2013 The Year of Rising Stars!

[MOExecution]

2013 will be the year of the rising stars.

We have seen the debuts of competitors ranging from Antonio Cesaro, Damien Sandow, Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and most recently Big E. Langston.

I am not sure if anyone else is as excited as I am to see the evolution of these superstars. Antonio Cesaro while he is struggling to get over with the fans he has had some very good matches and a decent title reign. Damien Sandow is one of the best speakers in the WWE today and his in-ring ability is great. Months into his debut I was already calling this guy a future main eventer and World Champion and I am still standing by my word. Dean Ambrose is a very good talker and down in FCW has had some fantastic matches with Seth Rollins, William Regal, and even Damien Sandow. Punk is backing him and so far have heard nothing, but positive things about Ambrose as part of The Shield. Seth Rollins is a great in-ring performer, but his talking abilities are very limited. While I do not know much about Roman Reigns OR Big E. Langston I have heard WWE are really high on both men.

Everyone who has debuted are talented individuals, can take WWE very far into the future, and has the backing of many backstage. Seeing the debut of Big E. Langston really opened my eyes that the business is in a transition period and that in 2013 we will be seeing even more wrestlers come up from NXT onto the main roster.

Someone I am personally waiting to see come up from NXT is, Bray Wyatt. If you do not know who he is then by his former name, Husky Harris, you now know. Bray Wyatt has re-invented himself with a darker gimmick and has become another one of the best talkers in WWE. While his wrestling abilities as Wyatt have not shown much technicality his character alone puts over the matches and also gets himself over. WWE are missing the, "monster" now that Mark Henry is gone, Kane is now temporarily a comedy act with Daniel Bryan along with; Brodus Clay and The Great Khali, and Undertaker only appears for WrestleMania. WWE could use that dark gimmick now.

Everyone who has debuted in 2012 has potential to do great things in their career and in 2013 I can see a handful of stars making a BIG impact and potentially debuting. The Shield, Langston, Sandow, and Cesaro are only the beginning. In 2013 we will be in for a treat and I cannot be more excited. We get to see the evolution of these young talented competitors.

- What are you thoughts on all of the NEW talent from 2012?
- Who would you like to see come up to the main roster from NXT?
- Do you think 2013 will be the year of the rising stars?
- Who do you think will achieve the most in 2013?

P.S. THIS IS NOT A THE SHIELD DISCUSSION!

 

[NotoriousMEAT]

This transition period also includes people like Dolph Ziggler who could be the top heel in the biz a year from now. People like Daniel Bryan, Wade Barrett, and Cody Rhodes have really come into their own in the last year and will be work horses for WWE going further. Despite my disdain for Sandow, he along with Cesaro, the Prime Time Players and Ryback have had phenomenal rookie years, with no signs of slowing down. Ambrose, Rollins, Reigns, and Langston will all be stars! These are exciting times.

As for the next crop of NXT arrivals.. I expect before 2013 is over we'll see Bray Wyatt, Richie Steamboat, Kassius Ohno and Bo (Rotundo) Dallas on the main roster. Corey Graves, Xavier Woodes, and Luke Harper (Brodie Lee) are possibilities as well. I choose these people based off what I've seen, or the praise they've received in "reports" and what not.

The future is bright regardless.

 

[Hard Hit Prince]

I can predict that Cesaro will not be a star in 2013, not if he stays as interesting as Primo & Epico nowadays. I can't buy him and I can't even see what people like about him aside from his wrestling ability to be more aggressive than what we usually watch. I say that he flops in 2013, but we will see.

My list of 2013 rising stars include Ryback, Damien Sandow, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose. Those five are going to be the ones that will be growing even more, I say that Ryback will be a world champion by 2013, and I also believe that Damien Sandow is going to win his first singles championship, and it will probably be the Intercontinental Championship. As for the other two, I believe that in the end they will be the best that The Shield has to offer, Reigns has a great look if that guy flops I will be surprised with all honesty. Dean Ambrose is a given, he will be one the stars in the rise by the end of 2013.

However I believe that Dolph Ziggler will grab his brass ring and maintain his status as a main eventer for more than 4 months at least. However I can also see Daniel Bryan and The Miz grab it too, since they are one of the most entertaining things nowadays.

As for guys in NXT, I believe that Big E. has loads of potential to be a great heel monster in some sort of fashion or tag team. I also want to see Kassius Ohno make his debut and if anything teams with Cesaro and works as his mouthpiece and elevate the state of tag team wrestling just a bit. Those are my two cents, but we'll see!

 

[I B EpiK]

Ya i see that happening as well. there coming up with all new roster and think that with all the new talent there getting ready to let some of the less important ones go in the next year or to. Also when are they gonna Give the Usos the push they deserve. they get a great response from the crowd and really good performers. as for Big E langston. the only thing i can thing that i can think of of how there gonna use him is some where down the line AJ uses him to screw over Dolph. But if they just want to Put another "monster" in front of Cena i think we all know how thats gonna work out. The same way as it always does when he come up against a so call "monster". But we will see

 

[Brewski]

I have never been so excited by the future look of wwe. With 2012 coming to a close ziggler is on the cusp of main event status and leading what I think could potentially turn into a stable of rising heels. Rhodes and Sandow are right where they need to be and could use good time in the tag division to make names for themselves before jumping back into the packed upper-mid card. I have really loved all members of the shield and could see each of them making impacts in the main event scene at some point. Everyone already knows Dean Ambrose is a future star but i'm most excited about Seth Rollins. I loved him as Tyler Black in ROH and so far he's getting himself noticed by doing a lot of high spots for the group. I'm really excited about where he could potentially go.

As far as other NXT guys, I think they need to slow down with bringing guys in. In the last month 4 top NXT wrestlers have been brought over. Factor in the debuts of Ryback, Cessaro, Sandow, Brodus, and Brad Maddox(future and current nobody, get him off tv) and you have a mountain of new guys running around that weren't there a year before. It's just too much.

Unfortunately that sucks the most for Cessaro since the only way he's going to get over is by mixing things up and the easiest way to do that is to recreate the Kings of Wrestling. Kassius Ohno(Chris Hero) could come right in and form a tag team with Cessaro again. This would really add a lot of depth in the tag division because they together have a genuine ability to work great matches with anyone. It's the only way I can see Cessaro being built up successfully.

 

[keith hall]

ok look honestly, 2013 will be a great year for wrestling...just look at 2012 compared to two years ago...this is what we had in 2010

• debut of the nexus
• kanes world title run...and his horrible taker feud

and i know there was a bunch of other horrible stuff but look at how much better 2011 was

• taker vs hhh at wm 27
• christain vs orton
• mark henry's amazing run
• danial bryan and his money in the bank breifcase
• AJ lee anyone?

then just look at what 2012 has brught us all

• not a single bad payper-veiw...
• LESNER
• end of an era
• HHH's new dew
• the SHEILD/Ryback
• Blood in a match...
• an amazin tlc match at tlc that shows you what the future holds
  /LIST]
  
  my theory is that next year we may see even more wonderful matches put on by the sheild and the other nxt standouts...hopefully a careerending injury for cena( he is pretty banged up nowdays) a ryback title run(WORLD not WWE) and mabye edgier content...keep pushing that barrier with AJ WWE...please...

 

[sTyLnK]

The WWE has a ton of young guys to push, but like they usually do, they drop the ball big time. This time however, I really think they won't. Punk and Cena can't hold the ship forever. Especially Cena. He's been going strong for years and at some point in time he won't be able to go full time anymore. This time I think Vince realizes that they really need to start pushing young talent. The main event picture is very thin. If they push the young talent like Ziggler, Ryback, Cody, the NXT guys etc, in a few years the entire main event landscape could change. It's an exciting time because all this fresh blood is sorely needed.

 

[Kelso1ftw]

So many great talents have been brought up this year, and I'm really excited too because as well as talents being brought in, we see talents finally getting over the hump into main event status such as Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan, and Wade Barrett. I don't pay too much attention to the indies to know who I'm most excited for, but thanks to Justin Labar I was really excited to see Dean Ambrose in the WWE as him and Seth Rollins have been the two names I hear most frequently as the next big stars in the WWE. Those are the two I'm really excited about, I loved the way Ambrose used his body language during that interview with Cole and the ability to just make you want to hate the guy even though you've seen him twice on TV.

Out of stars that have debuted over the past year and has made an impact I fully expect Ryback to be the one to get the most exposure over the 2013 calender year. He NEEDS to get gold in the next year and he most likely will, and Sandow, Ambrose, and Rollins can fight over to see who is gonna be the break out star of next summer possibly winning MITB or just getting super over with the crowd and making a huge impact like Daniel Bryan and Ryback did this year or punk the summer before that. I feel by the end of the next year the whole main event landscape could be changed with all the new highly touted talent jumping into the mix, which would honestly make the show much more entertaining because we could have a much wider variety of matches, feuds, and title holders.

 

[Menski]

While the debuts of 2012 have all had varying degrees of success I think they all display decent potential. Sandow and The Shield look ready. Ryback is doing fine but his character needs more depth for me, I am happy they didn't go the winning streak route though, I'm simply not a fan of a top face being a squash artist. Fear factor is for heels. As i've said before Cesaro is great in the ring but character wise I don't find him to be very engaging but rather far too similar to the old Soviet heels and providing no fresh perspective. I like the Funkasaurus character for clay but I don't ever see him as main event material, especially with so much young talent around.

Coming up from NXT? Well, I'd elevate Kassius Ohno and Bray Wyatt before Mania or just after. For me though the Richie Steamboats and Bo Dallas' of the roster need more time in development. Leo Kruger and Corey Graves could be ready sooner rather than later. I would have brought The Ascension up but with Cameron having been let go I'd leave O'Brien there til they can find him a good enough replacement partner.

In 2013 I see Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Kofi Kingston, Rollins, Ambrose, Reigns, Sandow, Cesaro, Ryback, John Morrison, Big E Langston, Cody (i'm predicting a face turn as he gets fed up with Sandow acting superior), Miz all being pushed hard against Cena, Punk, Kane, Show, Orton etc who whether through their own admission, being banged up, age or whatever are all going to be gone or part time in not too far away future.

Most impact? All 3 of The Shield, Ryback, Ziggler, Bryan, and Sandow will all be strong. Dean Ambrose will be the major stand out, with DB cementing his main event status.

 

[mojmass]

Certainly 2013 can be the Rising star year we seen so many guys debuting in it. If wwe don't want to screw his stars this time like it was doing for the past few years (Remember guys like alex riley, Jack swagger, Tensai, Mason Ryan, and even Brodus Clay were one the best younger talents once?) it can come back to it's glory days and it is not unexpected to be as good or maybe better than attitude era.
Guys I really like to see to become major stars this year are Dean Ambrose, Ryback, antonio cesaro, Wade Barret, and so on.
This Young Star Era can kick off with Ryback wining WWE title. I know most of you guys says come on he has a boring character and have little mic skill but I would say have you guys no Faith in improvement look at guys like Daniel bryan and even CM Punk 2 years ago you can't even compare them to their previous character they improved so much and so can Ryback and wwe is wrestling entertainment no ENTERTAINMENT beside wrestling having a not so good mic skill is not a good reason and can't justify us to say the guy can't be a champion.
And another guy who I wanted to see become a major star was Dean Ambrose. At TLC I saw how skillful he was inside the ring and I can say with courage that he is better than other members of the shield and he can talk well. He can start as the intercontinental Champion and move on.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

I think a lot has to do with the fact that domestic interest is waning and they will be looking to grow the foreign markets. They have a lot of non-americans in good positions, ready for the next level and a potential big PPV in the UK sometime in 2013... Cesaro will be over in Europe, a Sheamus v Barrett PPV title match could draw a massive live gate in the UK and with guys like Justin Gabriel and the (I think) next to debut Leo Kruger, South Africa could also be a massive market for them in 2013...

You have some 2nd gen guys still to come through, now Ricky Steamboat/Ric Flair are back it's very likely that Ritchie S. and Charlotte will be on the roster soon, possibly linked with their paters in some way as managers/stables. WWE are playing with the roles you expect, no one thought the Shield would be a unit, that it would be 3 individual debuts. So what's to stop Ritchie going "against the grain" and being a heel, playing the "Being good never got you anything dad" card?

What WWE has done well since 2010 is build new guys in short spaces of time, starting with Barrett, Bryan and Sheamus. Ryback, The Shield, Cesaro and Sandow have all made upper mid-card or main event within 9 months to a year of their debuts. This shows that NXT as a feeder fed is working (the Big Sail/Trips changes deserve a lot of credit) and that the public are willing to buy the concept that guys can be new but making big, immediate impacts and hang with the current big names. 3 years ago if you said a PPV main event ends with a lone FCW debutee destroying Cena, whatever his size it'd have been crazy... Now guys like Big E, the Shield and I am sure Bray Wyatt can walk not only into WWE "as good as anybody there" but actually capture imagination of the viewers off the bat.

Some bigger names are starting to return, Shelton is no doubt gonna be followed by Charlie... perhaps we will get that Kings v WGTT feud for the WWE after all? MVP, The Hardyz, could all be back within the year, but with the exception of Jeff I think a lot of them will be there to build up the next guys faster. The idea of Jeff v Ambrose towards the back end of 2013 is perhaps the one I would like to see the most. Ryback I think might be more of a short term boost to fill a Cena shaped hole in merchandising as it's clear he is so banged up he will either need time away or a part time schedule.

When people say "Big E. will be Rumble winner within a year" or "Ritchie Steamboat could be an awesome heel of the future", it isn't fantasy anymore, for the first time in probably 15 years the phrase "anything can happen in the WWE" is starting to be true.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

There does seem to be a lot of optimism going forward. The Shield have been the most impactful faction in wrestling since the Nexus debuted some 2.5 years ago. While there are certainly aspects within the group that's become common among heel factions, the fact that it's three guys that 2 months ago most of the WWE audience had no clue existed & have gotten over so quickly makes the whole thing feel incredibly fresh. WWE did about as clost to a perfect job as it can get in showcasing The Shield, Ryback, Bryan & Kane at TLC. The match was fantastic and far outstripped the hype. To top it all off, The Shield went over while no damage was done to the credibility of Ryback or Team Hell No. The fact that WWE seems to be making us wait for The Shield to step into the ring on a regular basis is also a nice touch because anticipation is even higher after TLC.

As far as Big E. Langston goes, right now, he's in a role that is perfectly suited for him. He has both the look and the legit physial strength to be a believable bruiser for Dolph Ziggler and AJ Lee. It gives him exposure by aligning him with two very over members of the roster while whatever shortcomings he might have can be fine tuned. As long as WWE doesn't go off the reservation and try to push him much too soon, like they did with Ezekiel Jackson, then things can work out just fine.

There's talk of bringing NXT wrestler Corey Graves up from NXT very early next year. Graves is someone that WWE officials like a lot, especially Triple H. Graves posted something on Twitter about working towards, I believe, 1-14-13. That night will be the 20th Anniversary celebration of Raw, so the indication is that he'll be debuting on that night. Doesn't mean that he will, but it's a possibility.

Plus, you've got guys on the roster right now like Daniel Bryan, Cody Rhodes & Damien Sandow who have all come extremely far in the span of a year and could have a great year going forward. Wade Barrett is someone that I think will be a future main eventer. Kofi Kingston finally feels like a relevant mid-card champion. While I think Antonio Cesaro's gimmick does need a few tweeks, I really enjoy watching him wrestle and, all things considered, he's been a good United States Champion. He's yet to have what I'd call a really substantial feud, but Cesaro has done his best with what he's been given and has made the most out of it. CM Punk is still going to be a huge star going forward whether he drops the title to The Rock at the Royal Rumble or not. The WWE's tag team division continues to make progress going forward. Both the WWE & World Heavyweight Championship pictures have been consistently interesting as well.

So yeah, there's certainly a lot of legitimate reason to be optimistic for 2013, especially with the good work that the "young lions", to paraphrase CM Punk, have been doing.

 

[dashing]

It's hard to say, normally at least one guy we expect to be a big breakout star ends up flopping massively. Saying that though there have been many great debuts this year, The Shield and in particular Ambrose has been fantastic. Ambrose reminds me of George the Animal Steel crossed with Nolan's Joker in terms of his in ring demeanor, very unusual but also intimidating... I would much rather encounter an angry Rybeck in a dark alley than an angry Ambrose, his character gives the impression that he doesn't give a f about anyone or anything, an absolute nihilist. I'd be surprised if he doesn't get a world title reign this year.

I like Cesaro as well, but his character is boring, it's just a matter of giving him the right gimmick and he's sorted because he is superb in the ring. I get the feeling if anyone of the new guys are going to flop then it'll be him, purely down to his character more than his ability or look.

 

[Detroitsandman]

The WWE are definetley in a transition period! Just to think guys like, Barrett, Rhodes, Ziggler, Kofi they can be considered "Veterans" In the WWE now. I am very happy with the new set of wrestlers. I think Cesaro, Ambrose and Rollins are sure fire main eventers. I think Sandow will be a Mid-Carder for most of his career compaired to something like a Roddy Piper. Im not sure how Sandow would look with a Championship Belt. But I havent scouted to much on Big E Langston or Roman Reigns. I think Roman Reigns would be in a good position in a Tag Team or a Body Guard for a smaller wrestler.

I am Very High on Cesaro, Ambrose and Rollins. I think these are your future top guys not to mention Barrett, Ziggler and Rhodes will be in that roll as well.

 

[dtroppe]

Well if 2003,2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012 only brought us John Cena- i would think its about time for another top draw- but i doubt its any of the mid0card type talents in WWE right now. Problem is the Development. You mold everyone to be the same- and guess what they all don't draw.

 

[Trill Co$by]

Well if 2003,2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012 only brought us John Cena- i would think its about time for another top draw- but i doubt its any of the mid0card type talents in WWE right now. Problem is the Development. You mold everyone to be the same- and guess what they all don't draw.

Drawing means absolutely shit. Santino and Ryder consistently draw massive numbers from their merchandises and never get serious pushes. Rey Mysterio's been selling masks like hot cakes since he came to WWE, and still only has a few forgettable reigns to show for it. Oh and Jeff Hardy got released for his abilities to sell merchandise.

--

I do think that over the past years, WWE's been in the right step of pushing talent. We've seen guys like Wade Barrett, Sheamus, The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Sandow, Bryan, and even divas like AJ, Kaitlyn, and Eve coming in and making memorable impacts. We've had the Shield get a lot of hype for them, which can only help them in the end. I must say, if 2013 isn't the year of the new blood then WWE will fold soon after.

 

[The Tay]

Year of the rising stars huh? I distinctly remember some people(and im not saying here) saying that 2012 would be the year of the rising stars.True some stars have spread there wings this year,but i feel like a lof ot them are being held back.Take wade barret as example,he was supposed to be a world champion by now,but right now he is stuck in some lackster feud with kofi kingston over the intercontinental title.Now guys from the shield,Ambrose,Rollins,and Reigns,pretty much everything that needed to be said about them has already been said,except basically roman reigns is a big dude who doesn't need to talk that much to be intimidating.

Now in my opinion antonio cesaro should have won newcomer of the year,but of course wwe has to pull the plug and make Ryberg,im sorry i ment Ryback the winner,AND to make matters worse they let ryback squash him,im not here to hate or anything,im NOT a ryback fan,neither are a lot of people.I don't like his mic skills,there so limited and sometimes i just feel like the food references are a little much,i don't like his in-ring skills,they only consist of power moves and strikes which honestly isn't enough to be a world champion in wwe,even john cena has said so.Quite frankly he needs to break out of goldberg's shadow before more people can take him seriously...maybe when the ''goldberg'' chants stop.

and sandow,langston,even dolph ziggler should all shine in 2013,now all we can do is wait and hope the creative team don't f%$ everything up.

 

[dtroppe]

Drawing means absolutely shit. Santino and Ryder consistently draw massive numbers from their merchandises and never get serious pushes. Rey Mysterio's been selling masks like hot cakes since he came to WWE, and still only has a few forgettable reigns to show for it. Oh and Jeff Hardy got released for his abilities to sell merchandise.

Its not hard to get the current fans to buy merchandise, but why arent WWEs top guys bringing in new fans? Because they are awful on the mic, their characters are generic, and they all look the same. Remember the days when wrestlers all had cool unique looks?

 

[FlyinStyles]

2013 should belong to Dolph Ziggler. It looks more and more like he is not cashing in until Mania or after. If he does he cash in on Ryback at Mania it will be a huge moment too. A lengthy Summer reign for Ziggler would cement him as a top heel in the WWE. Hell if he's a miracle worker he might actually make the World Heavyweight Title mean something again. 2013 Ziggler is going to the moon.

Also I expect big things from the Shield. For the love of God their story makes too much sense for them not involve themselves with Rock and Cena after their inevitable re-match. I could really a Rock/Cena/??? vs. Sheild Match at SummerSlam. Maybe it's a pipe dream but it would be sweet. These guys are going to be pushed to the moon also and deserve every bit of it. I really can not wait to see what they do with them.

After those guys it kind of drops off. Ryback will be in title pictures all year but that won't be any different from what he is now. Cesaro will likely stay in the midcard to upper-mid card which is fine. He's great at his role. Same with Daniel Bryan. I wouldn't be opposed to Wade Barrett getting his shot either even though I'm not as in love with him as everyone else in the IWC.

Either way, 2013 will be a breath of fresh-air and I can't wait to see a break up in the constant string of Cena-Punk type matches.

 

[samfeeley34]

Its been a fantastic year for all the rookies in WWE but thatdps in our eyes as part of the IW. Some casual viewers will not be as invested as us and if you ask me SmackDown has become so much more of a B show this year, all the NXT rookies have debuted on Raw and as much as its better for them to debut on Raw they need to help out Smack down.

Anyways enough of that, The Shield have debuted greatly but I hope WWE doesn't do a Jack swagger with them and drop the ball, I hope their momentum continues and they become established top stars. The problem with Big E Langston is he will become another Big Show, or Mark Henry and by this I mean the WWE picks and chooses when they can be bothered to utilise them, therefore I cannot invest in them plus they're in ring abilities are often limited. Window and Cesaro are becoming established mid card performersand I believe Sandow is a future World Champion but the less said about Cesaro at the moment the better, let's just say I'm not a fan, they haven't really given us a back story to buy into.

As for new NXT stars coming up I'm particularly looking forward to Xavier Woods' debut as I liked him back when he was called Consequences Creed, I promise you he will be an exciting player as he boasts a blend of agility and power.

 

[PowerHouse]

IMO this new crop of newcomers to the WWE is probably the best I have seen in quite sometime. Cesaro is a great in ring technician with a good deal of power moves to boot. He is a future WWE and World Champion without a doubt. Ryback another MONSTER but where Ryback differs is he has the ability to actually speak and cut a decent promo. Where guys like Goldberg,Lesnar ect.... Never could. Ryback also to me is one of the better MONSTERS in the ring. With the exception of Lesnar he is the best I have seen so far, he is def WWE/World Championship material and will own one of both in the near future. The Sheild these guys are all great in ring performers as well as great on the mic. Everyone knows what Seth Rollins is capable of if you saw him in ROH and FCW. Dean Ambrose is another guy cut from the Mick Foley cloth except he is a better wreslter. Back in CZW Ambrose then Moxley was great!!!!! He could go as hardcore or Ultraviolent as it could get or wrestle in a 4 or 5 star match. All of the Sheild are very possible future World Champions. Big E Langston will replace Mark Henry as the new strongman in the WWE. He is just that physically strong!!!! Big E can work for a guy with his type of mass and muscularity. The only problem with him at the moment is he is being used as an enforcer for Aj and Dolph so his talent really won't get to be seen until he breaks away from them. But with Henry on the sideline right now, they say he is coming back but his injuries are pretty bad. I see a possible fued between Henry and Langston. And by the end of it Langston will take Henry's place at the WWE's strongest man monicker. I believe Henry will retire from active wrestling and become a road agent. Langston will then begin his move up to future World Championship material.

I see all these newcomers as future World/WWE champions because they all have what it takes to gain the titles and draw. As the long the WWE pushes all of these guys the right way respectivly, you have got a bunch of super talented guys who can easily replace Cena, Orton and CM Punk when the times comes.