Top 5 WWE wrestlers who should be pushed after WrestleMania 28

As WrestleMania season is upon us, the annual host of big names have come to steal the airtime on Raw and Smackdown, with the likes of Undertaker, Triple H and The Rock all in action at the biggest wrestling event of the year. When the old timers all leave and April 9th rolls around, what batch of stars should be pushed up the card in the coming year?

5. Tyson Kidd

For the past couple of years since the split of the Hart Dynasty, Tyson Kidd has proven himself as one of the top singles workers in WWE, putting on excellent displays of technical wrestling almost every week on NXT and Superstars. While he may not have the charisma or the size to be a bonafide top star, it would be good to see him involved in longer matches on Smackdown or Raw, against the likes of Daniel Bryan and Chris Jericho. Even if was booked as a semi-jobber, he would still be able to put on some great and unique matches.

4. Heath Slater
Heath Slater is the perfect heel - funny, annoying and entirely hateable. His relaxed demeanor and long, straightened bright orange hair makes him stand out amongst the rest of the jobbers in WWE right now. His microphone work is funny and has great potential. Anyone in doubt should watch him on NXT every week and watch him shine when he takes to the microphone. Added to all that, Slater is a legitimately good wrestler, often putting on match of the week candidates with Justin Gabriel on the two web shows.. But of course, Slaters gonna slate..

3. Percy Watson
What WWE is missing right now is guys over the 6'4 range, with many of the new up and coming stars being lightweight wrestlers. Percy Watson has bags of charisma, a great athletic image and can go in the ring, as well as being half-decent on the microphone. It remains a mystery why this star has yet to receive a call up to one of the main rosters, when seemingly he has all it takes to be a huge star.

2. Randy Orton
A surprise pick you may feel, and a lot of people consider Orton to be "overpushed" - but can  you recall the last time Randy Orton was in a meaningful storyline? No, his feud with Christian last year does not count, as that feud was based entirely on Christian's quest for the World Heavyweight Title - Orton was just playing the part of the babyface. No, since Orton turned babyface he has not had one notable storyline or angle that people will remember. He gets criticism for being "Boring" from dumbfuck smarks online, but Orton is one of only two men in the WWE who are legitimate larger than life stars that will draw ratings (along with John Cena). Orton really needs to be brought back over to Raw after WrestleMania and pushed in a meaningful main event storyline with a top calibre star.

1. Cody Rhodes
If my idea of Orton going back to Raw and becoming one of the top stars comes to fruition, then Cody Rhodes is the man who should step up and take his place at the top of the Smackdown card. He has impressed for well over 2 years and every month looks more and more like a main event star waiting to happen. Having brought meaning and prestige back to the Intercontinental Title for the first time in years and a series of interesting mid-card feuds, Cody is ready to take the step up to the next level and become World Heavyweight Champion. The WWE has a lot of young guys ready to make it to the next level, but none more than Cody, who is the total package - great in-ring, great mic work, great look and character depth. A convincing heel who could some day turn babyface, Cody Rhodes is the future of the WWE.


More Top 5's

• Top 5 future faces of wrestling
• Top 5 Hornswoggle moments
• Top 5 babyfaces who should turn heel

Super 20 - Week 7, 2012

With more NXT stars than Raw ones this week, has the world gone mad? No.. this is wrestling, so expect the unexpected. But who really ever though an Indian promotion would ever come along that would challenge the big American companies? Ring Ka King finds itself entering the Super 20 this week and most likely will for many weeks to come..

20 new		Percy Watson Sadly the end of Titus O'Neil's 3-week streak on the Super 20, but perhaps the beginning of something new as Percy Watson hits number 20 on a super tough week. He looks like he could be a future star to me - he's confident, his in-ring work is good, his promos are clear, he has a good voice and he has charisma. Plus, age is on his side.
19 new		The Great Khali Don't know if it's my new-found love for Indian wrestling after seeing Ring Ka King, but I find myself receptive to the return of Great Khali. He brings something different to the table and we haven't seen him for a while, plus he sold the RKO like a champ' on Raw - which he deserves kudos for.
18 new		Gail Kim I wasn't into Gail Kim much til the last couple of weeks when she had two great matches with Tara. Tara deserves plaudits too, but Gail Kim is just a little bit better.
17 -16 6w		James Storm Storm did not look the star that he did last week on Impact or Against All Odds and seemed to play second fiddle to Jeff Hardy. He still looked great though, but TNA need to put everything behind him leading up to Lockdown if they want to build him up as the next top face of the company (which they should)
16 new		Johnny Curtis Curtis' character is awesome and unique and he plays the part of the creepy sexually charged guy well. Proper laugh out loud moments when you see him hiding behind doors or corners of walls. As well as his backstage skits, he had a cool match with Yoshi Tatsu on Superstars this week and showed off his new personality well, making the rest holds fun with his peculiar mannerisms.
15 new		AJ Styles AJ Styles still looks like a main event star to me, no matter how many mid-card angles he gets put in. His matches with Daniels and Kazarian this week were good and he came out of both looking like a real pro.
14 +2 2w		Austin Aries Aries gets in here for a second week just on match strength alone. I'm glad to see him beat Alex Shelley clean, he has to be one of the first long-term dominant heel champions I've seen in years. But it begs the question - who else is left? Zema Ion is the new number one contender, and whether that was by accident or not after the Jesse Sorenson injury, it should prove to be an interesting match up with Aries. The fans are already chanting his name - perhaps a face turn is in order? That could be the cause if they plan to feud him with Ion.
13 new		David Otunga Hilarious promo from Otunga this week, "praying" for John Laurinaitis in the Tim Tebow pose to big heel heat. The reason I love Otunga is the same reason I love Ring Ka King - he's an over the top, larger than life character who takes what could be a crap gimmick without the right direction and gives it personality of his own. Always like to see wrestling in suits, ever since I saw The Wall in WCW - so another bonus that helps find Otunga back on the top 20.
12 new		Gunner Welcome back to the Super 20 Gunner and let's hope you stay here for a long time to come. It was about time someone beat the hell out of Garrett Bischoff and taught that punk kid a lesson, and thankfully that man was Gunner at Against All Odds. Would preferred to have seen his DDT on the concrete, but a simple DDT to the mat was fine enough. Still believe he will be a World Champ' by the time the year is through.
11 new		Sonjay Dutt Not sure if Sonjay Dutt is an American-born Indian wrestler or if he is just one of the Indian guys, but he has a crispness to his in-ring work that I was surprised to see - most of the other Indian talent in RKK is pretty green. His character is great too, that of the weaselly heel and he does it better than anyone else in wrestling right now. Kissing his opponent's foot was hilarious and even one of the Indian commentators broke into English to laugh and say "I love this guy"
10 +2 2w		Robert Roode I thought I was getting sick of Robert Roode, but the ending of the Against All Odds match showed me he is a legitimate champ', with his interactions with Sting. Spitting in Sting's face then laughing and telling him to count when Sting knocked Hardy out with the belt was great. I can forgive how badly the match was booked (why didn't Sting count Bully to win the title if he could count Roode?), just for the great ending - which Roode played magnificently. Even tapping out to Sting on Impact and rolling out cradling the belt like his baby and trying to get friendly with Bully Ray was quality - "Calfs and abs, like old times!" - "Old times" of course being less than 2 weeks ago.
9 new		Jwala I don't know what Jwala's beef is and I'm not quite sure if he is face or heel, but he has an amazing intensity and creepiness about him. Not even sure what the mark is on the side of his face, but it looks cool. As soon as I saw him on camera he stood out to me and he is one of the better Indian wrestlers in Ring Ka King.
8 -5 2w		Randy Orton Randy Orton brings real star power to WWE, and even though he is hanging around in the mid-card at the moment, he should either win the Elimination Chamber match or face the winner at WrestleMania. A strong match with Bryan with a good ending in where he brawled with Big Show sees him stay around the top 10.
7 +2 2w		Heath Slater The One Man Southern Rock Band stays on the chart for a second week after having the best match in WWE world on Superstars with Justin Gabriel. Why is Gabriel not here though? Because he doesn't have the charisma, the charm and the brilliance of Heath Slater. Both are good workers that compliment each other, as seen with their great match - but Slater has the edge on Gabriel with his mannerisms and general demeanor. He stands out from the crowd.
6 +7 7w		Sting Sting is one of only two players left suviving from week 1 of the Super 20, in a tough week where Cody Rhodes (did nothing noteworthy), John Cena (not on TV), John Laurinaitis (rarely featured) and Mark Henry (suspended) all lost their spots. But Sting was great this week.  His mega charisma, while more apparent than anyone elses in TNA, doesn't overflow and make anyone else look bad. That is why Sting is so good, whereas Hogan's charisma just steals the show - that can  be a positive or a negative. The Stinger was great in the tag team match main event and his segment with Roode at the end of Against All Odds showed why he is one of the more intriguing characters on the show, even if that match was overbooked so poorly at the end.
5 +2 2w		Triple H The Triple H-Taker feud just blows everything else out of the water right now in WWE and the slow build up to WrestleMania should be epic. Hunter's opening promo on Raw was long, but necessarily so - it gave a new spin to the feud and made the match seem more relevant than it would have been, giving HHH a heelish edge.
4 +2 2w		Daniel Bryan Bryan improves week after week and his new left-wing liberal gimmick makes him even more hateable as a heel. Everything about him has improved, from his promos, to his matches and even his facial mannerisms. It is small things like that which make a star and one of the things I criticised Daniel Bryan about in my '10 reasons Daniel Bryan sucks' was how he should study Randy Orton for that part of his in-ring game. Seemingly he has taken my advice and he has become one of the more entertaining acts in WWE at the moment because of it.
3 new		Magnus After seeing Magnus kill it on the microphone this week on Impact and then seeing him in Ring Ka King as "Sir" Brutus Magnus, I am convinced he is the future of the business. Wade Barrett move over, Magnus is the next big thing out of England. To think he is only in his mid-twenties is a shock, his in-ring work and promo style suggests that of a veteran. In Ring Ka King he looks like a total star and in TNA he is helping make Samoa Joe relevant again - something nobody has been able to do for 2 years.
2 n/c 7w		Bully Ray The Bully was incredible this week, as always and along with Sting is one of only two remaining stars who have appeared on every Super 20 list since its inception, many moons ago. He played his part in some good matches this week and cut awesome promos as usual (calling Christy Hemme a skank was priceless), but my favourite Bully moment this week came on TNA Xplosion, the UK only show. Some blonde slag from the shitty Man U channel was being interviewed as she had been in attendance at the Impact house show in Manchester, when Bully Ray turns up in a Liverpool top and starts calling her ugly and fat and to stop calling him at 3 in the morning. So, so funny - but not as funny as... .
1 new		Scott Steiner ...Big Poppa Pump! With Ring Ka King pulling in a reported 14million viewers in India, beating out Raw in America by 10million, Scott Steiner is the hottest act in wrestling right now. Some may say Matt Morgan would be entitled to this honour, due to him being the RKK champion - but the real star of the show is The Genetic Freak, bringing his surreal jacked-up comedy ravings to India and terrifying the fans in the process. Anyone who doesn't believe a Ring Ka King star deserves to be at the top of this list just needs to watch the opening minutes of one of the latest episodes in where Steiner calls the Indian general manager Jazzy Lahoria "white trash". Ring Ka King is awesome in itself, but Steiner being on there makes it 10 x better. It is more simplfied and old school in it's feel as it's for an audience more unaccustomed to wrestling than our own, which begs the question why they brought a lunatic like Scott Steiner across - someone that native English speakers can barely understand half the time. It just adds to the greatness that is Ring Ka King - the show is wrestling gold and Steiner is the best act on there.

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Why wrestling promotions should pay no attention to what the internet wants

The other day when I was browsing Royal Rumble entries on Wikipedia, I noticed that in the 2008 Rumble The Miz was eliminated by Hornswoggle. Funny, I thought - who knew back then that The Miz would go on to headline WrestleMania 27 last year? Not I, and I'm willing to bet 99.9% of you never thought so either. It then occurred to me that this years' Rumble winner, Sheamus, was also recently eliminated by Hornswoggle in a battle royale match on Smackdown. Am I onto something, I thought to myself.

Then something else clicked - not only was Sheamus eliminated in a Battle Royale by Hornswoggle recently, but so was the One Man Southern Rock Band (what an amazing name), Heath Slater. Could Heath Slater possibly go on to headline WrestleMania one day in the future and keep the Hornswoggle theory going?

Heath Slater is awesome and one of the brightest hidden gems on NXT right now and if WWE has any sense they will push him into a mid-card slot on Smackdown after WrestleMania. Great on the mic, pretty good in the ring and a unique image to boot. But the fact that most people of the so-called "IWC" don't buy Slater as a legit star of the future isn't my point here.

I posted a thread on wrestlingforum.com that was intended to be a jovial, humorous look at my Hornswoggle theory, saying one day that if my theory proves correct that Heath Slater will headline WrestleMania.  Instead of light pats on the back for a good joke well done and green reps, I mostly received replies calling my theory "stupid", that Heath Slater will never headline WrestleMania and that I'm an idiot.

Here's an example of the idiocy:

"Heath Slater wont be headling Wrestlemania" (What an astute observation) 

"conspiracy theory, don't forget your foil hat." (Conspiracy? Who is conspiring against who? Learn what a conspiracy is idiot..)

"Heath Slater will never main event a Wrestlemania, the Hornswoggle theory is a bunch of nonsense." (I love the way he says "the" Hornswoggle theory, as if it's some established scientific theory, such as "the" theory of evolution)

I didn't even bother replying to these comments on the forum - why should I lower myself to such stupidity? And so why should WWE or TNA give a damn what these fools think. Too dumb to even get a joke thread about a ludicrous "Hornswoggle Theory" and too dumb to see that Heath Slater is a star in the making.

To be fair though, there were plenty of people who did get it too and chimed in with their own jokes, but still.. wrestling isn't supposed to be serious. If you're so serious about wrasslin' that you can't understand a joke about Heath Slater being a future WrestleMania headliner and a Hornswoggle theory, you shouldn't be commenting on how WWE or TNA should book their product.

Anyway, who cares.. hit my motherfuckin' music

Super 20 - Week 6, 2012

A strong week for wrestling matches on TV, with Raw, Smackdown and Impact all putting on good shows. Will Titus O'Neil break the Super 20 for the third week in a row? And yeah, Jericho has dropped off it for now.. what a failure of a return that has been so far.

20 new		Hulk Hogan Youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
19 -5 2w		Aksana An early nominee for best entrance of the year and her sexual innuendo jokes with Teddy Long keep getting funnier.
18 -6 2w		Santino Marella The former master of the Honk-O-Meter is on form as of late and finds himself in the Super 20 for a second week running. If he keeps walking into Natalya's farts he will surely have a regular place here.
17 -11 6w		John Cena I can't tell if Cena had "embraced the hate" or not this week, as he was his usual playful self even when beating Kane up around the ring. Still intrigued as to where this is going though, and the new hype videos for Cena and Rock have me excited for WrestleMania.
16 new		Austin Aries A Double carries himself better than anyone else in the X Division and it's hard not to cheer for him when he keeps beating all the vanilla midgets cleanly. A man amongst boys. When CM Punk calls himself the "best in the world" it's a bit of a stretch, but Aries calling himself "the greatest man that ever lived" .. I can enjoy that.
15 -12 6w		Cody Rhodes A good short match with Sheamus on Smackdown this week, preceded by a decent promo promising to win the World Heavyweight Title at Elimination Chamber. I would love that to be the case, but I doubt it's going to happen. Still, Cody should be line for a singles match at WrestleMania. One of the few left remaining who has been on the Super 20 chart every week since its inception.
14 -3 3w		Titus O'Neil Make it a win! Heel Titus breaks the Super 20 for a 3rd week in a row. This is vintage heel stuff, the new suit, calling the fans idiots for no reason, fluffing promos. If the internet got Zack Ryder on TV we should be able to get Titus on too. #TITUS4RAW Owh owh owh! (Titus's bark/seal noise)
13 -4 6w		Sting The Stinger keeps up with the likes of Cena and Cody Rhodes by staying on the Super 20 for a 6th consecutive week. He just stands out as a total star compared to everyone on Impact at the moment. The black cricket back was a funny touch. Can't wait to see him in action next week.
12 new		Robert Roode I'm slowly starting to turn around on Robert Roode, who's heel turn I hated at first. Of course, Bully Ray is playing a big part in getting him over, but to Roode's credit he had a great match with ex-tag partner James Storm this week. I still don't know what his finisher is though, which is a problem.
11 -10 3w		Sheamus I guess Sheamus will just be biding his time until after Elimination Chamber now by picknig up wins on every show until he announces who he will be facing. I'm hoping he goes after the WWE title just for the swerve.
10 +8 6w		Mark Henry One of the few wrestlers who is tied for 6 weeks on the Super 20 chart, Mark Henry will unfortunately not be with us next week after his kayfabe suspension. His exiting promo was typical Henry though. He is one of the best in the business on the microphone right now. Hopefully he is back in time for WrestleMania for a big main event match.
9 new		Heath Slater Slater cut the promo of the week this week on NXT (2 NXT entrants in one week!), in where he replayed a clip of him finally winning a match over and over again til it reached Family Guy levels of surrealism. It was downright hilarious. His promo work is just great too, he has a cocky, self-assured confidence that doesn't overstep the mark. I'd love to see Slater called up full time to Smackdown if he keeps cutting promos like this.
8 new		Undertaker When you see Undertaker's entrance week after week it becomes unbearable, but coming back for one match a year at WrestleMania makes it cool when it happens. Shame he was wearing a stupid wig.
7 new		Triple H The staredown with Triple H and Undertaker was epic, a level of stardom that can only be achieved after two decades or so in the business. Two old-timers squaring off for perhaps the last time in their careers. Shades of Metal Gear Solid 4, westerns and everything else cool as fuck. I didn't like their match last year, but I'm still excited to see what happens with this angle.
6 new		Daniel Bryan Whoever thought we would see the day that Daniel Bryan debuted in the Super 20? Not I, that's for sure, but Bryan has proven his doubted wrong in recent weeks - upping his promo game, acting skills and showing a new star power that was lacking in the past. His heel turn has done wonders for him, much like Christian's did last year. The subtle face he pulled at Big Show when he was holding AJ was almost an Orton-level of great facial acting. All that said, his match with CM Punk was also brilliant and perhaps my favourite Bryan match since he faced Dolph Ziggler at Bragging Rights 2010.
5 +3 6w		John Laurinaitis Like Michael Cole this time last year, John Laurinaitis is pure comedy gold at the moment. Putting chap-stick on and puckering up his lips to join the "kiss my ass club" was hysterical, laugh out loud funny. He is the star of Raw.
4 new		Wade Barrett Despite debuting one of the worst wrestling themes I've ever heard which sounds like it was tailored more for Trent Baretta or someone, Wade Barrett put on a good, long main event match with Randy Orton on Smackdown. He looked like a star on Raw when he was being interviewed in the VIP suited by Josh Matthews and could well go on to win the title at Elimination Chamber.
3 new		Randy Orton Like weeks past, Barrett and Orton have helped each other rise to the top of this prestigious ranking system by putting on another great match in their series. Seemingly the finale to the feud, Orton and Barrett will be top contenders to take the belt away from Daniel Bryan at Elimination Chamber in a couple of weeks. A decent match with Dolph Ziggler on Raw also sees Randy Orton re-enter the Super 20 after injury.
2 +2 6w		Bully Ray The Bully is becoming a constant fixture at the top of the Super 20 and while I often praise his promo work here, I have to give credit for his work in the ring this week. His match with James Storm was fantastic and Bully plays the role of the heel better than anyone in the ring. The spot where he spits in the air and catches it in his mouth is hilarious and it's unique little things like that which have made him one of the most valuable assets in wrestling today - who would have thought that ten years ago when he was Bubba Ray with the stutter and the glasses?
1 +19 5w		James Storm The Cowboy picks up his first #1 spot in the Super 20 this week after two fantastic matches on the London Impact. Storm is simply the best babyface in wrestling right now and is universally loved by all different types of fans - a rare feat in today's wrestling world. His match with Robert Roode was great and promises for a great feud down the line, but his match with Bully Ray was one of the best matches of the year so far. The London crowd loved the Cowboy and hopefully his popularity will see him raise to the top of Impact Wrestling and capture a second World Heavyweight Title.

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