questionable storylines in recent memory, as his wife, Lana, is enjoying an on-screen relationship with Bobby Lashley. Hopefully, this rivalry with Lashley concludes in the coming weeks and the Bulgarian Brute can move on to better things.

Rusev has generally been given the short end of the stick in WWE, time and time again. So it would be nice to see him get a push towards WWE title contention. It is easy to forget that Rusev was actually challenging Seth Rollins for the Universal Championship when his program with Bobby Lashley began.

He can be a very effective babyface and is capable of hanging with Paul Heyman on the mike, and Brock Lesnar in the ring. A possible match with the WWE Champion would certainly be a hard-hitting affair. Anyway, do they celebrate Rusev Day in Suplex City?