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The future is certainly bright if WWE wants to capitalizeThe WWE is extremely rich with talent. While a number of superstars are out injured, their impending return is a great cause for excitement.The likes of Seth Rollins, John Cena and Randy Orton were major players at the top of the card and their injuries have exposed a significant lack of star power on the WWE roster as is demonstrated by a 46-year-old part-timer triple H winning the rumble and the WWE title.As of now, WWE has one major storyline which is Roman reigns vs the McMahons. The problem is that while Roman has gained some amount of popularity, he is prone to getting horrible reactions (see: Hunter eliminating reigns from the rumble to cheers).Hopefully, WWE will learn from their mistakes in the wake of the injury crisis and attempt to make more stars in the future. With that in mind, I will attempt to pick out 5 superstars around whom WWE should build their future because after all, John Cena won't stick around forever.Some honorable mentions are bray Wyatt mainly for the potential his character has, Hideo Itami for his popularity in the Japanese market and Styles, Samoa Joe and Austin Aries for their Indy credentials.The latter 4 have largely missed out on a spot due to advancing age and lopsided injury record, but deserve at least a short run at the top of the card, but let's leave that for another day.Another name that just missed out in this list was Bayley. In my defense, I attempted to make it a male-oriented list since, for some unfortunate or fortunate (your opinion) reason, WWE does the same.
#5 Kalisto
For years, WWE has struggled to create the ‘new Rey Mysterio’ for their Latino market. Sin Cara (Mistico version) was a disaster and Alberto Del Rio never gained enough traction as a heel or face.
His work in Lucha Underground proves that he has what it takes, but for whatever reason it hasn’t worked out in WWE on either occasion. Now, finally, WWE has a readymade solution on their hands. He wears a mask, he’s a luchador and most of all, he is loved by everyone and is the ultimate underdog (sorry rockstar spud), sound familiar?
Aside from the obvious Rey Mysterio comparisons, Kalisto is absolutely amazing in the ring and has some truly breathtaking offence. His finisher, the Salida Del Sol does the job and he has immense potential.
In my opinion, he could have a little time at the top of the card, but his future is brightest as an upper mid-card talent having amazing matches and perhaps revitalizing and restarting a cruiserweight division (sound familiar?).
Regardless, it would be foolish of WWE to not capitalize on his talent.
Now, on the bright side, Kalisto is gaining momentum and is the WWE United States Champion (now a 2-time champ) after having a string of matches with Alberto Del Rio and he has nowhere to go, but up.
Hopefully, WWE realise this and his upswing continues.
#4 Sasha Banks
In the past few months, the NXT women’s division, specifically Charlotte, Becky Lynch, Bayley and the next entrant on this list, Sasha Banks have received loads of well-deserved praise for revitalizing women’s wrestling in WWE.
The Divas Revolution may have started out with some excitement, but it soon became boring and pointless. However, finally, it looks like WWE is back on track. After a solid feud between Becky Lynch and Charlotte, Sasha Banks made a return to a monumental pop at the royal rumble and inserted herself into the feud.
A triple threat looks like the most likely outcome, but you have to imagine WWE is building towards Sasha’s crowning moment at the grandaddy of them all.
If anyone has earned the respect of fans, it’s Sasha Banks. Trained by Sara Del Rey, she repeatedly stole the show in NXT (with all three of the aforementioned names) and main evented an NXT takeover event opposite Bayley in the first ever WWE women’s iron man match.
Sasha tore the house down and has the potential to do the same on the main roster. One of the biggest positives about the ‘boss’ is that she is effective as a face, heel, and a tweener as well. She can be the modern day incarnation of Ric Flair (sorry Charlotte), the heel champ or Hulk Hogan (except she can wrestle).
Her versatility will be her biggest asset and WWE must use it to build the Divas division around the Boston Boss.
#3 Finn Balor
Ah the NXT champion. The demon has so many components to his character. He could be a rightful heir to the Undertaker, a heel stable leader (à la bullet club) or underdog babyface who doesn’t back down from fights- his current moniker. He has been hugely successful thus far in NJPW, the second largest wrestling promotion as the IWGP world champion and is the current NXT champion. He may not have the look or even the mic skills of some of the ruthless aggression era stars, but he has an infectious charisma that is unmatched. People are attracted to him like they were to Ultimate Warrior (except he can wrestle.. man this is a recurring theme).
Balor is one of those superstars who always has an amazing match and tells a great story. His ‘demon’ alter ego has fantastic potential as a storyline arc for the big occasions.
Have him feud with and fail to overcome, say Kevin Owens (more on him later) and after all else fails, turn to the demon that downed Owens down in NXT. His style means he can also work as a tag team specialist with another talent.
As of now, Balor could be placed in contention for any championship and people would buy it – he’s that good.
PS: The only reason he’s 3 and the no 2 is in that position is because he is 3 years older and I couldn’t separate the two on any other stance or aspect.
#2 Sami Zayn
The man formerly known as El Generico is one of the most popular wrestling underdogs in the world today. Sami Zayn has struck gold in WWE.
That amazing match with Cesaro, winning the NXT title, but most of all revisiting the legendary Steen-Generico feud from Ring of Honour as he feuded with Kevin Owens – Sami has delivered every time. Hi winning the NXT championship was very well received, but for a sign of his popularity, just look at the crowd reaction to him answering the John Cena US title Open Challenge.
He is a born underdog and in my opinion, if booked correctly, will be the second coming of Daniel Bryan. A feud against Kevin Owens has proved to be a huge draw in both ROH and NXT and one hopes WWE will revisit this in the future.
Also, yes I am a huge Zayniac. Sami Zayn recently returned to action after an injury and got a pop comparable, maybe even louder than AJ Styles’ as he eliminated his former best friend Kevin Owens in a smart and logical booking decision.
Sure, Sami was thrown out by Braun Strowman and it looks like he’ll stay in NXT for a little longer before making the jump to the main roster, but it was a sign of things to come. Sami Zayn has a bright future and he can help WWE get one too.
#1 Kevin Owens
The prizefighter of WWE is one of the best prospects for the future taking into consideration that WWE has never had top level heels as champions.
From Hogan to Austin to John Cena, they have always had babyfaces eventually overcoming the odds except for maybe Triple H. Now, WWE has a dearth of heels on its roster. With Seth Rollins injured, the no 1 heel position outside of the authority (which is useless due to the lack of comeuppance) went to Sheamus.
He made a stable out of Del Rio, Rusev, Barret and himself – perennial mid carders pushed to the top because of the lack of heels. Roman Reigns ran them over and they have lost all of their credibility to the surprise of none.
In the reality era, Kevin Owens is a dying breed. He is an old school heel, talks trash, runs his mouth, but most of all, he chooses when to fight and when he does, and he wins (hopefully, anyway).
His debut against John Cena and his heel work was fantastic. The crowd wanted to love him, but he made them hate him. That is truly a master of heel work. A positive spin to this is that Owens can also be a successful babyface.
His in ring work is outstanding and he is the perfect, conniving douchebag on the microphone around whom WWE should build their future.
