Wrestling: Ten Potential Breakout Stars In 2018

Juice Robinson

Robinson’s run in NXT as tree-hugging heel C.J. Parker feels like it happened a lifetime ago. Tired of serving as a jobber-to-the-stars, Robinson wanted to prove himself outside of the safe confines of the WWE Performance Center. He bet on himself and it’s paid off nicely for the Illinois native. After requesting his WWE release in 2015, Robinson joined NJPW and has slowly but surely worked his way up the card.

Robinson spent 2017 having outstanding showings against Kenny Omega, EVIL, and Minoru Suzuki, proving that he could hang with the best that New Japan has to offer. There’s no reason why Robinson won’t continue to receive more big match opportunities in 2018.

I’ll even go one step further, I think that Robinson will win singles gold in New Japan in 2018. No, he won’t win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship from Okada and he probably won’t unseat Omega as U.S. Champion either. I do think that Robinson has earned the respect of the fans and the New Japan brass. If his 2018 is as good or better than his 2017 in the ring, I think that Robinson will be a singles champion of some sort before the year closes out.