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From the current roster who will be seen as great one 20 years from now?

4K views 49 replies 41 participants last post by  Irish Dude 
#1 ·
Excluding already cemented guys like Cena, Brock and Orton (he is cemented, although I'm not so sure he will be remembered as a great one in the future).

My picks are:

Roman Reigns - kayfabe wise probably will be in a year or so. In ring wise he just needs to improve a bit, he is great but he still isn't Bret Hart or HBK good. I'm sure he will get there though.

AJ Styles - Probably already is (outside wwe), but if he has more 5 years in WWE at this level he will be a lock.

So what are your opinions? Discuss
 
#7 · (Edited)
Already cemented Top Tier
Cena

Already Cemented 2nd Tier
Brock
Orton
AJ

Already Cemeted 2nd Tier with the potential for Top Tier
Reigns
Charlotte

Potential for 2nd tier
Rollins
Braun
Miz
Sasha
Bliss
New Day
 
#8 · (Edited)
A lot of guys are still quite young so it's hard to tell. One could get injured, one could break through.
I could be completely wrong and these are just my personal opinions but I'd say:


The Miz - Never the number one guy but he's amazing at giving the second tier championships credibility.
Good enough to main event, charismatic, good on the mic and he even got better in the ring. I think Miz is great
because I absolutely hated him when he started his career and now I can say I'm a big fan. He improved so much.

Seth Rollins - I know a lot of people find him boring (which practically everyone on the roster is according to
a lot of people here), but I never been bored by him. He did need some time to adapt as a face but I personally
enjoy it. I have to say though that I absolutely loved chickenshit heel Rollins ever more. I like his work in the ring
because he has a nice arsenal of moves. He's also agile enough yet strong which makes him very versatile.

AJ Styles - He already had a fantastic career which helps, but despite his shorter run in the WWE I think he'll
be considered great. He may be somewhat older but I think he'll be able to keep up on a physical level for quite some
years to come.

The New Day - A fantastic stable that got really, really stale. Hear me out, I'm not the biggest fan of them
but I believe other people will think of them as a great and memorable stable.

Charlotte - The talent, the background and she's also appreciated by both casuals and hardcore fans.
A credible dominant female wrestler.


Guys like Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn are contenders in my book but it all depends on how they're going to be booked.
I know a lot of people here love to complain about those two, and sure they're not models, but I think they
can each succeed in their role. Again, I could be completely off but I believe in their potential. Braun could be and
Rusev should be imo. We all know that they won't get most out of Rusev though. So sad..
 
#37 ·
#15 ·
I have a feeling that talents like:

- AJ Styles
- Seth Rollins
- The Miz
- Braun Strowman
- Kevin Owens
- Sami Zayn
- Cesaro
- Dean Ambrose
- Neville
- Charlotte Flair
- Alexa Bliss
- Becky Lynch

may be fondly looked back as greats by fans 20 years from now.
 
#19 ·
I believe "subjective" history will be far more kind to Cena as time passes and retrospect sinks in. Obviously, the man has had an all-time WWE career in terms of objective measures. Jericho already has the trifecta of an at worst very strong subjective resume, a great objective resume and very strong respect from his peers with longevity to boot. Even Jericho's detractors I think would have a hard time denying that Y2J has had a great career for a wrestler. Brock Lesnar will be remembered for one of the strongest runs in kayfabe history and should be remembered as one of the greatest packages of in-ring attributes this business has seen, at his best a man rivaled by very few and a guy who if he never left could've been in the center of conversation for best match catologue in North America (yes I am serious). Goldust already has carved a little slice of history. Charlotte is a lock on the female side. The subjective merits of Orton will forever rage on, but he has so much respect from greats that I could see Orton holding a nice spot.

In terms of potential for greatness: Seth Rollins really sticks out to me. Already has a remarkably consistent Shield run under his belt, should be remembered as one of the most well-conditioned wrestlers we have ever seen and with as young as he is, there is plenty of time for Seth to build on his "resume'" AJ Styles will probably have a very similar view as baseball has for Ichiro Suzuki albeit AJ won't be in WWE for 15 years methinks. If WWE ever gets Rusev going before his career is
not salvageable LOOK OUT
 
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#26 ·
A large part of the issue with WWE at the moment, and it's "ability" to create massive stars is that they actively try to stop their wrestlers achieving the "superstardom" of people like Austin and The Rock. WWE doesn't WANT anyone to become bigger than the company, and potentially leave, taking fans with them to another company.

So, who will be the "Austin" of the current roster in 20 years?

I hesitate to say, No One.

Reigns is the company man right now. Maybe he will be seen as the "Cena" of the WWE in 20 years. But even Cena isn't the "Austin" of the 2000's, or the "Hogan" of the 2000s. They actively ensure that their talent stays within the confines of the WWE.

They don't want Batistas, CM Punks, even Rocks, taking the fame they achieved on Vinnie Mc's TV shows, and using it to promote another company or just get personally wealthy. That's bad business.

They want people like Ziggler, Miz, Reigns - Keep them as big names inside WWE, but basically unknowns out in the world.

Hell, why do you think they started up the WWE film studio?
To let their WWE stars scratch their acting itch, in-house. Making money only for WWE.

Wrestling fans will look back at the 2010's and 2020's, and probably talk about Styles, Joe, Nakamura, Owens, Zayn etc as the stand outs. And the fact that those are names that came from indies and just used WWE for exposure, rather than being built from the bottom up, in the WWE machine, isn't a coincidence.

Your "stars" created by the WWE machine will always be just a cog.
 
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