WWE’s decision to have separate rosters for RAW and Smackdown is creatively risky, but one clear positive is the opportunity to elevate wrestlers whose talent exceeds their current role in the company. As we prepare for tonight’s WWE Draft, here are five names I hope to see rise up the card once the roster is cut in half.
Kevin Owens
CM Punk opened the door in WWE for wrestlers who don’t have statuesque figures, Daniel Bryan snuck through the crack long enough to win the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 30, and now Kevin Owens is completely busting the thing down.
From his average height to his larger than average belly to the basketball shorts he wears to the ring, everything about Kevin Owens would’ve been rejected by WWE a decade ago. But times have changed. Owens beat John Cena his first night on the main roster, he’s won the U.S. Championship, and he’s been the MVP of multiple PPVs and RAWs along the way.
The question is what’s next. Can Owens be a main event star, a world champion? The old incentives to make handsome head-turners into top stars still exist. Roman Reigns and John Cena look better at charity events or on The Today Show, and that matters. So while Owens has already gotten more of the spotlight than jaded wrestling fans could have ever predicted, he hasn’t fought for WWE’s top prize. With a brand split, that can change.
Owens may never be the company’s photogenic top babyface or imposing top heel, but he can anchor one of your weekly shows – especially if the backstage naysayers are busy working on the other brand. We’ve already seen Owens provide consistently great matches, great interviews, and great commentary. With two belts to fight for, here’s hoping one of them has “KO” engraved on the plates soon.
Cesaro
Cesaro’s place on the card has long inspired angry podcast rants from wrestling fans. Seemingly the strongest pound-for-pound performer on the roster and one of WWE’s best workers overall, Cesaro is like some strange offspring of Dean Malenko and Brock Lesnar. Unfortunately, he’s been booked more like Dean than Brock, stuck in the middle of the pack and often thrown into afterthought tag teams.
So what’s the hold up? I actually have to agree with Vince McMahon that something is missing with Cesaro… in WWE, that is. If Cesaro was in New Japan or Ring of Honor – or any place where a stiff, fast-paced 20-minute match is the epitome of entertainment – he’d be a shoo-in for the main event slot. But WWE is a land for larger than life characters, and Cesaro always feels awkward in those roles. You can see through the gimmick to the performer underneath, not in the ring necessarily, but in the way he carries himself. He’s not James Bond, he’s not a Real American. He’s just Cesaro, and being an awesome wrestler isn’t enough for Vince McMahon.
Maybe it’ll be enough for whoever is running Smackdown. Or, alternatively, with a monthly PPV schedule and two world titles to defend, maybe WWE will have no choice but to call on guys like Cesaro more often. You can still become a star through the backdoor if you get enough chances to be ‘the guy that works with The Guy.’ Just ask Triple H.
Rusev
Whatever happened to the Rusev who rode a tank to the ring? In one sense, nothing. He’s still the same performer – an athletic big man in the ring and hilarious in his character work (and without being zany, a major accomplishment in WWE comedy). But in another sense, the losses to Cena, the love triangle with Dolph, the lame League of Nations faction and the lukewarm reunion with Lana has damaged the Bulgarian Brute.
It didn’t have to be that way. There was a time when putting Rusev in the ring with Roman Reigns would get the crowd buzzing as if they were previewing a future SummerSlam main event. Rusev still has the talent to be a championship contender and with the Kanes and Big Shows and Mark Henrys of the world only getting older and slower, the time to push Rusev as a monster who can go is now. Sure, he’s not Brock Lesnar, but you only get Brock Lesnar a few times a year. Rusev can be the day-in, day-out dominant big man that WWE always has a place for. He just needs a reset and a strong push to get there. Let’s get him back to crushing on the big stage.
Tyler Breeze
If you don’t watch NXT, you have little reason to think Tyler Breeze is anything special. After being called up to the main roster, the company pulled the rug out from under him, pairing him off with Summer Rae for a hot minute before almost immediately splitting them again. Now he’s stuck in a tag team with Fandango, and while they’re getting TV time, they don’t matter and never will.
On NXT Breeze showed what he can really do. He never won the championship, but he shined in championship and number one contendership matches, always firmly established in NXT’s top tier. He was saddled with a gimmick as old as pro wrestling – the self-absorbed, narcissistic blonde – but played the part better than anyone in WWE since Shawn Michaels in the early 1990s. He was also an innovator, modernizing the gimmick with the selfie stick and subverting its hypersexuality by acting indifferent towards everyone but himself.
Including Breeze on this list might be wishful thinking on my part. It’s entirely possible that WWE sees him as just another Adam Rose. But if Dolph Ziggler and The Miz can be world champions, Breeze can at least get a run with a secondary belt. He never got a real push after being called up to the main roster – maybe the brand split will be the reset he needs.
Paige
WWE hasn’t said whether the draft will include women, but if so, Paige should be the main beneficiary. The anti-diva was a breath of fresh air in her original run on NXT and her call-up to the main roster after WrestleMania 30. Then the Divas Revolution came and washed away all that came before it. In the new world of women’s wrestling, Paige hasn’t made an impact.
For all the good things the Divas Revolution has done, it put the spotlight on a small handful of women and basically told us to ignore the rest. With Charlotte and Sasha being the #1 feud in women’s wrestling for the forseeable future, establishing Paige as a top heel on the other brand would be a big step towards getting the entire division over instead of just the Four Horsewomen (Charlotte, Sasha, Becky Lynch and Bayley).
It would also be a much better chance for Paige to show off her ability in the ring, given that the last time she held the belt, fans were still accustomed to women’s title matches being 6 minutes of nothing on a PPV. She didn’t get to have any classic matches during that run, but working with women like Natalya or Becky Lynch or even Emma (poor Emma), she will sooner or later.
Disagree with my choices or think I missed someone? Hit me up in the comments or on Twitter @LukeWachob. Just don’t be a jerk about it, you know? Alright everyone – enjoy the draft!
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