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There are many important figures currently enjoying a great run down in NXT, and one man that we believe to be an integral part of the brand going forward is none other than Robert Stone - formerly known as Robbie E over in TNA.
He's been doing a great job of managing Chelsea Green over the course of the last few weeks, and that trend looks set to continue as we look ahead to the remainder of 2020 and beyond. While the immediate future of NXT may be in doubt, we still think it's important to think about what'll go down once we're back into a normal routine.
Therefore, we thought it'd be a good idea to list a few stars who we believe could really benefit from associating themselves with Stone.
#5 Bobby Fish
We can understand why the idea of Bobby Fish being out on his own may make some feel uncomfortable, if only because he's been such a committed and loyal member of The Undisputed Era for so long now.
Alas, now that he's nearing his mid-40s, we feel like this is the time to pull the trigger on him becoming a singles star in NXT. He's never been the biggest talker in the world, but he does have the kind of heel look and persona that just seems to work.
Stone and Fish could have the kind of relationship that Heyman and Lesnar have - where we don't even really understand whether or not they get on or why they associate with one another, and yet, it just seems to do wonders for both.
Together, they could quickly establish themselves as one of the most dislikeable pairings in all of NXT - and that's hard to do.
#4 Kona Reeves
We've seen a handful of reboots in the last few years for Kona Reeves, and none of them seem to work. In our mind, we see him as the kind of character that would work really well as a guy who flukes a win here and there on his way to capturing a midcard title, and if he gets over, they can push him even higher than that.
He's unconventional, he's young, and he's clearly got the potential to gain a lot of heat under the right set of circumstances. Robert Stone could be the man who helps to bring that demon out of him, even if Stone himself probably gets a bit annoyed at him too in our fantasy booking world.
There's a whole lot of potential in this storyline, to the point where Stone could become one of the most poweful managers in all of WWE. It's a long shot, and some would say a risk, but we're backing it to work better than most could imagine.
#3 Mansoor
Initially, it seemed as if Mansoor was going to be used as the poster boy for WWE's relationship with Saudi Arabia and nothing more. While there is certainly some truth to that, he seems to have exceeded many expectations when it comes to his in-ring ability.
Now, if he can work on creating some kind of personality or character for himself, WWE could be off to the races.
As a good looking, talented young guy, there's a very good chance he would thrive as a heel - and as we know, you don't necessarily need to be able to talk well in order to thrive in such a role.
We're big fans of Mansoor even at such an early point in his career, and we don't think WWE should sleep on him. If they want to build up NXT as a legitimate third brand they need some home-grown stars to go alongside the incoming talent from the indies, and in our opinion, Mansoor can lead that charge with Robert Stone by his side.
#2 Fandango
We're well aware of the fact that Fandango is able to talk really well on the mic without assistance, and we aren't suggesting that he stops doing that if he stood side by side with Robert Stone.
We just think there's so much more they could be doing with him. It's all about highlighting the positives in a business like this, and Fandango has an awful lot of positives.
He has a sensational look, he's got a decent move set, and he's a veteran that knows what it takes to build a story as well as have a good match.
How far he's able to go is a different matter altogether, but you could have some real fun with it. These two could have skits backstage where they talk about how successful and beautiful they are, they could team up in tag action, or they could fluctuate between being babyfaces and heels whenever it suits them.
It's all about taking a shot and exploring the alternatives, however weird they may seem.
#1 Austin Theory
A whole bunch of people are of the belief that Austin Theory is the future of this business, and it's pretty hard to argue against that point. However, we aren't so sure that introducing him to the masses as a babyface is a good thing.
At the risk of sounding harsh, he just seems to have the look of someone that would be a great heel. Instead of being the kind of bad guy that just cheats to win, though, we'd have him just beat everyone in his way through technical ability alone.
Robert Stone's job would be pretty simple: just let the world know how amazing Austin Theory is. Eventually, as fans start to learn how good he really is, the transition over into becoming a good guy can begin.
At that point, there's some super fun stuff you could do between the two of them that would not only help Theory, but would keep Stone's momentum as a manager going.
Either way, Theory is gonna be huge.
