Tag Archives: WWE Superstars

03.06.14
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Five stars, five years: WWE’s potential future headliners…

This article takes a look at five current WWE Superstars who have the potential to be headliners in the next five years (in no particular order). Agree? Disagree? Have alternatives? Comment below!

Adrian Neville

Newly-crowned NXT Champion Adrian Neville  (formerly known as Pac) has a very promising future. His impressive high-flying style has captivated many, earning him the nickname ‘The Man That Gravity Forgot’. He has one of those finishers that everyone in the audience looks forward to – the ‘Red Arrow’ (a corkscrew shooting star press) – whether you’re with him or against him.

Neville’s height and accent would be his only two potential hinderances. While Wade Barrett is proving otherwise, not many non-Americans get much promo time – a major ingredient needed to concoct a certified top-flight competitor. Additionally, being 5’10 doesn’t exactly do any Superstar wonders – even Dolph Ziggler (being 6’0) claims that he still gets told “he isn’t tall enough”. On the contrary, Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, and Daniel Bryan are a few names who have proven that overcoming this hurdle is possible. With all this in mind, Adrian Neville’s RAW/SmackDown debut is something worth looking forward to. To learn more about this up and coming star, view his WWE profile here. He’s definitely one to look out for!

Antonio Cesaro

An obvious choice for most, Cesaro has proven his worth on a weekly basis for an extensive period of time. The Swiss destroyer has constantly displayed feats of strength, hoisting the largest of Superstars up into the air. Let’s not forget him swinging The Great Khali. With creative offensive moves executed to perfection, Cesaro is always exciting to watch in the ring. Physically, he’s a dominant specimen, and arguably the strongest pound-for-pound Superstar that the WWE locker room has to offer.

Cesaro’s only potential downfall lies in his mic skills. However, for someone whose first language isn’t English, his promos aren’t half bad. With a bit of work, as well as dropping the yodelling gimmick for good, Cesaro has all the tools to become one of the industry’s all-time greats. Who believes in him? WE, THE PEOPLE.

Bray Wyatt

If you’ve read the article on The Undertaker’s streak, you’ll understand why the leader of The Wyatts has made this list. Bray Wyatt offers something we haven’t seen in a while – a different gimmick that actually works. Not only that, but he is both an exceptional physical performer and talker. He’s a heel that makes you genuinely fear for the opposing face, with or without his hillbilly counterparts.

If WWE played their cards right, ‘The Eater of Worlds’ could leave a legacy as one of the greatest heels of all-time. There’s hardly much that’s holding him back, unless the WWE suppress him because of his physique – which would be pathetic in this day and age.

Dean Ambrose

Although he’s been slightly overshadowed by Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose still has what it takes to make it into the top-flight division. He’s an exceptional talker, and also possesses an unorthodox wrestling/brawling style that he smoothly integrates into every match he’s involved in. This inimitable flare has often dubbed him as the ‘Joker’ of the WWE.

So far we’ve only known him as a heel, but Ambrose seems to have what it takes to be a witty baby-face –  something of a blur between Chris Jericho and CM Punk. As much as a large portion of WWE fans hate the thought of The Shield breaking up, Ambrose’s inevitably successful singles career is something positive that can be extracted from this.

Roman Reigns

With a great physique, Samoan heritage, and wrestling in his blood, Roman Reigns has everything going for him.While arguably not the most talented member of The Shield, Reigns fits the mould that WWE often look for. He’s exciting to watch, and offers one of the best Spears we’ve seen in a long time. The biggest fear is the rate of how WWE are pushing him – he’s even eased his way in taking over as ‘leader’ of The Shield. WWE need to slow Reigns’ push down a little, for the fear of becoming stale too quickly.

Like Cesaro, though we haven’t had the chance to hear Reigns talk often, he hasn’t displayed anything exceptional on the mic when we have done. We’ve only heard his pre-spear/triple-powerbomb roar – which is already catching on extremely well. Improving his promo skills will be his last piece to his near-complete puzzle, and doing this could make the next generation that Roman truly reigns (pun intended).

Honourable Mentions

  • Daniel Bryan – An obvious choice, one of the best in-ring workers we’ve seen in the last decade or so. His ultra baby-face gimmick could start to grow stale, but this shouldn’t be an issue for him after overcoming everything he has done in the past.
  • Dolph Ziggler – Even though he’s been in the business for an extensive period of time, ‘The Show-Off’ still has time to make it into the major league, providing WWE open their eyes for a change.
  • Seth Rollins – This one is more of a personal preference, although the way that the WWE machine has worked over the last decade makes it almost inevitable that he’ll end up as an upper mid-carder. Hopefully this isn’t the case. Seth Rollins is arguably the most talented member of The Shield, and definitely the most underrated.
  • Titus O’Neil – Great size, strength, and promo skills. Big Titus is highly entertaining and can act as both a fearsome and comedic heel, as well as face. The dog bark is always a bonus too.

What do you think? Do you see anyone else upholding WWE’s future? Once again, comment below and share!

Please note that these images are each owned by their respective owners, I do not own any of them. No copyright infringement is intended. 

03.04.14
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The possible avenues of ending The Undertaker’s ‘Streak’…

DISCLAIMER: Before reading, please note that when discussing ending ‘The Streak’, this article does not necessarily mean that The Undertaker should be defeated, but simply that he will end his professional wrestling career by competing in a WrestleMania match against the specified opponent – win or lose.

In this era of the WWE, there are three major prizes that top-flight WWE Superstars strive to achieve. Unfortunately, these do not include the Intercontinental Championship or the Tag-Team Championships, though, they should (see ‘Mid-carder for life?‘). If you haven’t guessed already, two of the three grand achievements are the ‘Money in the Bank’ contract, and of course, the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

But the ultimate prize – that seems to be marketed in this light anyway – is defeating ‘The Streak’, a record that ‘The Undertaker’ has possessed for over twenty years. There is nothing quite like it, and many see it as a more superior accolade than obtaining the WWE/World Heavyweight Championships a hundred times. For years, many pro wrestling fans have debated back and forth how and when ‘The Streak’ should end. The following are some potential ideas that could leave fans delighted, somewhat satisfied, or absolutely disgusted at how a living legend could end his outstanding professional wrestling career.

Sting

If you read the ‘A WrestleMania idea…‘ article, you may have already got the feeling that this match has the ingredients to become something of a spectacle. You have two, dark-natured, legendary Superstars going head-to-head that fans have only been able to envisage via video games and discussion. Even WWE.com featured this ‘dream match’ in one of their articles! Should Sting beat ‘The Streak’? Definitely not. But a match of this magnitude may leave most fans feeling satisfied – or at least content – that this is the last time they’ll see ‘The Deadman’ in any physical competition.

John Cena

Before you roll your eyes and skip this section (or even close the page for that matter), take a moment to think why WWE would do this. John Cena, love him or hate him, is WWE’s top dog. As a performing WWE Superstar, it is certain that Cena would love nothing more than to go one-on-one with ‘The Demon of Death Valley’. Of course, it would be ludicrous to have Cena ‘go over’, but having Taker’s last WrestleMania bout against ‘the man’ of this era makes sense somewhat.

Kane

While it’s extremely obvious as to why ‘The Devil’s Favourite Demon’ should not defeat ‘The Streak’, this match would be extremely emotional, both for the fans and ‘The Brothers of Destruction’ themselves. Kane and The Undertaker have a huge history, a legacy if you will, and to see Taker’s career climax with a match against Kane would be absolutely epic. Of course, Kane would have to lose his corporate gimmick and regain some buildup as ‘The Big Red Machine’, with a bad-ass-looking mask and all.

‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin

Although this match seems somewhat irrelevant, Taker has an an incredible history with Austin, as with Kane. WWE could market it as ‘the match that ends it all’, where ‘The Rattlesnake’ claims that he returned for one final match – to end ‘The Streak’. It’s a goal that no Superstar has achieved, and who better to challenge it than the man who revolutionised the industry in the late 90s. Again, it wouldn’t make sense for ‘The Toughest S.O.B’ to end such a prestigous reign.

Other potential last opponents in the hat include Daniel Bryan and The Rock.

So now what?

So far, every potential route for climaxing Taker’s streak has made sense for him to retain it. But what if Taker were to lose his final match at WrestleMania? Sure, some fans would be outraged, but if done right, it could be a key factor in greatly sustaining the future of the company. WWE need to stop relying on legends or top-end stars to keep fans pleased, and instead focus on the growth of their future talent. To give them credit, they have started to implement this well, via the likes of Cesaro and The Shield (Ziggler should have made that sentence). But without losing focus, who, if anyone, should defeat ‘The Streak’?

Bray Wyatt

Hold your horses on this one. Let the explanation begin. Bray Wyatt has been on mainstream television for just under a year now (excluding ‘Husky Harris’), and has left a trail of awesomeness in his path. In this current era, it’s very difficult to implement a gimmick such as that of The Undertaker’s. Fans still accept Taker’s supernatural gimmick as it was a part of their childhood growing up watching pro wrestling. But any new stars that try to implement any sort of different gimmick other than their own name are seen as ‘corny’ and ‘fake’. Ryback and Fandango are to name a few (or simply because fans think they suck). However, Bray Wyatt has done just that, and extremely well for that matter.

WWE have countless avenues to build this match up. They could have Bray Wyatt out mind-game Taker, something which nobody has successfully done. People would think that he’s truly met his match.  Eerie vignettes, pyrotechnics,  coffins, and more could be used by ‘The Eater of Worlds’ to shake-up ‘The Deadman’ during the weeks leading to WrestleMania. Having Bray going over Taker would be a ‘passing of the torch’, and would catapult his career into an almost legendary status. By doing this, WWE have a new supernatural character to ride with, which helps with the overall sustainability of their current and future talent. He could even get a streak going of his own.

If the Wyatt’s leader isn’t the guy to do it, WWE should invest in somebody relatively new – and who they’ll stick with – to end ‘The Streak’. This would make sense as WWE are running out of ways to legitimately build new stars. It should be noted, however, that ‘The Streak’ should not solely be used as a mere tool to boost a rising star’s career. WWE need to be confident that who they’re choosing to do this has both star and lasting power and that their longevity in the business is somewhat guaranteed.

No matter what happens to The Undertaker’s celebrated streak, we’ll always remember ‘The Deadman’ as the holder of the most coveted prize in WWE history. There is nothing quite like it, and frankly there never will be, even if somebody does imitate it. As for Brock Lesnar this year, rest in peace, my friend.

How do you see ‘The Streak’ ending (whether it’s a win or a loss)? Better yet, how do you want it to come to end? Leave your thoughts below!

Please note that these images are each owned by their respective owners, I do not own any of them. No copyright infringement is intended.