The 8-Ball 02.23.12: Top 8 Wrestlers Ready for the Next Level

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the 8-Ball. As always, I am your party host, Ryan Byers, and, with the Elimination Chamber behind us, the fake grappling world is abuzz thanks to the Road to Wrestlemania. Starting next week, we’ll have special 8-Ball content related to ‘Mania each and every week until the big show occurs. However, this week, we’ve got a bit of a different topic. Let’s take a look at what it is . . .

Top 8 Wrestlers Ready for the Next Level

One of the undeniable truths about professional wrestling is that, if the industry does not create new stars, it will die. If you look throughout history at the promotions that have gone under, most of them have gone under, at least in part, because they have been unable to produce a new wave of compelling characters to replace those who have either retired or moved on to other promotions. That’s why one of the things I’ve always been most interested in when covering professional wrestling is the progression of young, up and coming talent. This week, I’ve decided to profile the eight individuals who I feel are ready to move up beyond the level that they’re currently at in the wrestling world. They could be indy guys who are ready to jump to the big leagues. They could be guys in the big leagues who are just ready to move up the card. They could be people who could stand to make a lateral move to a new promotion as a means of advancing their careers.

Whatever their specific circumstances, they are the Top 8 Wrestlers Read for the Next Level . . .

8. Brodie Lee

Current Position: Undercard Giant in Dragon Gate & DGUSA
Ready For: WWE

Standing well over six feet tall and weighing over 250 pounds, eight year professional wrestling veteran Brodie Lee is one of the few true heavyweights hanging around on the Northeastern independent wrestling scene these days. Lee first gained exposure in the independent group NWA Upstate, which also produced indy wrestlers such as the Ring Crew Express, Cheech, and Cloudy. CHIKARA came calling for the big man next and, from there, he made a handful of appearances in Ring of Honor as a part of the Age of the Fall. However, the promotion that has really allowed Brodie Lee to develop as a performer and become somebody who is deserving of a better place in pro wrestling is Dragon Gate. Lee first got exposed to DG through its American branch, Dragon Gate USA, and, before long, he was invited to tour with the core Japanese promotion. During the course of his matches with Dragon Gate, Lee went head-to-head with some of the most seasoned, innovative in-ring performers in the world. Though from looking at him one would not necessarily think that he is a natural “fit” for the Dragon Gate style, the fact of the matter is he was able to adapt very well to the company’s matches and worked out brilliantly as an oversized, bully heel. Given his physical prowess, his time in the business, and his development as a wrestler over the past several years, Lee would fit right in on the WWE roster if given the opportunity. Granted, he would have to tone down his “big man” act because in the ‘E he would be an average-sized wrestler. However, that’s nothing that a little bit of time in developmental couldn’t fix. The former “Big Rig” of CHIKARA has put in his time on wrestling’s lower levels, and he is ready to step up to the big leagues.

7. Barrister RD Evans/Archibald Peck

Current Position: CHIKARA Midcard Heel/ROH Manager
Ready For: Revitalizing Managing in the Big Leagues

Over the course of the past decade, many an old school professional wrestling fan has bemoaned the death of the manager. Once used to hide the limitations of those individuals who could not cut promos of their own, the manager has gone the way of the dodo in mainstream professional wrestling, with the notable exception of Vickie Guerrero. For a period of time, “Sweet and Sour” Larry Sweeney appeared to be managing’s new hope, as he was on fire in Ring of Honor and many hoped that he would be picked up by WWE. Unfortunately, Sweeney succumbed to mental illness and passed away last year. Though nothing can make that tragedy right, it was not long before an heir apparent to Sweeney’s position appeared on the indy scene. Originally known as Robert Evans on the Texas independents, relocating to the northeast put this man in the unusual position of having two different gimmicks in two different independent promotions at the same time. In Ring of Honor, he is R.D. Evans, the smug attorney for Prince Nana and the Embassy. In CHIKARA, he is Archibald Peck, the maniacal band leader (yes, band leader) who has feuded with the likes of Colt Cabana and Eddie Kingston. In both of his positions, Evans/Peck exudes a scheming, cartoon supervillain-esque charisma comparable to an Eddie Creatchman or a 1980’s Jimmy Hart. Though Evans wrestles in CHIKARA and elsewhere, Ring of Honor has kept him in a strictly managerial role thus far, and, frankly, I think that plays more to his strengths. The man is a phenomenal talker given his level of experience in professional wrestling, and I would go as far as putting his facial expressions in the same league as people like William Regal. If WWE had any inclination whatsoever to revitalize the role of a manager (and I think that they should), Evans would fit in perfectly.

6. Mascara Dorada

Current Position: Midcard CMLL Star with International Appeal
Ready For: An Extended Run in Japan or TNA

Fifteen years ago, Rey Misterio, Jr. turned heads and started down the road to his current status as a professional wrestling legend by being one of the most fluid, innovative high flyers in the entire sport. Though we don’t yet have any guarantee that he will wind up in the same place as Misterio, one of the most fluid, innovative high flyers in professional wrestling today is Mascara Dorada. The twenty-three year old, second generation luchador from Guadalajara has competed primarily for CMLL in undercard matches, though he has also made frequent trips to New Japan Pro Wrestling and added some lucha libre flavor to their junior heavyweight division on special occasions. Watch just one Mascara Dorada match, and you’re virtually guaranteed to see one if not two spots that you’ll never forget, including his killer ranas in which he almost always lands on his feet at the end of the move and his batshit insane no-hands pop-up tope con hilo to the floor. Though not yet necessarily the greatest at building a solid top-to-bottom match around those spectacular highspots, Dorada has still shown enough mettle to deserve an opportunity to develop those skills. However, unlike the prior two entries on this list, I would not suggest that he transition into WWE, as, quite frankly, his present style does not exactly fit with what they’re looking for in a professional wrestler. Instead, in order to hone his skills and become more of a “big league” wrestler, I think that Dorada is ready to go full-time with a major Japanese promotion, even if it’s just for a year or two. Working one of the schedules available in that country on a full-time basis is an educational process that has put the last necessary level of “shine” on many a young wrestler. Heck, I would even be willing to recommend that Dorada have a run in TNA Wrestling of all places, where he could be a cornerstone of the X Division. No, that division is not exactly the highest priority in the company right now, but Dorada could still learn quite a bit from American veterans such as Austin Aries, Kid Kash, and Alex Shelley. Dorada is a guy with more athletic potential than just about anybody else in the industry, and he is ready to move forward so that he can start to capitalize on that potential.

5. Daisuke Sekimoto

Current Position: Main Eventer in Big Japan/Undercard Tag Guy in All Japan
Ready For: Headlining a Major Japanese Promotion/More International Touring

As a squat, stocky power wrestler, Daisuke Sekimoto defies many western preconceptions about what a Japanese professional wrestler is supposed to be. Over the course of the past two or three years, Sekimoto, who calls Big Japan Wrestling his home, has developed a cult following thanks to his indy wrestling take on strong style, which he refers to as “Strong BJ.” (You know, for “Big Japan.”) In addition to being the top guy in the non-deathmatch division of BJW, Big Daisuke has in the past year also had a run as the top champion in ZERO1 and, alongside protégé Yuji Okabayashi, had one of the best pure in-ring feuds of the year in All Japan against AJPW’s up-and-comers Manabu Soya and Seiya Sanada for the All Asia Tag Team Titles. Simply put, Sekimoto has been ON FIRE for a couple of years now, and, in my opinion, he is ready to move on to a promotion that can offer him a bit more in terms of exposure. Unfortunately, the two major American promotions have both proven that they have absolutely no clue how to book a Japanese wrestler to play a meaningful role in their storylines. As a result, I am instead making the suggestion that Sekimoto move on from being a top guy in the independent level ZERO1/Big Japan groups and a bit player in All Japan to being a top performer in one of the Japanese big three. New Japan Pro Wrestling would be my top choice, as Sekimoto in AJPW has already been done for a bit, and, though this may sound like heresy to some, NOAH by and large bores me and I don’t know that even Sekimoto could save it. However, New Japan over the past several years has a great track record of taking a diverse group of professional wrestlers with unique styles and personalities and capitalizing on the strengths of all of them in order to create one hell of a wrestling promotion. Sekimoto’s charisma and in-ring style are both different enough from anything else in NJPW these days that he could stand out and contribute to the overall quality of the promotion. Unfortunately, indy wrestlers don’t have the best track record of being able to transition into the Japanese big leagues because promotions in that country do a fine job of training their own wrestlers . . . but we can certainly hope that Sekimoto will break the mold.

4. Karl Anderson

Current Position: Half of One of the Top Tag Teams in New Japan History
Ready For: A Career in the United States

Cue Steve Cook marking out. Aside from a handful of matches in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, “Machine Gun” Karl Anderson was a U.S. indy wrestler of very little consequence until 2008 when he got the opportunity of a lifetime and started touring with New Japan Pro Wrestling. Initially Anderson was not much more than a job guy in NJPW, but he was loyal and performed well, leading to him becoming a pushed member of the roster about halfway through 2009. He owes that push in large part to a pairing with Giant Bernard, who had a variety of American tag team partners over the years (Tyson Tomko, Rick Fuller) and was in need of a new one. Cue Anderson, and the pairing of the two gave birth to “Bad Intentions,” one of the most successful tag teams in any promotion anywhere in the world at just about any point in the last decade. The two won the G1 Tag League tournament, had the longest IWGP Tag Team Title reign in history, and became the first team to simultaneously hold two sets of major tag belts in Japan when they also picked up NOAH’s GHC Tag Team Titles. However, that run has now come to an end, with both the IWGP and GHC Titles moving on to other teams and Bad Intentions seemingly being deemphasized. I don’t see New Japan pushing Anderson as a singles star anytime soon, because he’s not been anything more than Giant Bernard’s little buddy up to this point, so his career in that promotion has most likely peaked. As a result, I am ready, willing, and able to accept Anderson into the mainstream wrestling continuity of the United States. Anderson’s experience in big match environments in Japan would mean that he would be ready to immediately fit into a key position in either WWE or TNA, and the former company in particular is in dire need of experienced wrestlers due to their lack of roster depth and broken developmental system. Though he can’t be the entire answer, the Machine Gun could definitely be a part of the answer to those problems.

3. James Storm

Current Position: In the TNA Main Event Mix
Ready For: WWE

Due to the fact that I choose not to follow TNA, I’ve probably only seen James Storm wrestle five matches over the course of the past four years. However, the James Storm that I recall from 2006 through 2008 was an AWESOME professional wrestler. Storm first rose to prominence as part of America’s Most Wanted, his tag team with Chris Harris. Though I think that it is getting a little bit cliché to compare every tag team in the world to the Rockers and label one guy as the “Shawn Michaels” and another guy as the “Marty Jannetty,” just about everybody thought that Harris was going to be the breakout star of the team and Storm was going to fade into the background. However, the opposite occurred, as Harris’ big jump to WWE fizzled and Storm went on to become part of an even bigger and better tag team in the form of Beer Money. The man was a more than passable professional wrestler, and, at the time, he was extremely underrated in the charisma department. Now, four years later, Storm has moved beyond being a tag team guy. He is a bona fide main eventer in TNA and a former World Heavyweight Champion in that company, and I am sure that he didn’t get into that position by becoming a worse professional wrestler than he was when I was watching him. However, given that TNA is viewed by literally a quarter of the number of people who watch Monday Night Raw each and every week in the United States, remaining with that promotion severely limits the potential star power of Storm, and he deserves to have his star power maximized due to his incredible levels of talent. As a result, I wholeheartedly endorse James Storm jumping into the true big league of wrestling and becoming a part of the WWE roster, even if it requires a stint in developmental first.

2. Sin Cara

Current Position: Undercard WWE Wrestler
Ready For: WWE Title Mix

As noted above, WWE has some very real problems with its roster depth right now. In fact, it’s gotten to the point that backstage rumors are flying that even those within the WWE hierarchy are concerned about the number of stars on the roster. The ‘E needs to remedy this problem. In doing so, there are a variety of different tactics that they could take. However, one of the quickest and most immediate steps that they could take is adopting an “all hands on deck” mentality and making everybody on the current roster who has the potential to be a main eventer into a main eventer. Of the people who have all the tools to be in the main event but are currently not, nobody has more of those tools than Sin Cara. Though some American fans still have a bad taste in their mouths about Cara due to a string of bad matches he had against Chavo Guerrero early in his run with the company, the fact of the matter is that he is a strong in-ring performer and has had numerous good to great matches on WWE television against guys like Tyson Kidd, Daniel Bryan, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, and Sheamus. The good matches outnumber the bad, and the reputation of this man as sloppy or a frequent botcher is completely undeserved. In addition to his in-ring ability, Sin Cara has the ability to project a superstar aura. Let’s not forget that, before he came to WWE, Cara was THE top star in all of lucha libre and had a couple year run in which, more than any other professional wrestler in the world, he was a guy whose presence on a card would lead to business peaking and a guy whose absence from a card would lead to business declining. Thus, he knows how to connect with an audience like a top-level star. WWE was pushing Sin Cara prior to his recent injury, but they were pushing him at a relatively low level on their cards. However, he got significantly better crowd reactions and sold significantly more merchandise than just about any other performer at his level on the cards would. This is a clear indication that there is at least a group of fans who are willing to accept him on a much higher level. That higher level is the WWE Title mix, as, again, the promotion needs every main eventer that they can get . . . and Sin Cara is a better choice to elevate to that position than just about anybody they’ve got.

1. Cody Rhodes

Current Position: WWE Intercontinental Champion
Ready For: WWE World Title Program

Since he first showed up in WWE, I’ve always liked Cody Rhodes on some level. However, from time-to-time, I have been worried about his ability to become a star. That’s not due to Rhodes’ level of talent, though. That’s due to how he’s been used by WWE. Originally I had some concerns due to his involvement in Legacy, a stable booked so poorly that I was afraid everybody involved in it would wind up closer to the level of Sim Snuka than the level of Randy Orton. Things started to rebound a bit thanks to Rhodes’ feud with Rey Misterio, but then they plummeted again due to the ridiculous “paper bag” gimmick that was foisted upon the second generation wrestler and made him look more like a career midcarder than a young star on the rise. Fortunately, that gimmick is gone, and now Cody again is acting and winning like a young professional wrestler who is just a few months away from being a World Heavyweight Champion. And, more than Dolph Ziggler, more than Jack Swagger, more than Zack Ryder, more than Kofi Kingston, and more than any midcard wrestler in the entire promotion, Cody feels like he is talented enough and has been protected well enough to get bumped up to the World Heavyweight Title picture. He probably needs one more key win in a feud with a top wrestler in order to seal the deal, and it looks like the company is getting ready to set that up in a burgeoning rivalry with the Big Show. Rhodes has the look, he has the in-ring credentials, and he has the charisma. He has everything that he needs in order to be a legitimate main event wrestler in the largest promotion in the world, with the exception of the opportunity to do so. He should be given that opportunity, sooner rather than later.