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Professional wrestling is a booming industry these days. However, unlike the glory days of the famed territory era, there are not many options if you want to compete at the highest level. Once WCW was bought-out, competition came to a dead halt.
Sure, TNA had a period of time where they were producing a watch-worthy product. But those guys could not stand the test of time and in the end, they never offered much legitimate competition to the "E."
Aside from that, we have the stars of New Japan Pro Wrestling and yes, that is a promotion where you are guaranteed top-notch performances on a consistent basis. But, even as great as NJPW, it is still not the big-money player that WWE is.
With this said, it's obvious that most of the very best stars in the world are under a WWE contract and are either actively working on one of the main rosters, or they are in NXT.
There's still an abundance of talent out there that WWE officials should pay a little extra attention to. In this column, we will take a look at 5 of the very best non-WWE wrestlers in the world today that WWE should make an attempt to sign. We would like to invite you to look through this list and see how many of these stars you are familiar with.
#5 Jay and Mark Briscoe (The Briscoes)
It was nearly a decade ago that Mark and Jay Briscoe participated in a tryout which was held during a Smackdown/ECW taping in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Roughly a month later, The Briscoes were called to come back down to Tampa, to participate in a follow-up tryout at the then WWE developmental promotion FCW.
Mark and Jay have stated that they felt confident that they did everything they could to win-over the talent scouts. However, they were informed by John Laurinaitis that while they were indeed talented, they were simply "not cosmetically pleasing enough for WWE programming."
Since being turned down by WWE officials in 2009, Mark and Jay Briscoe have gone on to have legendary careers with ROH, both individually as singles competitors, as well as collectively as a tag team. There have been a number of world titles and tag titles won by The Briscoes and to this day, they continue to dominate the scene as the current ROH Tag Team Champions.
It's obvious that these guys have something to offer the WWE Universe. It's time for WWE officials to take a look back at the reasoning behind The Briscoes not being offered a contract and possibly reconsider while Mark and Jay are still competing at such a high level.
#4 Young Bucks
One of the biggest questions in wrestling for the past several years has been "What will it take to sign the Young Bucks?" That question has remained a mystery for some time now, but for Nick and Matt Jackson, it's going to take much more than promises of bright lights and big crowds. These brothers have already created their own cult-like following and from the looks of it, they appear to be doing just fine without the help of the "E."
It's common knowledge that The Young Bucks are one of the, if not the greatest tag team on Earth at the moment. They have travelled the world on their celestial Super-Kick Party tour, winning titles everywhere from Southern Cali-to-Tokyo.
In fact, The Bucks have held the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles a total of 7-times so far, which ranks them second all-time for the number of reigns with those particular titles. They have also captured the Ring of Honor Tag Titles 3-times as well.
If WWE seriously wants to make a play for The Young Bucks, there will probably have to be some added perks to their signing deal, such as a straight-shot to the main roster without pausing in NXT, as well as a number of other ideas.
Considering the level of talent involved, maybe it's worth making an offer. But then again, is the company really suffering from a lack of quality tag teams at the moment?
#3 Dalton Castle
Dalton Castle is a name that no one really took seriously until recent years. He was a quirky guy with a gimmick which resembles a mixture of Gorgeous George, Adrian Adonis, Ric Flair and, of course, a peacock.
Accompanied by his minions who are known as "The Boys," Castle has a very impressive entrance, along with a great in-ring presence. However, it's what he does when the bell actually rings that has gotten him to the level he is today. Dalton is a dynamite in-ring performer, which is why he is the current Ring of Honor World Champion.
As mentioned before, interest in Dalton Castle has certainly surged over the past couple of years as his technical ability has started to really shine. This is a direct result of better booking opportunities that have come his way.
#2 Cody Rhodes
When Cody Rhodes left WWE in 2016, it was clear that things were rocky between the second generation Superstar and the company.
It had become common knowledge that Cody was frustrated with his creative status with the company and the lack of compromise he was getting from his superiors.
With that said, Cody had made it known publically that he had pleaded with WWE writers to end the Stardust gimmick for well over 6 months. In fact, Cody even offered multiple ideas for ways of writing off Stardust and moving forward with a new angle which would work.
From a fans point of view, I cannot blame Cody for asking for a release from his WWE contract. Afterall, the Stardust gimmick wasn't exactly lighting the world on fire. Since leaving the company, Cody went on to have a tremendously successful 2-years winning over fans all around the world.
In fact, some would probably suggest that 2017 may have been his best year to date, as a professional wrestler. Cody not only captured the Ring of Honor World Championship at Final Battle 2017, but he was also named the 2017 ROH Wrestler of the Year.
No one except Cody knows for sure if a reunion would ever take place. What I do know is that there was plenty of money left on the table at the time of his departure, had someone only taken the time to listen to him.
If Cody were to come back, there would have to be an agreement in place regarding his creative control. At the end of the day, it would only make sense if both brothers ended their careers with the company who revered enough to place him in their Hall of Fame.
#1 Kenny Omega
It's true, Kenny Omega may very well be the absolute best professional wrestler on the entire planet. When you take a brief look at his stats, it's really hard to argue this sentiment as well.
Kenny is currently the backbone of the most dangerous faction in wrestling, The Bullet Club. Many believe it has been his tenure with The Bullet Club that has helped him uncover some previously neglected talent which he failed to notice in the past.
Omega has a list of accolades a mile long, which include multiple IWGP titles. Omega also became the inaugural IWGP United States Champion in 2017, which he held for over 200 days before losing it to Jay White at the NJPW New Beginning in Sapporo.
Kenny Omega has the potential to come in and establish a dominant presence immediately. He has been compared to AJ Styles in the past and if you consider the way Styles came in and shot straight to the top, I wouldn't be surprised to see Kenny do the same...If the company can persuade him to jump aboard.
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