Who is the Hottest Free Agent in Wrestling?

[Harthan]

There's a long standing tradition in the WWE and, to a lesser extent, TNA to go into the bigger indies and sign talent that's already made something of a name for themselves. They ship them to developmental and make them a part of the roster, in due time. There are some big names out there on the market right now that could be a huge part of either company. My question is this - of all the talent unsigned to either the WWE or TNA, who is the hottest? Who has the potential to impact the company biggest and become a fixture of the main roster? Who could legitimately be a part of the main event? Who remains on the indies that the WWE or TNA should be desperately trying to pick up?

Here are a few names I have, with my big choice at the end.

The Briscoes - CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe. What do those names mean to you? To me, they scream ROH. There's are the guys that were the backbone of ROH in its formative years. What else is common among them? Punk and Bryan are in the main event of the WWE, and Joe is a long term fixture of TNA. If I add another two names to that first list, they fit in just as well - Jay and Mark Briscoe. These guys were there on day one, and were (and are) an enormous part of Ring of Honor. The difference between the Briscoes and the other three is that the Briscoes never signed on to TNA or WWE. Why not? You could argue coming in as a tag team hurt, but TNA had a thriving tag team division for a long time, and the WWE has been known to sign and push tag teams on the big stage. The Briscoes are fantastic wrestlers who would've adapted well to either company, have a unique personality, and look the part. I can't understand why someone never signed these two. With both companies possessing faltering tag team division, the Briscoes, to me, are hot prospects to spice up either division.

Chris Hero - Hero is an interesting case. He was reportedly signed to a WWE contract along with his long time tag team partner Claudio Castagnoli, but failed a physical and got the boot. Now he finds himself back on the indies, but with an implicit stamp of approval from the WWE. There aren't many more attractive options on the indies to me if I'm Dixie Carter. A heavyweight with the look, the promo skills, the wrestling ability, and the it factor that was nearly a part of the WWE. TNA should sign this man in a heartbeat. I could see him used like Austin Aries was as a means to reinvigorate the television championship, which is obviously struggling to find relevance.

Colt Cabana - And this is it, my absolute hottest free agent on the scene right now. If ever there was a guy ready to enter a national promotion and run with it, it was Colt. He's worked for the WWE in the past, but they had no idea what they were doing and wasted him. Colt Cabana is a phenomenal wrestler, a true comedian, has main event promo skills, and has mainstream exposure (thanks mostly to CM Punk, but also his podcast). Either company can do big things with him. The WWE obviously has CM Punk maybe for an initial storyline, but I think the best thing for them to do is to make him the Brodus Clay/Santino for SmackDown. SmackDown has a handful of bland personalities (Drew McIntryre, Jinder Mahal, etc.) that could really benefit from a comedy face to work and get over with. Colt's wrestling talent fits right into the SmackDown milieu. Seriously, just tell me Colt Cabana isn't perfectly suited in the heart of the SmackDown roster. Meanwhile, TNA should be able to recognize this, head it off at the pass, nab this guy, and build around him. He oozes personality. Give him any title you like and watch the division develop around him. He could make the TV title a major program in about half a heartbeat. Either company should consider themselves fortunate to hire this man, and yet he plies his trade in the indies still. Mindblowing.

So you have it there folks, my hottest free agent in wrestling right now is - Colt Cabana. He's charming, witty, hilarious, full of charisma and personality, is a fantastic wrestler, and could be an instant success in any promotion. But what about you? Who do you find to be wrestling's hottest free agent?

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

I confess that I know little of the indy scene and was thinking of released superstars when I read the thread title (which Colt is actually).

Anyway, My pick is Chris Hero.

I spent a few days on youtube a year back going through this man's stuff and I was thoroughly impressed. I think I even nominated him in a thread for someone who should have the WWE machine behind him. A big guy who moves around with such agility, has some sick submissions and basically has a persona and a good gimmick going, deserves a good shot at the top. Last I heard, there were another set of tests in January, and if he clears that, he's in. I expect big things from Chris Hero.



I need to see some of Colt's stuff the way you have described him.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

It has always disappointed me that The Briscoes have never been signed up by either WWE or TNA. I can appreciate why Vince has never hired them, as their ring style is not what WWE tend to go for and would have to be dramatically toned down, and neither look like "WWE superstars".

However, TNA could do so much with the team. They would be allowed more freedom to do their full movesets and I think a series of matches over the TNA tag-team titles with The Motor City Machine Guns could have been amazing. They are definitely my pick as to the free agents that both WWE and TNA are missing out on.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

Hero. He changes his style to fit the promotion he's in. He's big, he's athletic, he can talk, he can carry a character, he can read an audience, he's malleable. Hero is the next CM Punk.

The Briscoes, no fuckin way. They're the epitome of indy wrestling. All head droppy/stiff strikes and not much else. Seriously. Don't say "well I guess you didn't watch such and such"....because I have. I've seen them live several times. Their style makes them indy gods. However, the mix of them not selling enough and not telling much of a story in the ring isn't a good combination. I will give it to them that they play their characters extremely well, mostly because they seem to actually be the way they are.

Funny the guy above me wants to see MCMG vs Briscoes, I think it'd be a spotfest. Some people like that though. Personally, I think all 4 are incredibly overrated, especially Alex "I haven't sold a move or drawn any fans except fatass virgin smarks in my entire career" Shelley.

 

[Iversen]

Colt should be signed up by Vince purely so he can get some advertising on his podcast. There can't be many non WWE related wrestling media that is listened to or paid attention to as much as that. Pay him a cheque and just let him keep doing what he's doing but advertise WWE events and arrange for the big guns like Cena to go on it. Although saying that, personally I'd probably hate it as I imagine it would become a Vince propaganda machine. Just give him a wrestlers contract he could take Santino's spot as a comedy wrestler as Santino's gone stale and Colt's better at it anyway.

Hero's the obvious one although by the sounds of things he'll make his way into WWE eventually anyway. Him and Claudio as a tag team could bring give relevance to the tag division and they're both great singles wrestlers as well.

The Briscoes wouldn't fit WWE in my opinion but TNA should really be snapping them up to boost the tag division. I would imagine they'd just stick to ROH unless they were offered something big though. They're major players there and they wouldn't be elsewhere sadly.

Mike Bennett is my bet. I think has all the skills to be a wrestler in either TNA or WWE and I'd actually be surprised if he doesn't make his way to one of them eventually. He has the look and with a couple more years of ring practice could easily work the style of either of the big two.