With the Road to WrestleMania approaching the finish line, several new matches have recently materialized. Two of them, though, have left me aggressively scratching my head.

Last week on “WWE SmackDown,” WWE confirmed a pair of additional matches for the WrestleMania 40 card — a triple-threat for the United States Championship and a singles affair between AJ Styles and LA Knight. As Styles and Knight look to settle their heated rivalry with one another, “The Maverick” Logan Paul will defend the United States Championship against veteran performers Kevin Owens and Randy Orton. While the matches themselves will undoubtedly deliver some enthralling action, their dynamics may have been better served with a swap in talents.

Like many WWE fans, I entered this WrestleMania season with an image of LA Knight walking out of the big event with his very first main roster singles title. Considering that Knight is allocated to the “SmackDown” brand, it would make the most sense for him to chase after the United States Championship, which is currently held by Logan Paul. The WWE Universe previously got a little taste of a Paul-Knight feud in the lead-up to last year’s Money in the Bank event, and their banter was actually quite entertaining, so why not revisit it?

In addition to capitalizing on the potential carried by Paul and Knight, a United States Title pursuit would also actively move Knight closer to the aforementioned goal that several fans have passionately laid out. By setting him up for a non-title WrestleMania match with AJ Styles, though, WWE has presented the risk of hindering Knight’s momentum and overall growth. Or, as former WCW President Eric Bischoff recently said, “He’s got too much momentum [to not win a title soon]. There’s no reason to stall it if there’s an opportunity to keep it going.”

With all this in mind, I believe LA Knight should have been placed in the position currently occupied by 14-time world champion Randy Orton. And don’t get me wrong — seeing Orton RKO Logan Paul will be incredibly satisfying. However, given the trajectory of the Orton-Paul-Owens triple-treat, it seems most likely that Paul will retain the United States Championship and hand Orton his third consecutive premium live event loss. And in this case, Orton doesn’t even have to be pinned to lose.

By swapping spots with Knight, Orton would not only have a greater chance of rectifying his recent PLE losses, but he could also correct his past WrestleMania loss to AJ Styles. Orton and Styles, of course, previously faced off in a match at WrestleMania 35, in which Orton portrayed the heel, while Styles played the part of the babyface. In this new scenario, the roles would be reversed, allowing Styles and Orton to also approach this WrestleMania clash from a fresh angle.

Written by Ella Jay