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Is your favorite superstar the future of The WWE?
While the WWE Universe might want to believe that their favorite superstar will go on to be the future of the company, it doesn't always work out that way. Unfortunately for fans and the superstars that they love, WWE often times doesn't care what the fans want and instead just do what they deem to be best for business.
With that being said and the line between contender and pretender becoming more and more obvious by the day, here are five superstars that are the future of the company and five that never will be. Keep in mind that some of the picks will be chosen by how the company sees a superstar, but it will also have to do with their own performance as well.
Enjoy the list and as always feel free to let us know what you think in the comments below. Also, make sure to let us know if you believe we made any mistakes in our picks and let us know your own.
Future Of The Company: Kevin Owens
WWE might not see Kevin Owens as a long-term option as a top guy; his run with the Universal title last year proved that Owens could take the ball and run with it if he wanted to. Between that and his ability to eviscerate opponents on the microphone, he is just someone that is always going to be in WWE's plans one way or another.
Not only that, Owens is also one of the most popular heels The WWE has right now and they have used him quite nicely over the last couple of months. In fact, his feud with Bruan Strowman at Money In The Bank and Extreme Rules is some of the best storytelling that WWE has done and is indicative of the fact that WWE knows how to write for Owens.
Not the Future of the Company: Sami Zayn
WWE might have done a smart thing by turning Sami Zayn heel and making him the guardian angel of Kevin Owens last year, but his shoulder is sure to kill any momentum he made with that. Unfortunately for Zayn, between that and being injury prone, Zayn has an uphill battle when it comes to WWE management putting a lot of stock in him.
With that being said, it seems very unlikely that Zayn will ever be able to shake that midcard stigma that has plagued him over the course of his career. Furthermore, it seems like once he is finally able to get the ball rolling momentum wise, he is bogged down by injuries, which puts him back at square one.
In the end, Zayn just isn't a long term option as a babyface or heel and is too injury prone to really even take a chance on. Another problem is that he always seems to play second fiddle to Kevin Owens when they are involved in storylines together, which is another indicator that Zayn isn't favored by management at all!
Future of the Company: Elias
WWE always seems to be doing something with Elias, which is more than what can be said for most of the midcard right now and is at least a sign that WWE has some faith in him. Whether that faith continues as time goes on or not remains to be seen, but with an album out, a decent enough midcard feud and weekly concerts, WWE enjoys using him.
With that being said, Elias is one of those guys that are great in almost any situation you put them in. He's able to draw heat in a matter of seconds and his narcissistic personality is enough to get fans rioting. If nothing else, he is one of the best midcard heels in WWE today and deserves to be cheered!
Not the Future of the Company: Rusev
This might come across as a controversial choice for most of The WWE Universe, especially with how organically over Rusev day is, but WWE has proven time and time again that they just don't have long term plans for The Bulgarian brute. Furthermore, they have proven that they don't want Rusev to succeed either.
Think about it! Rusev day was the most ridiculous concept for a gimmick in WWE for a long time and the company knew that. Unfortunately for WWE, their plan to turn Rusev into a joke gimmick didn't work and along with the enchanted singing of Aiden English made it the hottest thing on Smackdown Live.
With that being said, fan support can only get you so far in WWE and it looks like it will never be enough for the company to really do something with Rusev. Maybe that has to do with the things that Rusev has done backstage in the past, but it seems obvious that something is always going to hold Rusev back from the top level.
Future of the Company: Sasha Banks
While it's been rumored that Vince McMahon doesn't have a lot of faith in Sasha Banks to be headlining the women's division, she has proven time and time again why she deserves to. Of course, WWE has repeatedly held her down after her back and forth title picture with Charlotte, but that doesn't mean they can't build her up as a contender again.
In the end, Sasha Banks just has everything a superstar needs to headline a division and sooner or later WWE is going to notice it. Furthermore, Banks has one of those confident, but endearing personalities which makes her a larger than life entity and really helps her connect with the fans in the process.
If nothing else, it's not a matter of if, but when Banks comes back into the title picture. Then again, it could be awhile with heavyweight like Ronda Rousey, Nia Jax and Alexa Bliss all on Raw right now, but all that could change if she got moved to the blue brand. In fact, it could help her rehash the feuds that made her popular in the first place, which would be fun to see.
Not the Future of the company: Asuka
Asuka has been on a downward spiral ever since her undefeated streak was ended by Charlotte at WrestleMania 34 and it just continues to get worse as time goes on. What also seems to be getting worse is the storylines that WWE is giving Asuka to work with, which is another sign that things aren't going well for The Empress of Tomorrow.
With that being said, it was rumored that Vince McMahon changed his mind on Asuka being a main event contender sometime before WrestleMania 34 and that's why she lost the match with Charlotte. If true, that means WWE will likely not see her as a contender moving forward and will thus take away everything that made the character special to start with.
In the end, it wasn't only her dominance in the ring or her aggression towards her opponents, but how good she made everything look every time she stepped out there. She was able to pull off reversals out of nowhere, which made her dangerous in any time of a match. But WWE doesn't even bother to do that anymore.
Unfortunately for fans of Asuka, Vince McMahon is the final decision when it comes to what makes it on television and he apparently doesn't see much in her. With that in mind, why should The WWE Universe see anything in her either if WWE is just going to keep bogging her down with crappy storylines?
Future of the company: Bobby Rhoode
Bobby Rhoode hasn't had the easiest transition onto the main roster after a successful run in WWE, but the crowd seems to be behind him no matter what he does. In fact, even though The WWE has noticeably given up on Rhoode multiple times, he always tries to make the best of a bad situation and give the fans something to remember.
While Rhoode will probably be the only person on this list that is still worth rooting for, despite WWE's opinion of him, he is really the only one that deserves that moniker. In all honesty, he just looks happy to be there and happy to be entertaining fans with his Glorious gimmick and sooner or later, WWE is going to capitalize on it.
And it will be, absolutely GLORIOUS!
Not the Future of the company: Bobby Lashley
Bobby Lashley might have come back to WWE in hopes of being the company's top guy, but it seemed to be a bad idea from the get-go. Not only was that evident by how boring Lashley was on the microphone during his feud with Sami Zayn, but also by how bad the material was that WWE gave Lashley.
Of course, WWE tried to remedy that by having him beat Roman Reigns at Extreme Rules, but they quickly ruined it by having Reigns return the favor during a number one contenders match for The Universal title. Unfortunately for Lashley and his fans, that was the last time the former MMA fighter was relevant and that might be the case for quite a while.
In the end, he's just boring to watch on the microphone and while he can go when its time to get in the ring, WWE doesn't even seem interested in trying to write good stuff for him. Furthermore, WWE seems far more interested in superstars like Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Drew McIntyre, which means that Lashley will always be overlooked.
Future of the company: Roman Reigns
Whether The WWE Universe wants to admit it or not, Roman Reigns is the future of the company and there is nothing that is going to change that. Of course, fans have let The WWE know what they think about that time and time again, but they don't seem to care.
In fact, WWE is still pushing Reigns after a failed drug test, a multitude of bad reactions, two terrible title runs and some of the worst mic work The WWE has ever seen. If nothing else, WWE is willing to ignore absolutely any problem they run into with Reigns and continue to push him to the top.
With that being said, why doesn't The WWE Universe just give up and accept him as the future of the company? Furthermore, why don't they at least let WWE show where they are going with this storyline and let it develop? At least that way they can at least make an informed decision instead of just basing their opinion on past incidents.
In the end, it's going to happen whether fans want it to or not. WWE has proven before that they are willing to ignore any of Reigns faults, so what makes anyone think that WWE is suddenly going to stop doing that and kick him down a peg? Not only would that make no sense, it also wouldn't go along with what has already happened.
Not the Future of the company: Finn Balor
Where did WWE go wrong with Finn Balor?
How in the world did they take the most popular entity in the history of NXT and turn him into a midcard jobber that is used to help other big stars? Believe it or not, that's all Balor is good for now after losing to Seth Rollins, Kane, Bruan Strowman and Baron Corbin this year and it looks like things are not going to get better from there.
Furthermore, Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, Bruan Strowman and Kevin Owens seem to be the only people that the company wants in the title picture on Raw, which means no rematch for Balor. With that being said however, probably the worst thing WWE did to Balor was taking away his demon mode character.
If nothing else, these things all mixed together is the reason that Balor failed in WWE and it's also the reason why he won't succeed in being the future of the company. Sure, he might get a title shot and even a run or two before all is said and done, but he is never going to measure up to that of stars like Rollins, Reigns, Owens, Strowman and even Ambrose.
In the end, Balor is quickly becoming a waste of time. While that may sound mean, WWE taking away the demon character gives Balor no depth and forces him to rely on mic work. Maybe that would be ok if Balor could emote better when not in demon mode, but he has shown so far that he can't, which means he's in limbo right now.
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