The WWE is currently filled with plenty of talent that can carry them over the next decade or so. There are several guys who can be the next John Cena who are signed to the main roster, and the talent pool doesn’t stop there; the WWE’s developmental territories, like other sports, have always been important to developing the next faces of professional wrestling. NXT is no different, they have so much talent down in Florida most guys only see ‘TV’ time every couple of weeks. With all the talk of John Cena, CM Punk and Randy Orton being in their thirties, while that is usually the prime for professional wrestlers, shouldn’t scare the WWE at all. The next Cena, Punk and Orton are all down in the Sunshine State just waiting for the call. Corey Graves, Kassius Ohno, Adrian Neville, Bray Wyatt and Paige are among the best NXT has to offer. These are the six names you WILL KNOW by the end of 2013.
Sterling James Keenan, or Corey Graves is the bad boy of NXT. He embodies the evil side of the spectrum and uses that force inside the ring. Before signing a developmental deal with the WWE, Graves did work a few matches with the WWE under the name Sterling James Keenan. He even tagged up with CM Punk losing to Gymini in 2006. He worked the indy scene until resigning with the WWE in 2011. Since then Graves has come in and put NXT on notice, to ‘Stay Down’. While he currently isn’t involved in an angle, a feud with him and NXT Champion Big E Langston seems to be in the works. Graves is a great worker in the ring, including plenty of submission moves, including The 13th Step submission he uses to finish off his opponents. Along with his in ring work he is in the top three guys who can talk in NXT, his promos are very believable, and so is his character. You wouldn’t want to run into a guy like this on one of his bad days.
Kassius Ohno, or Chris Hero is no stranger to many wrestling fans. His work in Pro Wrestling Guerilla, Ring of Honor, along with his feuds with CM Punk and Colt Cabana made Ohno one of the top independent wrestlers in the business. The WWE continued their great track recorded of signing all the hot indy prospects like Punk, Daniel Bryan, Seth Mates and Dean Ambrose; along with the newest signing of El Generico. Kassius, 33, is the oldest of all these top prospects in this column so the time to cash in on Kassius is starting to run a little thin. He has the look that the WWE is starting to move towards, he isn’t muscular, but his ring work and mic work are almost unmatched. Kassius’ character has that double threat where he could work well as a heel or a face. I thought Ohno would be the next guy to come up to the WWE after The Shield and Big E Langston but they went with Bo Dallas. While Dallas is a great talent, in my opinion I thought Ohno was way more ready than Dallas is. It remains to be seen what will happen with Bo with the main roster, but remember this Kassius would have took that opportunity to enter the Royal Rumble, feud with Wade Barrett and ran all the way to the bank with it.
Adrian Neville may be the only one on this list that I still need to see more promo/microphone work out of, but his in ring ability is just amazing. His high spots will have not only the fans of the WWE but the roster itself standing on their feet. If the WWE wanted to bring back the cruiser weight division Neville is a guy that could headline over names like Kofi Kingston and Sin Cara. His tag team partner, Oliver Gray is no slouch in the ring but Adrian Neville, by leaps and bound carries that tag team and he could do so with the main roster.
Bray Wyatt has already had a run with the WWE under Husky Harris as part of the New Nexus, so he knows what it takes to make it to the main roster and stay there. His new character, Bray Wyatt, is much more developed than the Harris character was. While they have introduced two new Superstars with Wyatt, Erik Rowan and Luke Harper, Wyatt is just one small step away from making it back to the main roster. The hard part is once you get there your gimmick has to stick or the WWE will drop you like a bad habit, ask… anyone.
The last of the Five NXT Superstars You Will Know By the End of 2013 is in fact a Diva. Paige, out of the six consistent Divas on NXT is far beyond all of them. She not only is solid in the ring but she is able to cut a believable promo.The WWE seems to be OK with bringing in more athletic women whom can wrestle and dropping all the models off the roster. While that may be good for the wrestling side of the business in my humbled opinion and I MEAN THIS IN NO DISRESPECT but women are the eye candy of wrestling; while I do enjoy a good Divas match, they are far and few in between. At the end of the day, Paige has all the tools to be a major player in the Divas Division in the WWE.
Until next week guys, leave a comment, tell a friend, listen to the Creatively Endeavored Pulsecast on BlogTalkRadio.com or iTunes, follow me on Twitter @CamDougharty and let’s talk ‘rasslin!
