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The current generation of WWE wrestlers grew up watching the stars in the business before them. When the likes of Seth Rollins, Alexa Bliss, and Sasha Banks were growing up, they would tune in to WrestleMania to watch their favorite Superstars.
It was these stars that inspired many of the current crop of stars to lace up a pair of wrestling boots for the first time. It appears that the last generation of WWE talent inspired some future stars, with many of them going on to pay tribute to their childhood idols at some point in their career.
Here are some of the current crop of WWE stars who have revealed who they looked up to in the wrestling business when they were growing up.
#5. Carmella and Miss Elizabeth
Miss Elizabeth was an icon in her day, she was by Randy Savage's side throughout some of the biggest moments in wrestling history and even married him on TV (even though the couple were already married).
Like many women in WWE at present, Miss Elizabeth was a trailblazer in her own time and so it comes as no surprise that she is the woman that Carmella looked up to as a child.
The Princess of Staten Island is a second-generation WWE Superstar, her father Paul Van Dale wrestled for WWE in the '90s, which is why the former SmackDown Women's Champion was a fan of the business when she was younger.
Carmella was part of a Q&A with WWE.com back in 2015, where she revealed that she idolized Miss Elizabeth growing up.
“When I was a little girl, I loved Miss Elizabeth. I would dress up in my old dance costumes and my dad would carry me around on his shoulder. I thought I was a true Diva. Sometimes the craziest dreams actually turn into reality and I truly feel blessed for this opportunity.”
#4. Roman Reigns and Bret Hart
Roman Reigns comes from a family of professional wrestlers, but whilst the former WWE Champion was a late bloomer in the wrestling business, he has been a WWE fan for most of his life and was able to idolize one particular star.
With his own father in the wrestling business whilst he was growing up, it comes as a shock that Roman Reigns actually idolized Bret Hart. The Big Dog spoke to Yahoo Sports back in 2015 and was able to reveal his love of The Hitman.
“Every time he’d come out with that leather jacket and give his sunglasses away to a kid in the crowd, I used to dream about being that kid. That hair, all that gear. To this day I still think he has kickass gear. He seemed like a standup guy. A really nice dude. He is a very cool dude.”
It appears that Roman Reigns is one of the stars who supported Bret Hart over Shawn Michaels during their feud in WWE throughout the '90s.
#3. Sasha Banks and Eddie Guerrero
Sasha Banks has broken down glass ceilings in WWE ever since she made her debut in the company back in 2013, the former Women's Champion has been an integral part of the Women's Evolution as part of the company that she always dreamed of working for.
Growing up as an avid wrestling fan, Sasha Banks was inspired by The Latino Heat, Eddie Guerrero. The former WWE Champion 'lied, cheated and stole' his way into the heart of The Boss, who has gone on to pay tribute to Guerrero with a number of different attires throughout her WWE career.
Banks spoke to The Independent ahead of her WrestleMania match back in 2019 where she was able to reveal how much Guerrero inspired her throughout her WWE career.
“Vickie [Guerrero – Eddie’s wife] has been nothing but amazing to me, her and her family. She once actually gave me a pair of Eddie Guerrero’s tights, and she has absolutely no idea what that means to me! I just hope that I am just making Eddie and his name proud. I am not related to them, but he had a huge impact on my life. I wouldn’t be here as a person if it wasn’t for Eddie Guerrero.
It’s cool to see when I do autograph signings, people actually get me to sign things of Eddie, yet there are a lot of people who’ve never seen an Eddie Guerrero match. We talk about it and they want to go and watch and that makes me over the moon... I want everyone to know how amazing he was and how much of an influence he was on my career.”
#2. Kevin Owens and Owen Hart
It was a long road to WWE for Kevin Owens, who had already made a name for himself on the Independent circuit as Kevin Steen before WWE came calling. Owens is a life-long wrestling fan and was a huge fan of the late Owen Hart, so much so that the former Universal Champion even went on to name his son after the star.
Owens' ring name in WWE is also inspired by the youngest member of the Hart Foundation, who lost his life back at Over The Edge in 1999.
Owens has revealed many times that Owens had a huge impact on his life both inside and outside of the ring and he even shares his birthday with the late WWE star, something which reportedly blew Owens' mind when he found out.
Owens Tweeted the following back in 2015:
"Owen Hart was a huge influence on me. As a kid, the fact that we share a birthday blew my mind…and it still does now! One of the best ever!"
#1. Humberto Carrilo and Rey Mysterio
Rey Mysterio is one of the best Latino wrestlers to have ever stepped foot in a WWE ring, if not the best. Over the years Mysterio has been responsible for inspiring some of the greatest names in the business to lace up their boots. Over the past year, Mysterio has been able to work with one of the men he inspired on WWE TV.
Humberto Carrillo grew up watching the work that Mysterio was doing for WWE around the world and this inspired the Mexican star to step into the business.
Carrillo was given the chance to work alongside Rey Mysterio on WWE TV earlier this year when he stepped into a feud against Andrade and then against his cousin, Angel Garza.
Carrillo hasn't been seen on WWE for a few months since he hasn't been needed in the Seth Rollins/Rey Mysterio storyline, but he could return and help take Dominik under his wing in the future unless Mysterio makes a return to WWE TV.
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