Throughout the current Vegeta is being primed to replace the God of Destruction, Lord Beerus, especially after Vegeta successfully harnessed the god-level energy of Destruction. However, when taking a deeper look into the lore, it becomes clear that–even with all the set-up indicating that Vegeta will become Lord Beerus’ replacement–there is another fighter who would fit the role even better: Frieza.
After Lord Beerus made his debut in the first chapter of Dragon Ball Super, he raised the bar of attainable power for both Vegeta and Goku. Soon after Beerus' introduction, the Saiyan warriors fully committed themselves to reaching his level. After some intense training, Vegeta was finally able to access destructive energy and unlocked the transformation of Ultra Ego. While Vegeta is still trying to master Ultra Ego, the fact that Vegeta was able to successfully use the god-tier power indicates that he is one step closer to becoming his universe’s new God of Destruction. But unfortunately for Vegeta, that just isn’t the case as there is way more evidence to suggest that Frieza is on the way to becoming the new God of Destruction beyond a single transformation—and it's been right under everyone’s noses for decades.
In Dragon Ball chapter 264 by Akira Toriyama, Frieza is on Planet Namek trying to gather the Dragon Balls and reveals that he is actually worried about the Saiyans who were working to defeat him. This anxiety is due to a premonition Frieza had which foretold his death at the hands of a Super Saiyan. This vision is a direct parallel of Lord Beerus’ debut in Dragon Ball Super as he only meets Goku and Vegeta because of a premonition he had that foretold his death at the hands of a Super Saiyan God. The only difference is that Frieza’s vision came true after he was defeated by a Super Saiyan Goku on Planet Namek and then Frieza was killed by a Super Saiyan Trunks some time later, whereas Beerus hasn’t yet been struck down by a mysterious Super Saiyan God.
The link between Frieza and Beerus doesn’t end with nearly identical visions of their own deaths, however, because the two actually have history together. Before Frieza destroyed Planet Vegeta, he approached Lord Beerus and asked the god for permission to carry out such a catastrophic act, since destroying entire worlds is the sole privilege of Destroyer Gods, and Frieza understood and respected that cosmic rule. Essentially, when Frieza destroyed Planet Vegeta, he was technically already doing the work of a Destroyer God as he was keeping life in the universe in check by obliterating a species with the potential to lay waste to any other life form in the existence–with the current power displayed by Goku and Vegeta being prime examples of this as truth.
Frieza understands the role of a God of Destruction, and more importantly, he shows the position the respect it deserves. Not only that, but Frieza may be a necessary evil that the universe needs, given Beerus’ most recent actions. Beerus has seemingly grown weary of his position in every aspect aside from the title, since he mostly sleeps and eats rather than doing what he’s supposed to do and destroy planets. Frieza, on the other hand, loves obliterating entire worlds and proved to be an effective bringer of destructive order to the universe through the necessary annihilation of Planet Vegeta. From literary parallels in the form of identical visions of the future, to Frieza’s previous actions being the perfect prerequisite for the position, to the fact that the Dragon Ball universe may actually benefit from Frieza filling the role, it seems clear that Vegeta isn’t actually Lord Beerus’ best replacement because Frieza is.
