Hey, folks! Welcome to ‘Under the Spotlight’! The weekly article where I choose a topic or two from the world of professional wrestling every week and analyse them for you, right here on SLTD Wrestling!
Unfortunately, this will be my final editorial on SLTD Wrestling until July, but be sure to log on this coming Friday for my predictions for Sunday’s WWE Payback Pay-Per-View, so I can wish you all well in the coming month!
This week, the WWE came to this side of the world to do their annual post-WrestleMania tour of the UK and Europe, and although I couldn’t attend the House Show here in Dublin due to my Graduation, it got me thinking about all of the people in the WWE that aren’t from the United States of America. There are a lot of very bright talents, be it on the main roster, down in NXT, or just having recently signed, such as the impressive Prince Devitt from Bray here in Ireland.
So today, to keep in line with WWE’s overseas tour, I’ve compiled a list of my top five most promising WWE wrestlers not from the USA. Honourable mentions include Emma, Adrian Neville, Rusev, Drew McIntyre and Natalya. Let’s begin, shall we?
5/ Sami Zayn
It was a toss-up between Adrian Neville and Sami Zayn for this spot, so I just went with my favourite of the two. I love Neville, and think his work on NXT has been extraordinary, but I feel like Sami Zayn has a lot more to give out of his tenure with the WWE.
My friend, Dylan, who got to see Sami Zayn perform for the first time in Dublin last week summed it up perfectly by saying “Sami Zayn seems very good, very skilled! And I feel as though he could potentially become a CM Punk or Edge eventually with the right work”. I couldn’t agree more with this statement.
Sami Zayn has already got years and years of experience under his belt from his time as El Generico on the independent circuit, and knows the ins and outs of professional wrestling like the back of his hand. His passion comes through in his matches, and backed up with his immense athleticism and high-flying style, Sami Zayn could easily be one of the big names down the line.
Not everybody with a background in independent wrestling gets to make it big in the WWE. Guys like CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, while they may appear to be the “lucky ones”, did not get handed anything when they walked through the front door. They both had to crawl through miles and miles of whatever crap the WWE had to throw at them, but they managed to get out clean on the other side. Sami Zayn, in my opinion, has the ability to do that.
You get nowhere in professional wrestling without passion for the industry, and if there’s anything that Sami Zayn has, it’s passion. He has literally spent his entire life trying to get where he is, and I really don’t see him letting bad booking dictate how this goes for him. He’s going to put up with whatever they put in front of him, and he’s going to make it his own, because that’s what he’s been training his whole life to do.
Zayn has already proven himself as a major force to be reckoned with in the WWE, and he hasn’t even made his debut on the main roster yet! His 2-out-of-3 falls match with Cesaro on NXT in 2013 has been heavily regarded as the ‘Match of the Year’ in any aspect of the WWE, and their rematch at NXT ArRIVAL last February may have exceeded that.
Now, at NXT Takeover this coming Thursday, Zayn has yet another opportunity to show people what he can do when he faces Tyler Breeze, another bright star on the NXT roster. If ArRIVAL showed us anything, it’s that people want to see what the young guns can do, which will prove very beneficial for Sami Zayn. Hopefully he can pick up a win on Thursday, because seeing Adrian Neville defend the NXT Championship against Zayn down the line would be a candidate for ‘Match of the Year’ itself!
I’ve got no doubt in my mind that Sami Zayn will take the WWE by storm whenever he shows up on Raw or Smackdown, but for now, I’m happy just to see him competing on NXT nearly every week. Let’s hope NXT Takeover does him a favour.
4/ Paige
Need I even say more about Paige? At this point, you must all know how I feel about the gal, so let’s just cut to the chase. She is talented in every single aspect that the WWE looks for in a Diva. She ticks all the boxes. She is jaw-droppingly beautiful, she can talk up a storm on a microphone, she’s International (she’s from England, which is good for media and the like) and most importantly, she’s a fantastic wrestler!
I will admit, however, that I’m somewhat worried about the direction they’re going in with her. Having her lose cleanly to Alicia Fox this week did give Fox some much-needed spotlight, but I feel like it caused Paige to lose a large portion of her already dwindling momentum. She’s only defended the Championship once, if I’m not mistaken, and her loss on Raw was sort of out-of-the-blue, if you ask me.
I really only think they made her lose because she was in her home country, which got some heat on Fox leading into Payback, but the execution should’ve been a lot better. If the next week or so is about Paige trying to prove that Fox’s victory was nought but a fluke (and proving it by beating her in Chicago) then I’ll be happy enough, but they haven’t been giving her enough promo-time for that to happen (not including stuff on WWE.com or on YouTube).
One other thing that worries me is the clear lack of competition on the main roster. There’s Alicia Fox, Tamina and Aksana, who have all lost to Paige, then there’s Layla and Summer Rae, who have their Fandango-thing going on, and the Bellas, Funkadactyls and Natalya always seem to be doing something else amongst themselves, rather than face Paige. I imagine they’re waiting for the right time to incorporate the whole Total Divas vs. Anti-Diva thing, but I won’t hold my breath.
It will also be good to see AJ Lee come back and feud with Paige officially. We haven’t seen the Black Widow since her loss the night after WrestleMania, and her time off is well-deserved, but I just can’t wait to see Paige involved in an actual storyline, rather than watch her face the same ol’ people every week. Then again, I’d be happy to see Paige just come out every week, walk around the ring and leave again, so I’ll take what I can get.
Regardless, Paige is making a tremendous impact in the WWE. She’s the first NXT Women’s Champion, and the youngest Divas Champion in WWE’s history, as well as the only person to hold both titles at the same time. She’s also the first person born in the 90s to win a title on the main WWE roster, which is no small feat.
Paige is a major contributing factor in the revitalisation of the WWE Divas division, and with great talents like Emma, Sasha Banks, Charlotte, Bailey and Alexa Bliss down in NXT, it looks like she will be the first of many women to make the Divas division fun to watch again.
AJ Lee has been doing a great job of that over the past year, but one woman can’t change a whole division, much like how Daniel Bryan alone, no matter how popular or talented he is, wouldn’t be able to get people tuning in every week if he had nobody good to face. Each division runs on numerous different characters and personalities, which has been the downfall of the Divas division in recent years.
Nevertheless, Paige has been catching the eyes of many people due to her skills in a wrestling ring, and that makes her one of the most promising athletes in the WWE right now. If you think Paige is going to be finished anytime soon, you’d better… think again… *puts on sunglasses*…
3/ Sheamus
The ‘Celtic Warrior’ has accomplished so much in his short WWE career so far, winning the Royal Rumble, two WWE Championships and the World Heavyweight Championship, and is now at the beginning of his second United States Championship reign. Personally, I think the man is talented and entertaining in every respect, despite what a lot of people seem to think. I went down the rant road about it in last week’s article, so go back and read that if you’d like to.
I had the pleasure of meeting Sheamus (for the second time) here in Dublin last Thursday afternoon, and found him to be a very friendly individual, greeting each fan with an infectious smile when he met them. He also seems great with the younger members of the WWE Universe, which I think is a vital characteristic for a WWE Superstar to have. You may have even heard about him granting a young, disabled fan’s wish backstage after his match.
When I met him, he congratulated me on my graduation later that night, and you could tell that he was sincere with each word he spoke. I’m not rambling on here, my point is that the man’s overwhelming love for what he does is palpable, whether he’s in the ring or meeting his fans, which I admire endlessly. If you don’t love your job, why do it?
His recent United States Championship win has been met with mixed reactions amongst wrestling fans, some finding it to be a smart move, and others complaining because they like Dean Ambrose or some other stupid reason. He’ll be defending the title against Cesaro on Sunday night at Payback, and based on multiple different sources who attended the WWE’s House Show here in Dublin, the match will surely be a classic (given the time, that is).
Sheamus has a huge love for the WWE, and considering his skills inside the ring and on a microphone, not to mention his abilities with media and Make-A-Wish, he definitely has the complete package to be a WWE Superstar. He can play a face or a heel, a funny character or a serious one, and has proven himself against several of the biggest wrestlers in the WWE, including John Cena, Triple H and Daniel Bryan.
Sheamus’ matches with Daniel Bryan at Dublin House Shows in 2011 and 2012 are some of the best matches I’ve seen live, and while his 18-second match with Bryan may not have lived up to that, like I said last week, I don’t think the “Yes!” Movement or Daniel Bryan himself would be where they are today if it hadn’t happened.
Like it or not, Sheamus is undoubtedly here to stay. And to be perfectly honest, I wouldn’t mind seeing him as the future “face of the WWE”.
2/ Bad News Barrett
“Ladies and Gentlemen… I’M AFRAID I’VE GOT SOME BAD NEWS!”
Bad News Barrett has been one of the most entertaining features in the WWE since he made his TV-return the night after WrestleMania, with his excellently delivered, often humorous, bad news segments. But aside from a great accent and a way with words, Barrett is one of the best wrestlers on the roster.
If you don’t want to look back a few years, just look at the Intercontinental Championship tournament from a few weeks ago. He had a fantastic match against Dolph Ziggler, which stole the show. He opened the next episode of Raw in a brutal match with Sheamus, which impressed just about everybody. And then after beating Rob Van Dam the next week, he went on to defeat Big E at Extreme Rules for the Intercontinental Title.
Much like we’ve seen with some of the best wrestlers from days gone by, Barrett has been able to scratch and claw his way out of a hole on the WWE roster, and completely take his ‘Bad News Barrett’ gimmick by the reins to make it his own. His ability to do so is remarkable, because I admittedly took the pessimistic approach to the gimmick upon first hearing of it. Now I think it’s one of the best things in the WWE today!
Much like Sheamus, Barrett seems to be getting a much-needed do-over, winning one of the mid-card titles and conquering any and all challengers in that field. I find the mid-card to be the perfect spot for Barrett right now. While I think he could easily pull off being launched into the main event, a lack of two major titles certainly hurts Barrett’s chances. I wish they’d just split the titles up again, but that’s just me.
With the state of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship unknown, Barrett definitely benefits from playing it safe and annihilating the mid-card scene for the time being. He has time for people to see the destruction that the Bullhammer leaves in its wake, and the main thing is that he seems to be having the time of his life anyway. He looks like he’s having a good time with his current gimmick, and I believe that’s what gives him the ability to portray the character so well.
I would not be at all surprised to see Bad News Barrett win the big one in the coming two years or so, because the only thing stopping him is WWE management, who seem to be very high up on Barrett right now anyway. I see nothing but good news in Barrett’s future.
1/ Cesaro
Could it really be anyone else? Cesaro has been impressive since Day One in the WWE, and despite a rather worrying stretch where his career was put on hold by a certain Chairman’s disdain for him, the man is in a position that most wrestlers can only hope for right now.
Paul Heyman has managed some huge names in professional wrestling; The Undertaker, Big Show, Rob Van Dam, etc. and led ECW to become the ‘Land of Extreme’ that we look back on with fond memories. But perhaps his greatest accolade is the undeniable fact that, in his words, his “client, Brock Lesnar, conquered The Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania”. And now that man has a new client, the ‘Swiss Sensation’, the ‘King of Swing’, Cesaro!
However, as we’ve seen most recently with Ryback and Curtis Axel, having a fantastic manager can only get you so far. Axel and Ryback may have their own talents and strengths respectively, but were they really destined to be Heyman’s next ‘Next Big Thing’? Quite frankly, no. Take nothing away from them though, Rybaxel seems to be working quite well as a team, which I think is really good for them. But in my estimation, Cesaro has more than enough talent inside that ring to be the walk to Paul Heyman’s talk.
I know it’s said by just about anyone who talks about Cesaro, but he truly is, pound-for-pound, the strongest man in the WWE. He lifted the Big Show up and body-slammed him over the top rope at WrestleMania, as if it was nothing. He constantly picks his opponents up through raw, brute strength, to either swing them around the ring several times, or deliver a devastating second-rope suplex with no leverage whatsoever.
His strength, compiled with a distinct knowledge in the art of technical wrestling (not to mention a European Uppercut that could decapitate a small child), makes him one of the biggest forces to be reckoned with in the WWE.
Cesaro has proven his worth against the likes of John Cena and Daniel Bryan, not only holding his own, but often making his opponents look inferior. And while he may have that Tweener status where he’s supposed to be a bad guy but gets cheered for just walking into the building, all he needs is a good word from Mr. Heyman about a certain someone who conquered a certain something at a certain somewhere and that’ll show the people who to cheer and who to boo.
In my humble opinion, Cesaro is the second-best wrestler in the WWE after Daniel Bryan, and since everyone’s favourite beard enthusiast is suffering from an injured neck, his future remains unknown. I, in no way, want to lessen the significance of Bryan’s health, but if it so happens that he decides to take a large portion of time off to heal up (and I think it’s important that he does), then it could very well be Cesaro’s turn to step up to the podium. I guess only time will tell.
And that’s that! Keep in mind that these are my own personal opinions, so feel free to let me know your own thoughts in the comments below! If you enjoyed it, you can also go ahead and share this article on Facebook and Twitter, to send ‘Under the Spotlight’ off with a bang before it makes its return in July!
If you’d like to speak with me personally, be it about wrestling, my writing or anything at all, don’t hesitate to follow me on Twitter @AdamOB_SLTD.
Also, even though this column is going to be off for the next while, you can still catch my final article this coming Friday, and check out all the other great content by the other members of our fantastic writing staff here at SLTD!
Finally, be sure to tune into the latest editions of SLTD Radio and the MFX Podcast today, if you like wrestling and/or enjoy a good laugh!
Thanks for reading!
Self-Professed Conversational Wizard.
Admin, Editor and Writer for SLTD Wrestling.
Creator of 'Under the Spotlight'.
Studying Computing in Games Development.
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