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Outside of a handful of WWE Superstars, almost every wrestler who works for WWE has fans who think they could be the company's top star if just given the chance.
Whilst that certainly won't apply to every wrestler WWE has ever had on its books, we have seen countless examples of WWE Superstars languishing in the company, only to find a new lease of life when elsewhere.
We've seen Dean Ambrose absolutely shine outside of WWE in New Japan Pro Wrestling and All Elite Wrestling. We've seen the former Hideo Itami become a top star in NJPW as KENTA and former SAnitY leader Eric Young immediately won the IMPACT world title after returning to the company.
But, looking at all of the former superstars that WWE released in 2021, which ones have the most potential to become stars, future world champions and top main event players in professional wrestling? Let's see!
#5. Former WWE World Champion Braun Strowman
Some might argue that Braun Strowman was already in the main event for WWE, especially as they gave him a world title run. However, I think it's very obvious his title run was a filler one and that they had no legitimate plans for Strowman to be one of the company's top champions.
And indeed, Strowman was often on the cusp of superstardom in WWE, but every time he seemed to be getting close to breaking out as one of the company's top stars, his booking would eventually go on to let him down.
But anyone who has watched Strowman at his best will know exactly what The Monster Among Men is capable of and will think it's obvious that the big man should be in the main event of a wrestling promotion, not just because of his size, but his athleticism as well.
#4. Former WWE Women's Tag Team Champions The IIconics
Why settle for one main event player in your promotion when you can bag yourself two in a package deal? That's how anyone should be looking at released WWE Superstars Peyton Royce and Billie Kay.
The Australian duo were television gold throughout their time in WWE providing some of the best authentically funny moments WWE has had in recent years, particularly Billie Kay's 'Did you go to journalism for that?' backstage statement.
They're also not half bad wrestlers either, having won the WWE Women's Tag Team Titles at WrestleMania 35.
I truly believe the IIconics can be top stars in any wrestling promotion and would've been lynchpins of WWE's women's division had the company not made one fatal mistake - splitting them up.
As long as you keep Peyton Royce and Billie Kay together, let them do what they do best, and crucially give them the in-ring results to go along with it, you've definitely got a main event act on your hands!
#3. Former WWE Riott Squad leader Ruby Riott
Ruby Riott may go down in history as one of the most talented WWE Superstars to not win a single title during their WWE run, which is an absolute travesty for someone as good as she is.
Even one of the biggest, if not the biggest, Superstars in all of Sports Entertainment, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson commented on how much of an obvious star in the making Ruby Riott was by offering her words of encouragement.
Riott's former tag team partner Liv Morgan was also full of praise for the release Superstar saying 'whoever is lucky enough to get Heidi Lovelace (Ruby Riott) on their roster, you win.'
It's clear that those around Ruby Riott and in the same industry as her can see what kind of talent she is and it seems that she'll likely get snapped up quickly. One thing's for certain, she'll be an instant star wherever she ends up!
#2. Former WWE NXT star Ezra Judge
If there's one thing that will automatically tell you if someone has a future outside of WWE or not, it's how quickly they get snapped up following their release and NXT's Ezra Judge, now known as Ed Njuka, has been snapped up very quickly.
And in Judge's case, that's particularly impressive given that he was one of the non-wrestling WWE Performance Center recruits, so his wrestling career is still in its relative infancy.
It was also recently reported that Nduka's departure from WWE was a shock to those at the WWE Performance Center because he had been marked out for stardom in the company and was progressing well.
It could even be argued, then, that out of all of the WWE Superstars that were released this year, Nduka is the one with the most breakout potential. With that in mind, he's sure to be a huge player for Major League Wrestling!
#1. Former WWE Cruiserweight Champion Tony Nese
Like Braun Strowman, the next entry on this list is a former champion in WWE. But unlike Braun Strowman, Tony Nese has never had the opportunity to branch out from the pigeonhole they put him in, which was 205 Live.
Unlike other former 205 Live stars like Cedric Alexander, Drew Gulak, Mustafa Ali and Buddy Murphy. Tony Nese was never afforded the chance to move from 205 Live to RAW or SmackDown to take on some of WWE's best and brightest.
I am very much of the opinion that had he been able to do so, he would have absolutely stolen the show and put on some stellar matches for WWE's biggest television audiences.
Nese clearly has all of the tools to be a top star. It's clear that former WWE Superstar and ECW Legend Tommy Dreamer thinks so as well as he's already laid out an offer at Nese's feet to join IMPACT Wrestling.
