Casting 5 WWE Superstars in a Final Fantasy VII movie

#2. Cloud Strife, as played by Aleister Black

Cloud Strife & Aleister Black

To go into the entire backstory and motivations of Final Fantasy VII's iconic protagonist, Cloud Strike, in such a small amount of space would be both silly and a disservice to everyone reading this.

It would take way too long and, frankly, there's no way to do it the kind of justice that actually playing the game would provide. But, I can give you a bit to work with so you can see why I picked the Dutch Destroyer for this role.

When Final Fantasy VII (both the original land remake) begin, Cloud is beginning his first mission with the rebel group known as AVALANCHE. Strife was hired based on his past as a former member of SOLDIER, Shinra's highly advanced super soldiers.

From the beginning, Cloud is aloof and stand-offish, not caring to learn the names of those he's working with because, as he informs then, once the job is over and he has his money - he's out of there.

Black, as a character in a WWE, comes across at first very much the same. In his promos, the former NXT Champion seems all business. He wants to fight, he wants to kick you in the head with Black Mass, and he wants to move on to his next order of business.

He doesn't joke around, he doesn't come across as sentimental and, no matter who you are, you eventually regret crossing the guy.

But, much like Cloud does over the course of the game, Black has shown signs of warmth and camaraderie. In 2017, the year before he won the NXT Championship, Black was awarded both the band's Male Competitor and Breakout Star award of that year.

While staying in character while accepting these accolades, Black still managed to just subtly express pride and appreciation for the awards - not just as the man behind the character, but as the character himself.

Much like Black in the ring and during promos, Cloud Strife is a man of very few words - he's not prone to rambling monologues during CGI cut scenes (even back when all his dialogue was text-based).

Black has the look to portray a hardened soldier in a cyberpunk/dystopia-style environment, especially one that's going to go through a lot of mind-bending self-discovery as the story goes on.

Other candidates: Dolph Ziggler and Roman Reigns (since Moxley doesn't work for the company anymore)