New Era: who are our 'hottest free agents' now?

[Guest]

And who do you want to see arrive in WWE?

 

**I don't mean anything by 'free agents' to clear that up, I just remember that's the way WWE chose to introduce several of these names to a new audience. "he's one of the hottest free agents!"**

 

with a brand split incoming, NXT call-ups to come, it seems we now have a hell of a lot of spaces to fill on three WWE rosters

 

two years ago, some of the names coming in that we've had recently would've been utterly unimaginable

 

a year ago, Joe had just come in and I remember a thread on here about who we want the E to sign, with lots of "it'll never happen/this is pure fantasy, but AJ and Nakamura would be special"

 

now it's all real, and it feels like there's almost no surprises left to be had, so who is really left?

 

TNA veterans can pop into NXT for a cup of coffee but aside from Joe, Aries and maybe Roode there probably isn't much future in them

 

Another Japanese name like Ibushi, Okada or Tanahashi would certainly make waves but they'd always be second to Shinsuke and that'd throw a proper spanner in the career of Hideo Itami

 

The Young Bucks are a hot commodity for sure but I can't see how they would ever translate to the big stage or why they would take the risk. The Usos are already doing the superkick overkill thing, without any of the tongue-in-cheek fun. Then there's "suck it!" - never happening unless they fancy a total rebrand

 

and that's about all I can really think of in terms of big 'independent' names that would break the internet, but needless to say there's still a lot of exciting talent out there.

 

 

my personal wishlist would be like:

- (if WWE can be trusted to put over a flamboyant gimmick as a strong face) Dalton Castle. Almost Shinsuke levels of unspoken charisma. A huge favourite of mine, though any gimmick tampering and I wouldn't be happy. That means Dalton's boys need to be brought along too.

- Kenny Omega could be pretty huge. Already had a superb year in Japan. A very crisp and exciting to watch in-ring style, can be flashy but still comes off heel with excellent bastard antics. Comes across like a lunatic on the mic and can be funny as fuck. Seth Rollins weeps in his sleep at this guy's cartoon villain laugh too.

- according to Corey Graves, strong-style has arrived in NXT, lets put that to the test and bring in Tomohiro Ishii. I remember last year wanting a Japanese faction to stick on my WWE game to feud with 'Club Balor' or whatever it is, and I made Nakamura, Ishii and Minoru Suzuki. That dream realized would be pretty grand.

- EC3/Derrick Bateman deserves another shot

- thinking of TNA again, I have a hell of a lot of time for Rockstar Spud. Just unfortunately no time for TNA

- Adam Cole and Jay Lethal are ready immediately, promo-wise. I find Lethal overly flashy for a heel, but that won't matter too much *cough* Rollins *cough*

- The Briscoe Brothers are super fun, brilliantly developed characters, but would signify the sad end of an era were they to no longer be associated with ROH

- Ricochet would not surprise me at all if he was to arrive soon, and maybe he can put Apollo Crews out of a job!

 

also worth mentioning, a hell of a lot of the most established non-WWE up and comers nowadays appear to be British! We could and should see a bit of an influx of our talent there soon, which is really cool. Zack Sabre Jr. in particular seems to be a very well respected name currently. Never heard him talk - I've only seen him have 1 or 2 context-less pro-rasslin matches with the likes of Roderick Strong, but to be fair, they were excellent viewing and it would be great to see him make a splash on the big stage

 

to also give women a bit of focus in this thread: NXT is also gonna have to put a new generation of women over to hopefully compare to the success of Becky, Bayley, Charlotte and Sasha, while those all make up the bulk of the main roster's division. It'll be interesting to see whether that will come from the Peyton Royce's they currently have or whether they'll bring in people we haven't seen before

[IANdrewDiceClay]

If you mean actual free agents who arent under contract to anyone, Peter Kaasa's a proper athletic freak. He's like an early Scott Steiner (even dresses like him). He's all jacked up and does 630 splashes and twirling Lionsaults. Even does Scotty Steiner's old powerslam backflip without killing himself. He's unreal. He takes dips in and out of regular wrestling (which is why you never see him on any big indies much) because he's a bodybuilder and amateur wrestler in real life, but he's recently returned and going on a tour with Dragon Gate. He's got so much upside.

 

[Guest]

I don't mean anything by 'free agents' to clear that up, I just remember that's the way WWE chose to introduce several of these names to a new audience. "he's one of the hottest free agents!"

[Love-Wilcox]

100% yes to EC3 and Spud. Those two have personality through the roof. Their character work over the past few years pisses all over 90% of the current roster and I don't say that lightly as I've really been enjoying WWE lately. I especially look at EC3 and wonder how on earth they ever let him go in the first place.

[poetofthedeed]

Can't bring myself to watch evolve, but is this Matt riddle kid as good as they make out?

[Accident Prone]

Chuck Taylor not having a contract with anyone right now is absolutely mind blowing. Honestly, in terms of a proper free agent, he is probably at the top of the list. It's a shame that NXT/EVOLVE/ROH/LU have no interest in the guy, their loss I guess.

[Ambulance Chaser]

I really rate that Tim Thatcher from bits I've seen, proper roughneck bastard.

[Scott Malbranque]

Why haven't more people commented on Ians video?

That is fucking incredible!!!
Give me that cunt over that Apollo Crews cunt any day. No racist.

[Egg Shen]

Can't bring myself to watch evolve, but is this Matt riddle kid as good as they make out?

as in Matt Riddle who used to fight in the UFC? is his wrestling career going well then?

[tiger_rick]

I want to see that "one more shot" WWE Network show people have suggested in the past. Ex-WWE susperstars competing in a Tough Enough type environment to impress Triple H and earn spots on Raw, Smackdown & NXT. I'd love to see a mixture of guys of various ages coming in, pitching their own gimmick (or not if they are the gimmick) and working on their perceived flaws to impress the gaffer.

 

That could be some great TV and fill some spots lower down the roster with either nostalgia or interesting new gimmicks.

[thegamehhh]

I really like Lio Rush

[TildeGuy~!]

Doesn't Matt Riddle love the Marijuana?

 

Don't see WWE going for him.

[boytoy]

It would be great to see a few more of the British scene get a shot. I'd like to see Sabre Jnr, Tommy End and Marty Scurll have a got at it. As much as I find him hateful, Will Ospreay has a bright future too.

 

Also love that one last shot idea. Would definately watch the likes of Morgan, Galloway, The Boogeyman and Tommy Dreamer humiliating themselves for a job.

[honor87]

Seconded for Dalton castle, uber charisma that would light up tv screens.

 

Moose from RoH, he's a big bugger and meant to be quite athletic. nfl background means you have to be quite a physical specimen.

 

roode is now surely a shoe in for the main roster with the split happening.

 

A returning Chris masters, bring back the master lock

[Snitsky's back acne]

If you mean actual free agents who arent under contract to anyone, Peter Kaasa's a proper athletic freak. He's like an early Scott Steiner (even dresses like him). He's all jacked up and does 630 splashes and twirling Lionsaults. Even does Scotty Steiner's old powerslam backflip without killing himself. He's unreal. He takes dips in and out of regular wrestling (which is why you never see him on any big indies much) because he's a bodybuilder and amateur wrestler in real life, but he's recently returned and going on a tour with Dragon Gate. He's got so much upside.

 

This guy seems like the kind of guy JR would have spaffed all over back in the day. 

Hopefully HHH or Regal get to hear of him.