New WWE Raw star to win Intercontinental Championship: Three names that could dethrone Chad Gable

WWE

It has been a relatively smooth first two months as Intercontinental Champion for Chad Gable, with the former Olympian yet to find himself a true rival since winning it at WWE SummerSlam.

That appears to be on the horizon with Ethan Page, but should “All Ego” fail to wrestle the IC Title off of Gable, there may be a number of new faces on Raw waiting to do what he couldn’t.

Here are three potential new WWE Raw stars to win the Intercontinental Championship:

Tony D’Angelo

With three weeks now passing since Tony D’Angelo’s last match on WWE NXT, many fans will be hoping to see the 31-year-old finally get his shot on the main roster in the coming weeks.

There has been little word on this happening, but there is certainly room in the mid-cards of both Raw and SmackDown for Tony D.

If WWE want to immediately establish D’Angelo on main roster they could do one, or both of the following things: a) mention that he defeated Oba Femi twice in NXT, or b) have him immediately win a championship.

The Intercontinental Title is among WWE’s most coveted championships and D’Angelo holding it would provide him the launchpad for more success in the future.

Carmelo Hayes

Unlike his NXT 2.0. alum mentioned above, Carmelo Hayes made it out of the WWE Performance Center, but it’s hard to say whether he’s been better off for it.

His United States Title run was a true highlight and it appeared like it was going to be there prelude to a star-making 2026. However, quite the opposite has proven to be true as Hayes has fallen into obscurity since losing the belt to Sami Zayn back in March.

A change is required for Hayes and switching to Raw may be the best way for WWE to breathe new life into his character. Raw would also give Hayes the chance to mix it up with some of the best in-ring talents WWE has to offer like Dragon Lee and of course Chad Gable.

Gable vs. Hayes would be a barn burner for sure and they could easily put on a best of seven series for the IC Title much like Hayes and Andrade did on SmackDown in 2024.

Lexis King

More of a left-field pick to finish with, but Lexis King is another name with all the attributes of a future mid-card heel champion on the main roster.

King has really come into his own on NXT since forming BirthRight, and the faction has real potential to sustain their success on Raw or SmackDown when the time comes.

If that time is to arrive sooner rather than later, King could exploit Gable’s willingness to take on all comers to get a title opportunity upon his Raw debut, and then use the numbers advantage of BirthRight to pull of a massive upset win.

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• RAW
• Chad Gable
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