World Wrestling Entertainment’s in a unique position these days. The company is rather demonstrably the “only game in town,” which means that as far as talents they’d consider signing, they have pretty much an open market and access to pretty much anyone.
Yes, stylistically, WWE may have once been considered a “big man territory”, where a plethora of “little guys” with unique wrestling styles and open-minded approaches to wrestling stood minimal chance of becoming Superstars.
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However, currently, there’s AJ Styles and John Cena attempting to put Wrestle Kingdom XI to shame at the Royal Rumble, while Jack Gallagher does World of Sport transitions on Monday Night. With all that said, for as great as WWE is, the potential for the company is approximately ten times greater.
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Here are five wrestlers who can help WWE reach said potential.
#1 Kenny Omega
New Japan’s “Cleaner” is the de facto “head” of the Bullet Club and wrestles matches in a way that blends video game excitement with strong-style realness. Therefore, for as much as a performer like Cruiserweight TJ Perkins is a video game aficionado, he isn’t WWE 2K17 in real life, and this appeal is exactly why WWE needs a performer of his calibre.
Insofar as top matches left for Omega in New Japan, there’s wrestling Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Championship and defeating him. If you’re Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer, that means that you’re looking at ranking something as a “seven-star match” potentially, which is insane.
Also, though nobody says it, there’s money in Omega turning against the Bullet Club and partnering with say, Los Ingobernables de Japon stable leader Tetsuya Naito and maybe New Japan’s “ace” Hiroshi Tanahashi to wrestle The Young Bucks and Adam Cole.
Between New Japan, Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, and more, that’s a big money drawing main event literally anywhere in the world. Omega represents the future that WWE demands.
#2 Matthew Riddle
Though most people know one-time UFC MMA competitor Matthew Riddle as a “dude” or a “bro,” it’s in the blend of Kurt Angle-meets-Kerry von Erich that he brings to the squared circle that makes him an eventual massive WWE Superstar.
Riddle’s “devil may care” attitude might not have flown in the UFC, but in pro wrestling, as long as he’s no more of a primadonna than Shawn Michaels and no less of an in-ring workhorse than Daniel Bryan, he should be more than fine.
There are wrestlers who, no matter what the arena, always seem to be a bigger deal than the venue and position they’re in. If WWE wanted a less milquetoast John Cena as their Rock, Stone Cold, and Hulk Hogan heir apparent, it’s Riddle.
#3 Ricochet
There’s really good reason to believe that the WWE’s entire Cruiserweight division push could culminate in the 2018 WWE debut of Ricochet and the entire world finally coming to terms with the idea that pro wrestling as done by performers under 225 pounds is the future.
When not performing as Richochet in New Japan’s rings, he’s Prince Puma for Lucha Underground and a lynchpin of that product. Richochet not only physically jumps off the page as a main event calibre performer, he also does so by wrestling a death-defying style that often makes wrestling rings look as if they exist in more than three dimensions.
That’s a mind-blowing concept to consider, and for as much as what Matt Hardy is doing for “alternative dimensions” in pro wrestling, Richochet’s performing is astounding in a similar, yet different way.
#4 Broken Matt and Brother Nero
It’s time for the Hardy Boyz to come home.
Seven years have elapsed since the appearance of a wrestler with the last name of “Hardy” in the WWE. However, it’s a testament to just how captivating Matt and Jeff Hardy are as entertainers that their personas as pro wrestling's first post-modern performers have become so popular.
WWE needs the type of cross-brand, cross-platform, cross space and time synergy that they can provide their product. Imagine a week wherein the Broken Hardyz appear on Raw, Smackdown, NXT, and in the UK, Japan, and even on 205 Live.
Given the nature of what they’ve made their characters, it wouldn’t just be possible, it would be expected! At the same time, imagine a WWE wherein Matt is the NXT Champion, while Jeff has the UK belt, and they’re Tag Team Champions on either Raw or Smackdown.
That’s a lot of titles, yes, but given WWE’s desire to want to use retread acts in significant roles it could be possible. There are moments with the likes of Bobby Roode, Paul Heyman, Bray Wyatt and the Hardyz that we should all be salivating over, too.
Once again, it’s time for the Hardy Boyz to come home.
#5 The Fella Twins
In a WWE Universe where James Ellsworth holds two victories over AJ Styles, there’s more than enough room for American Northeast independent drag queen tag team The Fella Twins to be a fixture on global television.
Yes, there’s the idea of the WWE having to handle LGBTQ issues, but given the Fellas oftentimes comic, yet serious presentation, they may be better LGBTQ advocates than say, Darren Young has been. In fact, here’s a solid storyline in which the tandem of Rick Cataldo and Eddy McQueen completely makes logical sense as members of the Smackdown roster.
As of late, Natalya’s verbiage in her feud with Nikki Bella has been extraordinarily catty and antagonistic. Thus, there’s good reason for the similarly acid-tongued tandem of Cataldo and McQueen to be introduced as Nattie’s latest attempt at insulting Nikki (and by extension Brie) Bella.
There’s fantastic heat that could be drawn with Natalya insinuating that Nikki and Brie are phonies, while McQueen and Cataldo are “real Total Divas.” In fact, given that Brie wants to come back to the ring after her pregnancy, there’s a terrific way to build to a Bella vs. Fella match at a Summerslam or Wrestlemania.
Add a WWE women’s wrestling legend like a Lita, Trish Stratus, or Mickie James to the match and it’s a great six-woman match that gets Natalya involved, too.
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