Photo: WWE.com
Last year, the likes of Kenny Omega, Will Ospreay, and Cody boosted their standing in the eyes of wrestling fans and critics alike. Who will step up this year?
Last year, plenty of wrestlers catapulted themselves to stardom with their tremendous work between the ropes and on the microphone. Sheamus and Cesaro overcame the “bickering tag team” trope and have become a dependable heel duo. Kenny Omega redefined the classic wrestling match. Cody (Rhodes) showed fans that WWE is not the only place to carve out a lucrative niche in wrestling. Dalton Castle finally won the big one in Ring of Honor. Rusev gave us a great new holiday to celebrate. The Usos reminded everyone how good they are as a tandem. Heck, even the Drifter won some fans over with his terrible singing.
While there are always missteps in this business (Jason Jordan’s initial push, 205 Live), there are also wrestlers who earn the fans’ respect via great matches, convincing and engaging promos, and memorable character traits. More often than not, these breakout wrestlers usually up their stock organically rather than having a company push them before they find their footing…like a certain WWE Intercontinental Champion.
Anyway, these are ten wrestlers who are poised have a breakout year in 2018. These are wrestlers that appear to be destined to participate in high profile matches and prove their worth as a top star. Of course, a lot of factors have to go these wrestlers way (especially in WWE), but these men and women certainly have a chance to establish themselves as top-level stars in whatever promotion they work for.
EVIL
Honestly, all of the Los Ingobernables de Japon members are great in their own way. They have to be in order for NJPW fans to buy their merchandise as much as they do. SANADA, much like Will Ospreay and Ricochet, makes everything he does in the ring look easy. Hiromu Takahashi is just great in general; the man got a stuffed animal over for crying out loud. Bushi is pretty cool when he isn’t doing that tired t-shirt choke spot. Tetsuya Naito’s greatness spoke for itself at this year’s Wrestle Kingdom.
Outside of Naito and Takahashi, EVIL had the best 2017 of the group. I realize I just mentioned three-fourths of the stable but bear with me for a moment. The former Takaaki Watanabe had a great showing in the 2017 G1 Climax, with standout efforts against the likes of SANADA, Minoru Suzuki, Juice Robinson, and the IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada. EVIL’s victory over “The Rainmaker” in the tournament earned him a shot at New Japan’s top prize. He came up short, but once again turned in a great performance.
I expect the “Prince of Darkness” to continue his upward trajectory in 2018. He’s already off to a good start, winning the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships from the Killer Elite Squad (Lance Archer and Davey Boy Smith Jr.) at Wrestle Kingdom 12. He won’t be one of the two or three top stars in New Japan, but he will have a couple more Heavyweight title matches in 2018. Thanks to those matches, EVIL will establish himself as a dependable upper mid-carder who occasionally main events.
Photo: WWE.com
Ruby Riott
The former Heidi Lovelace did little during her time in NXT outside of a couple of feuds, but she showed flashes of what made WWE interested in her. The company had enough faith in Riott’s skills to call her up and anoint her the leader of her own heel faction.
Unfortunately, the Riott Squad hasn’t clicked yet. It doesn’t help that WWE put the group together like a teacher that pairs off random students for a project. Seriously, what do Riott, Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan have in common? Furthermore, they have already fallen victim to WWE’s 50/50 booking. At least the trio doesn’t have a really dumb name like “The Welcoming Committee”.
In the long-term, Riott will have a great run as a babyface whenever WWE decides to break up the Riott Squad (so will Morgan). She has a cool, unique look, is decent on the mic when she isn’t forced to make Riot puns and is a good worker. Riott is much more polished than her two stablemates and at age 27, she has a bright future.
Charlotte doesn’t have a ton of fresh opponents left in the SmackDown women’s division, so it’s really a matter of when Riott gets a title shot and not if.
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.
Marty Scurll
Bullet Club’s resident villain had a fruitful 2017; he started the year as the Ring of Honor World Television Champion and ended it as the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion (he lost the title at Wrestle Kingdom 12 last week). Even though there are occasions where Scurll comes across as an Adam West-era Batman villain more than a legitimate top heel, the fans enjoy his antics. It helps that the Englishman is dynamite in the ring and very good on the stick.
Scurll’s spot on the list is for his breakout potential in ROH as much as it is New Japan. “The Villain” sort of fell into an aimless rut after losing the Television Title to Kushida last summer. He did cap off 2017 nicely with a fine showing against Jay Lethal at Final Battle. Hopefully, that leads to higher profile matches down the road for Scurll.
As far as ROH is concerned, Scurll is in the same spot Dalton Castle was–a very talented wrestler that was far more over than his push. Unlike Castle, Scurll feels stuck in a group with wrestlers ahead of him on the totem pole (namely former ROH World Champion Cody).
Thanks to his place in Bullet Club, Scurll will make plenty of money through t-shirt sales. Based on that alone, one could argue that Scurll is already a star. Perhaps this is the year that ROH finally pushes him like one.
Jason Jordan
Things look a little brighter for Kurt Angle’s storyline son since WWE corrected course and started portraying him as a whiny daddy’s boy. This version of the Jordan character is a million times better than the white-meat, smiley babyface that the fans were rejecting. His promos always felt forced and he also clearly went to the Stephanie McMahon school of phony grins. Now that WWE is planting the seeds for a Jordan heel turn, all of those issues work in his favor.
Jordan has the in-ring ability to reach the top of the card. He showed that against the likes of John Cena and Roman Reigns. It remains to be seen whether his mic skills will ever catch up. He seems to have found his groove a little since Survivor Series and he’s going to get a chance to move up the card based on the gravity of his storyline alone. WWE doesn’t usually run angles like this for wrestlers that they aren’t going to push.
Jordan will have a good chance to have a breakout year. I think he can flourish as a heel whenever WWE finally pulls the trigger on his turn. He can’t fare any worse than he did when this storyline started.
Kairi Sane
Since winning the Mae Young Classic last fall, Sane hasn’t been featured that prominently on NXT television. That’s understandable, Triple H and company have been more focussed on establishing Ember Moon as the top babyface of the Women’s division. With that said, Moon won’t be in NXT forever. When that time comes, Sane will be more than capable to fill her shoes as the primary protagonist of the developmental territory.
Due to her lack of fluency in English, Sane doesn’t cut many promos. That’s okay because she is good at conveying emotion through body language and facial expressions, much like her fellow countrywoman, Asuka. More importantly, Sane is one of the best workers in the company. She’s great at working from underneath–a necessary trait for any good babyface–and has the best elbow drop in wrestling. NXT fans will have no problem gravitating toward Sane when it’s time for her big push.
As fans saw in the MYC, Sane is the perfect babyface foil to the new big bad on the block–Shayna Baszler. Sane getting bullied by the more imposing Baszler makes for easy and effective storytelling; it’s what made their MYC final match so great.
Right now, it’s Moon’s women’s division down at Full Sail University, but the “Pirate Princess’s” time is coming.
Lars Sullivan
It seems weird to say, but Lars Sullivan might be a better version of Braun Strowman. He looks like something straight out of a horror movie with the entrance music to match. His taped and braced left knee only adds to his imposing presence; it makes him look like a broken down monster that never stops chasing after you no matter what you do (just like Strowman). ProWrestling.net writer John Moore often compares Sullivan to a video game boss in his NXT recaps, which I feel is apt for how this push has unfolded. His promos even sound very monster-like, a stark contrast compared to someone like Kane, who often sounds like a low-rent Bond villain.
His monster-like appeal doesn’t go away once the bell rings either. Sullivan has more than held up his end of matches against the likes of Roderick Strong, Kassius Ohno, and Lio Rush. Sullivan looks like a textbook monster heel with the ring skills to boot. He is a joy to watch.
As of Sunday, Sullivan remains unpinned on NXT television. I don’t expect that to change anytime soon. I do expect Sullivan to receive an NXT Title match at some point this year.
Velveteen Dream
When Patrick Clark was repackaged as the Velveteen Dream, I immediately assumed the worst. I thought that WWE would simply cast Clark as yet another androgynous character that acted effeminate for cheap heat. It didn’t help that early Dream appearances were a bit clunky in the ring, with Clark clearly trying to incorporate the gimmick into his ring work. Since those early matches, Dream has put it all together and he has become one of the best characters in WWE.
Although he’s still a heel, Dream has the potential to catch on in the same way Dalton Castle has in ROH. Like Castle, Dream has the respect of the fans due to his abilities in the ring and his 100 percent commitment to the character. If you don’t believe me, then go back and watch his TakeOver: WarGames match with Aleister Black. Go ahead, I’ll be here when you’re done…
(20 minutes later): See? That was a great match, wasn’t it?
If Dream stays in NXT all year, I could definitely see him challenging for the NXT Title either as a babyface or a heel. If he gets called up, he could be one of the few NXT talents to successfully transition to the main roster, that is, unless Vince McMahon strips the character down to its base elements and we get a black Adrian Adonis instead. Either way, 2018 will be a good year for the Velveteen Dream.
The Undisputed Era
These three Ring of Honor alums have only begun to scratch the surface of what they can do in NXT. They have been a breath of fresh for a show that had started to get a little stale before their arrival. All three men complement each other well; Fish and O’Reilly are one of the best teams on the planet, while Cole has shown why he is one of the most well-rounded talents in the industry.
Barring injury, The Undisputed Era will be one of the top acts in NXT. They provide the NXT babyfaces with a good foil that bookers can get months of material out of until the trio gets called up. Starting with their respective Takeover: Philadelphia matches against the Authors of Pain and Aleister Black, all three men will have ample opportunities to produce great matches.
Due to the influx of three-man groups on the main roster, Undisputed Era may have to wait a little bit for their call-up. That’s alright though, I’m sure that NXT fans will enjoy these three creating havoc on weekly television. Cole, Fish, and O’Reilly have bright futures in WWE, and their work in 2018 will show everyone why that’s the case.
“Switchblade” Jay White
Yes, I know that White disappointed many fans and critics with his performance in his IWGP Intercontinental Championship match against Hiroshi Tanahashi. I’m willing to look past that since it was his first match since debuting the new gimmick. New Japan apparently feels the same way.
They are doubling down on this push, as White joined CHAOS shortly after emphatically turning down Kenny Omega’s offer to join the Bullet Club, which is clearly leading to an IWGP U.S. Heavyweight title match between the two. If White can’t have a great match with Omega, who could probably carry that blow-up doll he wrestled years ago to a five-star classic today, his singles run might be in trouble.
Fortunately, White is very talented between the ropes. He already has the character aspect of his Switchblade schtick down, he just needs more time to incorporate the gimmick into his workrate, kind of like the Velveteen Dream.
Next: 5 Dream Matches For 2018
This is something that will take time, but White will get plenty of chances to prove that he can either make the character work or he can’t. If he can, New Japan will have yet another star that can aid them in their quest to expand their reach further west. Given White’s immense talent, I would bet on him making this work.