Mia Yim
The definition of a fan favorite, Mia Yim has it all. She only needs Triple H and the others in charge of NXT’s booking to press the button, and they’ll unleash a star on Wednesday nights.
Yim gets it as a performer. She’s a strong technical wrestler with plenty of experience. A great talker who knows how to use social media to hype up her feuds, Yim is the personification of what a modern-day babyface needs to be. Yim is part of the new wave in NXT, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she picked up an NXT Women’s Championship win in 2020.
The NXT Women’s Division is ready for the next group of stars as the likes of Shayna Baszler prepare for the main roster, and Yim is very much one of the best performers in that new crop. WWE did her dirty with her TakeOver match against Baszler, but Yim will make her mark soon enough. I cannot emphasize this enough: she is on the cusp of being one of the best babyfaces in the company.
Cedric Alexander
While we are all baffled that Vince McMahon dropped Cedric Alexander’s push on Raw so quickly, I’d like to mention that Paul Heyman’s decision to tab Cedric as one of the first up-and-coming stars to push is a sign of how much rational decision-makers in WWE (no, Vince is not rational at this stage of his career as a promoter) value him.
With all due respect to Buddy Murphy and Neville – and none to Enzo Amore – Alexander was the greatest Cruiserweight Champion of all time. The Age of Alexander featured spellbinding matches against everyone on the roster, including Roderick Strong in the build-up before his title win at WrestleMania 34.
WWE needs to allow Alexander to have similar success on Raw or SmackDown in 2020. He could be an amazing Intercontinental Champion on FOX’s SmackDown if traded to the Blue Brand at the next Superstar Shakeup, because Alexander’s heart, selling, and ability to tweak his bread-and-butter stories to any opponent make him an easy champion to identify with. Alexander is a tremendous babyface, and, eventually, the cream will rise – just as it did in 205 Live when he was initially overlooked by Vince before Triple H took over.