5 Ring of Honor wrestlers who would thrive in WWE

If you look up and down the current WWE roster, you will notice that a number of names competing on the Raw, SmackDown Live and NXT brands have roots in Ring of Honor.

This would have been almost unfathomable five years ago when almost all of WWE's biggest stars were homegrown talent, but the heights reached by former ROH talent CM Punk and Daniel Bryan seemingly changed WWE's perception of what makes a superstar in 2016.

Since then, WWE has been wise to sign some of the biggest stars ROH has had to offer. Look no further than Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe and Austin Aries as the biggest success stories in recent years.

When WWE picks up a top talent from ROH, the northeastern-based promotion simply regenerates and builds up new main event players in their absence. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that their roster right now is as stacked as it has ever been.

There have been quite a few rumblings as of late that WWE might be aggressively pursuing several stars from ROH once their deals are up later this month. If so, NXT could have an influx of new talent at the onset of 2017 and beyond.

There are a handful of up-and-coming athletes in ROH at the moment that would thrive in WWE, but here are the top five.

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#5 Donovan Dijak

As the winner of the 2015 Top Prospect Tournament, Donovan Dijak has plenty of potential to be a big star wherever he goes. You have to think Ring of Honor had him win the tourney for a reason, but they have yet to do anything worthwhile with him outside of a short-lived stint with The House of Truth.

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To me, ROH missed the boat big time with him at All Star Extravaganza when he failed to win the ROH World Television Championship in his home state of Massachusetts. That was a golden opportunity to solidify him as a star right then and there, but they failed to pull the trigger.

For someone of his immense size, he should not be able to do half the things he can in the ring. Needless to say, he's an incredible athlete, and with Vince McMahon having a fascination with big guys, he would be on the receiving end of a major league push in WWE in no time.

#4 Dalton Castle

Dalton Castle may not be the best technical wrestler Ring of Honor has to offer, but he is surely entertaining. Within a mere matter of years, he became one of the company's most over acts, thanks to his flamboyance and natural charisma, along with his “boys.”

It has never been outright stated that Castle's character is gay, and even if it was implied, does it really matter? The guy is great, and for someone as colourful and as fun to watch as him, he should be doing much more than he is right now in ROH.

Castle was embroiled in a wild rivalry with Donovan Dijak for a year, but beyond that, he has been floundering, unsuccessfully challenging for the ROH World Television and World Tag Team Championships on several occasions this year.

As long as WWE didn't centre the character around his sexual orientation or take everything away from him that has made him special, he would be an ideal “sports entertainer” for them.

#3 The Motor City Machine Guns

I don't think there is much doubt that ROH has the greatest tag team division in wrestling today, hence why they have since introduced a World Six-Man Tag Team Championship. That said, you can't go wrong by picking up any of their tandems because they would all be excellent additions to WWE's nearly depleted tag team scene.

Of course, WWE would be out of their minds to not at least approach The Young Bucks about coming in once their deals are up later this month, but in all honesty, I think they would die a painful death in WWE.

Not because they aren't good, because they are, but rather because WWE would simply want to own their name and would water down their insanely fun superkick shtick.

Thus, The Motor City Machine Guns would be the best fit for WWE because much wouldn't need to be changed about them. They have long been one of the best tag teams in the world and would have a stellar series of matches with the likes of American Alpha, The New Day, The Club and The Usos.

#2 Jay Lethal

Similar to The Motor City Machine Guns, Jay Lethal spent a number of years in TNA earlier on in his career, but he truly didn't evolve into the main event calibre competitor he is today until he returned to Ring of Honor in 2011.

Upon his comeback to the company, he became the first man to hold the ROH World Television Championship twice as well as the first to hold the TV and ROH World Championships simultaneously.

He reigned as world champ for over a year, successfully retaining his title against all-comers including Colt Cabana, Jay Briscoe, AJ Styles and others.

From his exceptional in-ring ability to his remarkable mic skills, Lethal is among the best all-around wrestlers in the world today.

At only 31-years-old, there is still plenty of time for him to join WWE, and with officials reportedly interested in bringing him in, perhaps we could see him surface in the promotion he has long desired to work for sooner rather than later.

#1 Adam Cole

At first glance, Adam Cole looks like someone who fits the WWE mould to perfection. He possesses every possible skill they want in a Superstar, not to mention he has shown in recent years that he would represent the company with class and honour (no pun intended, of course).

It is amazing to think that at only 27 years of age, he has already won almost every active title Ring of Honor has to offer, in addition to holding the world title twice. He is actually fresh off losing the prestigious prize at Friday's Final Battle pay-per-view, leading to speculation he could be WWE bound in the foreseeable future.

It's more a matter of when and not if we will see Cole in WWE at some point, and whether he should have a run in NXT first or be brought up to the main roster immediately is another point of contention. Either way, Cole will be a major star for WWE at some point in his wrestling career.

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