WWE: 5 Independent Wrestling Stars They Should Target
By Tim Sherry
4. Kyle O’Reilly
Now this one might already be a foregone conclusion. 30-year-old Canadian O’Reilly won the Ring of Honor Championship in December by defeating Adam Cole but lost the belt back to him only about month later. ROH championship reigns rarely end that quickly, so that led to speculation that “The Martial Artist” may be moving on. And from ROH there really isn’t many places to go up than the WWE. But it’s been 3 months and Kyle is still not signed. There are rumors circulating, however, that this may be because of some of the language in his ROH contract and hopefully, when that clears up, he’ll be WWE-bound.
O’Reilly, a 12-year pro, has already accomplished what most indie wrestlers dream of. Outside of ROH championship, he’s also captured gold in some of the most prestigious wrestling promotions in the world including New Japan Pro Wrestling, NWA, and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. He’s defeated the who’s who the indie wrestling world in names like Davey Richards, The Briscoe Brothers, Zack Sabre Jr., and Jay Lethal among a host of others. Now he’s ready to take on the best of the best in the WWE.
O’Reilly is potentially one of the most all-around wrestlers in the world right now. He can do it all. He can strike, he can grapple, and he can fly. Add that to an ever-improving promo game and he has future star written all over him. And with his mountain of experience, it would take barely any time at all for O’Reilly to make his mark, especially if he starts off on NXT and has proper match time. The WWE has recently signed a, few guys similar to O’Reilly in Aleister Black, Roderick Strong, and Oney Lorcan. But O’Reilly may be the best of the bunch and a perfect candidate to make the leap.