I feel like although I’m a big fan of this current product in the World Wrestling Entertainment business, there is still some talent that I’d put near the top of my current favorites on the roster that aren’t exactly doing the most. So, in this article I’m going to discuss some talent that I personally am a fan of, am captivated by, or would like to see more done with that just haven’t necessarily had their shot yet.
Bronson Reed- I really like ‘Big’ Bronson Reed. He’s unique and gives me some similar vibes to like a Bam Bam Bigelow archetype. He has a similar build, is seen and billed as a monster, but still pulls out some agile things and top rope moves from his arsenal that you wouldn’t imagine a guy of his size to be able to pull off. He’s fun to watch in the ring and I’ve consistently for months now just wish they had something compelling to feed to the guy, give him a rivalry or something at least! It feels like outside of the occasional random shot he’s received at a mid-card title he’s kind of just milling around and occasionally having matches on Raw every few weeks. I enjoy his kind of Godzilla like wrecking machine entrance and gimmick even, he just needs something to click. Hopefully by the end of the year or sometime next year he gets a shot to do more because I would hate to see a talent like him go to waste. He’s quickly becoming one of my very favorite overlooked stars on the roster currently.
Chelsea Green- I feel like after her showing at this year’s ‘Money in the Bank’ this one is quickly going to turn itself around, but Chelsea is great. She plays an awesome whiny, annoying heel and the “Karen” role she portrays on screen is tremendous character work. For the longest time though it felt like she wasn’t taken seriously enough to be booked out of just being a comedy act and a runaway heel that gets squashed whenever she did actually have a match. That’s fine when certain people have that sort of gimmick, some people don’t mind kind of sticking to the comedy schtick and it’s needed for the show, hence the “entertainment” side of the WWE, but Chelsea is capable of a lot more and that girl can really go. Anyone who follows wrestling to some capacity outside of the WWE probably has seen that as well, if not look her up on YouTube. That’s why I’d just like to see her get a real chance to do something halfway serious (at least in the ring) because her character itself is fine and unique.
Jimmy Uso- I don’t think it takes 20/20 vision to see who clearly got the short end of the stick coming out of the Bloodline situation, and that would be Jimmy. Not for his lack of talent or ability to tell a story either, the guy definitely played his part very well throughout his run with the Bloodline and the fallout after and in my mind he’s just as talented in ring as Jey is. Neither are spectacular in ring performers necessarily, that’s not saying either are bad either, but both can do good character work and I feel like Jey got to RUN after his split from the group and he’s now one of the biggest faces on Raw and a top merch seller for the company, while Jimmy is…yeah. I mean they couldn’t even give Jimmy the win over Jey at Mania in that lackluster match and then he suffered a beatdown by Solo and Tama the Friday after on Smackdown and hasn’t been seen since. I know he’ll be back I’m sure for this inevitable Bloodline vs Bloodline rivalry that will happen eventually, but he was given nothing coming out of that group and all the focus and attention was given to Jey and I’m sure as a twin brother that’s a bit hard to see. I mean Jey even got the pin on Roman at Money in the Bank last year! Give the man something he can hang his hat on, Jesus.
Naomi- Well we mentioned her husband so now it’s her turn. Naomi has been one of my favorite women on the roster now for a number of years, before her hiatus she was up near the top for me in a lot of aspects. She felt like a top woman on Smackdown a number of years ago and her glowing neon WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship was awesome. I’ve always liked her rave girl like character. It’s unique, and her entrance is one of the best in the biz, but she’s felt kind of overlooked in some aspects near the end of her first run in the company and since she’s returned. Sure, she still qualified for the Money in the Bank and had an excellent showing there and in the Elimination Chamber earlier this year, but she’s kind of playing a background character on Smackdown now and placed in a “Bayley’s buddy” kind of role. I know you can’t elevate everyone at once, but this is Trinity Fatu! She’s proven herself outside of this company and came back just to kind of face the same treatment again as she was before she left the company the first time. I have a feeling she’ll get something compelling again here in the future though.
Montez Ford- This is kind of a tough one because I actually like the Street Profits and Angelo Dawkins seems like a great dude, but I’ve been waiting to see the elevation of Montez for a while now. I don’t want to see Angelo just disappear after, it would be nice to see him stick around and get to develop himself more and get a compelling character as well. But, Montez has more than proven himself at this point I think as athletically gifted, a great highflyer, funny and expressive on the mic, and the guy just oozes charisma to top it all off. I thought honestly after his impressive showing at last year’s Elimination Chamber that it was only going to be a matter of time before the Street Profits split up and he got elevated to that next level, but here we are over a year and a half later practically and he still feels in the same spot as then. Maybe that’s his personal choice and preference and him and Angelo want to stay together as the Street Profits and if that’s the case then more power to them, I like tried and true tag teams that last, and we all know the WWE could use some but, I just can’t help but think about the gold mine that could be Montez Ford if they did decide to elevate him to that next level as a singles competitor.
Iyo Sky- I may be a bit biased here because Iyo is one of my very favorite women on the current roster and I’m a fan of The Kabuki Warriors as well, but Damage CTRL just feels like they’ve kind of fallen off here in recent months. Asuka got hurt, Dakota Kai has never really gotten that push to the next level, Kairi feels aimless a bit without Asuka and The Kabuki Warriors thing to hang her hat on, and maybe most of all Iyo just doesn’t feel as important as she did a year ago. That’s not saying Iyo has fallen off, she’s still having stellar matches on Raw on occasion (her recent set of matches with Lyra Valkyria come to mind) and I know you can’t elevate everyone on the roster at once, but this is my list so damn it, I’m going to say what needs to be said here! Iyo and Bayley’s match at Mania this past year was so good and highly underrated and I feel like that sums up Iyo in general, so good and highly underrated. Her punches aren’t always the most believable, but outside of that she makes everything look so clean and effortless in the ring and I feel like even as champ she never really got the full respect she deserves. Team Iyo all day.
Omos- I honestly don’t know what’s going on with Omos. I just figured he wasn’t on the roster anymore, but he is and even has a shirt available on WWEShop, but I can’t actually think of a time the guy has even been around since Mania 39 against Brock! I get he’s not one of the best in ring or the most agile, but he is a spectacle. You could easily just book him for special attraction events or as a monster someone needed to overcome in development of a story and that would allow him to keep his aura as a Goliath type figure without ever overexposing him to the crowd. But, they just don’t use him in general like at all, to the point that a lot of the crowd probably doesn’t even think about or remember him anymore and that’s kind of a bummer to me because I’ve always liked the mega monster guys. You’re not going to get some great technical matchup out of them or some crazy moves we’ve never seen before, but that’s not the appeal of guys like this either and I think you could find plenty of uses for someone like Omos. At least a few times a year or something to keep him around and relevant, and for goodness sake have the guy win a match every now and then huh?! They already potentially ruined his aura by making him lose every big match he’s ever been in, so repackage him and give him another shot in something meaningful. He may not be as good in ring as Big Show, but he can’t be as bad as Great Khali!
Shayna Baszler- Again, could be my Ronda Rousey bias kind of coming in to play here (hot take!), but Shayna feels like she could really take over that role Ronda played and be this technically sound wizard who could believably beat any woman’s ass on the roster. She has legit kickboxing and MMA experience and was an absolute destruction machine during her run in NXT, but she hasn’t felt like she’s really got a run or a chance to get her feet truly off the ground since coming to the main roster. It feels like they stuck Zoey and her together as kind of like a “you girls are similar. Both great wrestlers, could kick real ass, but we have no real character or direction for either of you, so we’ll just stick ya together” sort of situation. I feel like they could easily make Shayna a real threat to the women’s roster if they wanted to, and we’ve seen that they can with her run with NXT. She just doesn’t feel like she’s really had a major moment on the main roster aside from winning the tag titles with Ronda and their blowoff match at Summerslam last year, and a lot of people didn’t even have good things to say about that. It’s just a shame and a waste but I also feel like they still have time to put her in something meaningful and make us care about her again, it’s just never a real guarantee if they will.
Now, that’s enough of my rant for the day. I could keep going and name a whole other list of men, women, and tag teams alike that I’d like to see elevated, or on my TV more, or given something meaningful but that’s just the way of the business. There will always be someone you’re a fan of personally that you wish would be on the weekly show more, or get a shot at a title, or get boosted to that next level, or something that you could pick apart or be bummed about, but overall the business is in a great place right now so these are just my little complaints and thoughts as I absorb the weekly product in 2024. Who are some people you wish you would see more on your TV or get a shot at something meaningful? Tell me in the comments below and keep on the lookout for more posts over pro wrestling and horror from my page very soon!
