- Logan Paul successfully defended the United States Championship versus Randy Orton and Kevin Owens.
- Paul has been the US champion since defeating Rey Mysterio in November 2023.
- LA Knight is the betting favorite to replace Paul as the new champion.
Logan Paul retained the United States Championship with a thrilling win over Randy Orton and Kevin Owens earlier this month at WrestleMania 40. The YouTuber turned WWE star entered the fight as a solid -200 favorite to defend his championship title successfully.
However, Paul will eventually concede the title and a new US champion will be crowned. According to Bovada, LA Knight is favored to beat Paul for the US Title. As a +275 betting favorite, Knight has an implied probability of 26.7% to beat Paul in a future title match.
Behind Knight, Dominik Mysterio has the next shortest odds at +400. Mysterio’s US Title price carries an implied chance of 20%. Current WWE Intercontinental champion, Sami Zayn, has +700 odds, while Drew McIntyre and Gunther share +750 odds.
Gunther dropped the IC Title to Zayn at WrestleMania 40, presumably to move up as a main event talent. He would have to do something horribly wrong with management to go from the IC to US Title. McIntyre is above the US Championship at this point of his career, too.
So, LA Knight and Mysterio are the most logical options as the next US Title holder.
LA Knight Frustrated With Role
Instead of receiving a title bout, LA Knight defeated AJ Styles at WrestleMania 40. It was a decent spot for him in a match on professional wrestling’s biggest stage, but he would have preferred something more.
On a recent episode of wrestling podcast Gorilla Position, LA Knight admitted that he was frustrated with how WWE has been handling his character.
Yes, yeah. In a certain way. So I look at my career in a sense of, 2023, in all reality, should have never happened the way it happened. That was insanity, that was crazy how I mean literally, legitimately, there were no plans for me until Royal Rumble. There was nothing. I was there because I was trusted to be good enough to hang with Bray and make him look good. I think I did that. But in the process, my God, did a light shine. But, for whatever reason, there were plans for me after that. For things to go the way that they did in the last year is amazing. But I get all these congratulations and everybody’s like, ‘You’ve done so much.
LA Knight continued by claiming that some superstars get mega pushes, and he didn’t get his until WWE’s hand was forced.
So in that regard, this has never happened to where there were no expectations put on someone, and all of a sudden, they lit the damn world on fire. That’s cool, but to me, it’s like, alright, cool. I’ve proven the worth. Now, let’s build the empire. So yeah, is there a little frustration in that regard? I suppose. But at the same time, you don’t think I’m gonna walk into WrestleMania and make this a big one, boy oh boy. We’re gonna have a good time.
LA Knight received a significant push during his feud with Roman Reigns. However, the momentum he garnered stalled, and he’s been relegated to a mid-card role. Elevating LA Knight to the US Title, who remains a strong fan favorite, could be WWE’s next move for him.
He recently lost a match versus Styles on WWE SmackDown for the right to face Cody Rhodes for the WWE Championship at Backlash France.
Paul Marketing Machine For WWE
It’s unlikely that WWE will want to take the US Championship off Paul until he seeks a break or due to an injury. Paul drives viewership and clicks on social media. Additionally, his PRIME Hydration struck the largest sponsorship deal in WWE history.
He certainly wasn’t going to lose the US Title to Orton or Owens. Neither performer needed the championship to advance their careers. Keeping the championship title on Paul and awarding him a WrestleMania win was best for business.
However, there will eventually be a time when Paul doesn’t have the time for WWE and may have to relinquish the US Title. Would this be the perfect opportunity for LA Knight to swoop in? According to oddsmakers, it appears plausible.
