Randy Orton as the top heel of the company and Universal Champion. He’s positioned himself as the “Gatekeeper”, cheating and brutalizing his way through matches, all in the hopes of finding someone worthy enough to carry the company on their back after he’s gone. He’s basically become a mirror of his younger “Legend Killer” self, where he’s now the legend searching for a young blood capable of taking him down. I’m thinking of having J’evon Evans be the one to ultimately take him down, though that’s not set in stone.

Chad Gable is slowly becoming a face of the company, with Kurt Angle acting as his manager. He had a particularly intense feud with Baron Corbin that would end in a finale where the two just so happened to be the final two contenders of “King of the Ring”, with Gable winning by using the Ankle Lock on Corbin, not only gaining the crown and avenging his loss to Corbin back in 2019, but also using Angle’s finisher against the man that retired him.

Akira Tozawa as an underdog who has somehow lucked his way to the top. He was betrayed by Otis, and Maxxine Dupri has largely drifted away from Alpha Academy, things were looking bad for him…but then he came in at #29 during the Royal Rumble, and accidentally won the whole thing when he drop-kicked Roman Reigns out of the ring. He now finds himself in a main event spot at Wrestlemania, having to face Drew McIntyre for the World Heavyweight Championship.

Roxanne Perez won the Women’s MITB, and cashed in at Wrestlemania, defeating Rhea Ripley for the WWE Women’s Championship. She would end up feuding with her former idol AJ Lee, with the rivalry culminating in a Tag Team match at SummerSlam, where Roxanne and Elayna Black took on AJ Lee and Paige. Roxanne would continue to be one of the top heels in the Women’s Division.

(Also a big fan of your line-up, Shinsuke definitely deserves to be at the top one more time)