Kevin Owens is the newest NXT superstar to kick down the front door of the WWE and make an immediate impact with his brash behavior. All he did was challenge the money train of the company, John Cena.
Rollins, Owens, Sami Zayne and Neville are just scratching the surface of their potential. Along with the likes of Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, Wade Barrett and Bray Wyatt, has there been this much young talent and super stardom waiting to happen in recent memory?
Not since the days of Rocky Maivia, Steve Austin, Edge and Owen Hart has there been this much excitement over the future of the company. For the fans, it has to be the calling card to come back and visit a familiar time where sports entertainment is fun again.
And let’s not forget that at some point, Samoa Joe will be joining this list.
There are cautions to this sudden euphoria that is ever evolving inside the circus Vince McMahon has created and Stephanie McMahon and Triple H have taken over. But if you are looking for the future of this company, look no further than the previously mentioned superstars.
And the divas could be just as good. Paige, Naomi, Charlotte, Bayley, Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks could make us all forget how piss poor the division used to be. And I cannot wait to see if the Lana experiment really works.
Wrestling transition happens quite frequently and was the major reason for the birth of the WWF and Hulkamania and the establishment of Ric Flair as the greatest heel to ever put on wrestling boots. For some time now – probably with the end of the Attitude Era, the WWE has been treading water with a roster made of aging superstars who gave way to the likes of Edge, John Cena and Randy Orton.
Now that Edge has retired, Cena and Orton have won the company titles too many times over and Daniel Bryan can no longer fulfill the promise of his career due to injury, the establishment of a new young core of talent isn’t just expected, it is needed. There is no real process of “next man up” in this case.
Even with the hotbed of talent rising from NXT, there is still a question mark about Zayn, who may have surgery to repair and injured shoulder and could be out of action for an extensive amount of time.
This transition should be embraced by the wrestling business and should allow Triple H and Stephanie to put their stamp of approval on the next generation of WWE stars.
If it were only that easy.
Sting was in place when Flair started to age. Hogan leaving the WWF was made easier by Austin and The Rock. When Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart hung up their trunks, Cena was waiting. There isn’t just one wrestler to fill the void left by the ones who are closer to retirement than stardom. Which ones are plucked to carry on the tradition is where this all gets interesting. We thought Sheamus and Wade Barrett would be the torch bearers for the next decade. That has not come to fruition.
This is one of those situations that appears to have worked itself out just in the nick of time.
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