Posted in: Mr. Tito
Chrisss and Mr. Tito Present... Top 10 Potential WWE World Champions
By Chrisss and Mr. Tito
Dec 27, 2014 - 3:39:16 PM

Follow Chrisss on Twitter.com: @ChrisssLoP

Follow Mr. Tito on Twitter.com: @TitoWrestling

First and foremost, THANK YOU to all of the readers at LordsofPain.net / WrestlingHeadlines.com for checking out our site daily, participating in our forums and comments sections, and reading our columns. As a possible means to "give back", LoP writers Chrisss and Mr. Tito have teamed up for a collaboration once again. As you may recall, Chrisss and Tito collaborated on a Top 10 WWE In-Ring Workers on August 27th, 2013. The duo is back again to assess the current WWE roster on who are the best potential WWE Champions.

Several rules to discuss...

(a) Wrestlers are NOT included on this list, obviously, if they have won the WWE Title, World Heavyweight Title, or the new WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

(b) Any wrestler who won the WCW World Title will not be included since the WWE used the big gold belt as their World Heavyweight Title and actually considers that to be lineage sometimes to WCW (which is laughable). Thus, that will keep Sting off of this list although I doubt that Vince McMahon would ever give the 50+ year old Sting a WWE Title reign.

(c) Must be a current WWE employee, period. Thus, if you see someone tearing it up on New Japan Pro Wrestling, TNA, or Ring of Honor, they won't be on this list. Again, no WWE contract, no consideration.

The process went as follows... Mr. Tito and Chrisss both created their own top 10 lists. The ranked numbers were then put into Microsoft Excel where averages between the two writers' scores were taken. Any ties were discussed and debated among the writers and any conflicts resulted in a coin toss for placement. Chrisss and Tito were able to survive this process...

We also did not see any current NXT performers on our lists. In our opinion, the WWE's call-ups between 2011-2014 has successfully replenished the WWE roster with legitimate depth and WWE has a bunch of upper midcarders that they could potentially push to be champions for years to come. That's not to deny NXT, but in our valued opinion, we thought that some of the recent signings (Prince Devitt or Finn Balor) would need more time shining in the WWE spotlight before making our list. It's one thing to look great in a smaller arena setting with former wrestlers booking your matches, but it's another thing entirely to impress Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn on the big WWE stage. We're not out to personally deny NXT, but it should give the WWE props that they made many successful call-ups over the past 3-4 years from their developmental system. Goes to show you that John Laurinaitis became good at his job with time and Triple H has had early success taking over developmental.

Without further ado, here is our Top 10 Potential WWE Champions... Enjoy! And comments and Tweets are certainly welcome.

CHRISS & MR. TITO Present... TOP 10 POTENTIAL WWE CHAMPIONS

#11 - Honorable Mention: Damien Sandow

@ChrisssLoP: I'm a big fan of Damien Sandow/Mizdow, I really am. I just think he's been one of countless victims of bad WWE Creative booking. When he burst onto the scene as our “Intellectual Saviour”, I thought WWE had struck gold. Here was this character cutting promos which really got underneath people's skin. While his in-ring skills weren't very good, he was able to connect with the audience, something which the majority of today's roster fails at doing. While I felt giving him the Money in the Bank briefcase last year was a tad premature, as he had not yet proven himself at the midcard level, I was hoping WWE would let him carry around his title shot as long as possible in order to gain credibility.

Instead, WWE was concerned about going head-to-head against Monday Night Football, and had Sandow cash in MitB WAY too early, and lost in a great title match to John Cena. Sandow never really recovered from the loss, as he transitioned into a comedy role shortly thereafter, despite his gimmick still being extremely over with the crowd. Now that he's experienced success as The Miz's stunt double, I could see Sandow someday getting a real push to the main-event scene – even as a babyface – but WWE will have to be committed to getting him there. Sandow has gotten over on his own, and there's only so much he can do without faith from management.

@TitoWrestling: I was completely against Damien Sandow's winning of the 2013 Money in the Bank briefcase but I was very pleased with the match he put on with John Cena on RAW where he cashed-in. It was a compelling match and in my opinion, it felt like a springboard match, sort of like what Ric Flair did for Sting during Clash of the Champions in 1988 though Sandow isn't as much of a fan favorite as Sting was. What has happened since this Cena match as perplexed me... Sandow was depushed. Maybe it was because the WWE unloaded its developmental system and management liked many of the newer wrestlers instead. For much of 2014, the WWE insulted Sandow with stupid gimmicks and he was elevation talent for much of the year. Just baffling considering that the WWE let him win the Money in the Bank briefcase.

Now, he's with the Miz but he's the second fiddle to that overrated wrestler. Miz has received extremely favorable booking by WWE management since 2010 and protects him despite the many pushes that have bombed over the years. Sandow was randomly given the stunt double gimmick one night on RAW and since, Sandow has sold it like a champ with his ringside antics. In fact, Sandow is getting the cheers from WWE crowds while the Miz's reactions are, as usual, lukewarm at best. The logical step would be for the Miz to one day take his stunt double friend for granted and Sandow overcomes him. Then, Sandow could be pushed and his natural charisma and personally could shine further. But, I would agree that he should stick with his stunt double gimmick to develop further and turn on the Miz when the timing is right.

#10 - Rusev

@TitoWrestling: Take away Lana, this guy gets no heat. She's carried this guy's career so far in the WWE. Otherwise, he's just another hoss call-up that the WWE has overpushed to be unstoppable. Since Brock Lesnar's dominant call-up in 2002, we've seen the WWE bring up many clones. Doesn't make sense... Why would anyone spend time in WWE developmental if they were so talented that they could defeat anybody on the WWE roster? Furthermore, why aren't anybody attacking Rusev's feet? Smash his damn toes and he's completely limited as a wrestler.

Lack of personality with this wrestler, insomuch that the WWE has to push xenophobia hard just to get the fans' attention. Complete lack of psychology in the ring as well. Ohhhh, I can hit a few big impact moves and steal the Iron Sheik's finisher! He's just a product of the WWE's hype machine and something that might get over during the 1980's. Pushing him too fast to the WWE Title would be a complete disaster at this point. No personality, no in-ring psychology, and relies too much on the xenophobia angle to get heat. No thank you and the WWE is dead serious about putting this guy with John Cena for Wrestlemania 31. Big mistake especially if Rusev beats him at this point in his career.

@ChrisssLoP: Ah, Rusev. He was one of those guys who burst onto the (non-NXT) scene almost a year ago at the Royal Rumble, and despite making a decent first impression during that match, many people quickly pegged him as the next Umaga (R.I.P.), Vladimir Koslov or Great Khali – a monster heel who would go on a tear, be fed to John Cena, and be a midcarder for life. While I see the similarities, I don't see the “pride of the Russian Embassy” suffering the same fate as Khali. Unlike someone such as Khali, who won the World Heavyweight title not long after his debut, or Koslov who went over The Undertaker clean early in his career, Rusev is being built up nice and slowly. Rusev also has a gimmick – and a manager/valet – which is HATED by the WWE audience. Oh, and did I mention Rusev can actually wrestle?

I really hope the plan isn't for Rusev to go undefeated* until feuding with Cena, because that would be incredibly lame, even for WWE standards. Rusev has to be pinned someday, and it makes sense t give the rub to someone who could benefit from it (Roman Reigns, Dolph Ziggler, a NXT call-up maybe?). All the same, as long as he has Lana by his side and stays the hell away from Cena, I could definitely see Rusev win the big one, maybe even as early as late-2015.

#9 - Cody Rhodes

@ChrisssLoP: I'll be the first to admit that Gold & Stardust do absolutely NOTHING for me, especially as a heel tag team. I prefer Cody as a heel, but this ‘Stardust' gimmick isn't going to get him up the card. I didn't mind the Rhodes Brothers teaming up in late 2013 (they were even my pick for Best WWE Tag Team of the Year!) because they had momentum and added to a strong tag division. But, it's time to move on. Cody has more than ‘paid his dues' as a tag team wrestler, having won the title with four different partners. It's time for him to go solo again, and for his big brother to ride off into the sunset after a fantastic farewell tour of his own.

Cody is one of those guys who I feel should have won Money in the Bank at least twice already. I think it's too risky for WWE to have him win a Royal Rumble, but he could certainly gain momentum as a heel carrying around the briefcase. He's proven he can make any possible gimmick work, whether it's ‘dashing', ‘disfigured' or ‘Stardust'. He's had great matches with a lot of top talent on the roster, including the likes of Randy Orton, Sheamus, and Rey Mysterio. I think Cody is one good push away from his first world title.

@TitoWrestling: Though I think Cody Rhodes has tremendous in-ring ability, I just don't see him as a WWE Champion. Though he is above the 6 foot threshold, he looks small to me. I don't know what it is... Might be because he looks so young in the face or that his ability is heavily reliant on spots instead of in-ring psychology. Personality is sometimes not there, either... He's just missing that "something extra" that legitimate WWE Champions have. When I look at him or watch him wrestle, I just don't see him as a top 10 wrestler. In fact, he wasn't on my list (Sandow was).

In my opinion, the Stardust gimmick has helped his career. He was just going no where as being just Cody Rhodes as there felt no real purpose to his career. Now, he's Stardust and his purpose is to tag up with his brother Goldust to chase the WWE Tag Titles. In my opinion, that might be the peak of his career unless he does something drastically to change-up his look and his personality. We'll see what happens at the end of this Goldust/Stardust storyline arc and if it will elevate his career at all. If he goes back to plain old Cody Rhodes like he was before, he'll be a midcarder for life and I would agree with WWE Creative on that.

#8 - Ryback

@TitoWrestling: Where would this guy ever be without the WWE's protective booking? They legitimately tried to recreate Bill Goldberg and the guy brought no other intangibles to the table to get over despite the WWE's overpushing. When he couldn't get over, the WWE tried to push him as a heel. Without the protective booking, he was a sitting duck... Worse yet, he began to hurt wrestlers with his sloppy style.

Now, he's back with the "Feed Me More" babyface push... However, the damage has been done and I don't think CM Punk's "steroid guy" and other comments have helped. Ryback relied too much on the WWE's protective booking and didn't put in the work himself to improve his character or in-ring ability. Without the Bill Goldberg push, he's just another muscle bound wrestler that might have worked better during the 1980's or early 1990's. However, we're in the 2010's and you can't force feed wrestlers like you used to. Quite ironic that Ryback and Rusev are wrestling each other because both are overpushed wrestlers that the WWE tells us are great yet need the crutches of WWE Creative protection to exist.

@ChrisssLoP: On one episode of Smackdown after the Survivor Series event, the main-event saw the babyface team of Ryback & Erick Rowan defeat The Big Show & Seth Rollins to send the crowd home happy. Two months ago, who the hell ever thought I'd be typing that? Ryback and Rowan – as faces – main-eventing a WWE taping. Sure, it may ‘only be' SmackDown, but it's crazy how quickly the WWE landscape can change, don't you think? I still can't believe WWE made the asinine decision to make Ryback a heel in 2013 just so Cena had someone to feud with during the spring. As much as I enjoyed the CM Punk/Paul Heyman feud from that year, I like to think that Ryback simply went “missing” between the Raw after WrestleMania 29 until the month before this year's Survivor Series. It was painful to see someone who was once getting monster pops on a nightly basis being forced to team with Curtis Axel.

Thankfully, WWE has brought ‘The Big Guy' back as a face, and the crowd is more than happy to chant “Feed Me More” again. I don't think having Ryback be the first member of Team Cena eliminated at Survivor Series was the right call, but I suppose it's better than having Ryback look indestructible. CM Punk may not like it, but I can see the former Nexus member and Heyman Guy having a bright future in the WWE (as long as they don't turn him heel again).

#7 - Bad News Barrett

@ChrisssLoP: 2014 will likely be remembered as the year of injuries and departures, as WWE had many top stars either get untimely injured or unexpectedly leave the company. Bad News Barrett was the victim of a ‘freak accident' and it couldn't have happened at a worse time for the former Intercontinental Champion. Despite being a heel, Barrett was extremely over with the crowd, and looked to be slowly transitioning into a lower-main-eventer. It just goes to show how giving the right gimmick to the right star can make all the difference in the world.

The only reason Barrett isn't higher on this lost is because of his history with injuries. If memory serves me well, this is the third time BNB has been forced to miss a significant amount of time due to an unexpected injury. You can guarantee the head office has noticed this and may have already labelled the man as ‘injury-prone', which could derail his chances of moving up the card upon his return. That being said, I know Barrett has the tools to become WWE Champion one day, and it's up to WWE to decide whether to give him the ball or not.

TitoWrestling: This guy should be in our Top 3, if not #1... He has the look, personality, charisma, and in-ring ability to make it huge in pro wrestling. He was somewhat floundering in the WWE until he took the once stupid "Bad News" gimmick and ran with it. Before, he was be on a podium and announce that he had "bad news" to deliver fans. Then, Barrett rewired the gimmick and turned it into a wrestler persona instead as a means of trash talking his opponent. It got over quickly! It's one of those fine examples of overcoming adversity of the WWE Creative Team by stepping up your own game. Damien Sandow is doing that right now with the "stunt double" gimmick.

However - Wade Barrett cannot stay healthy. He won't earn a strong push until he's able to prove that he can retain a clean bill of health for a longer period of time. It's also a strike against WWE management for not encouraging Barrett to adjust his in-ring style to protect him from injury. He's the pro wrestler that both Vince McMahon and Triple H would want on top of their roster, as he has all of the intangibles to be great... But he's made of glass and WWE Management has lost confidence in him and will for a while. What a shame as this guy could be the next breakout star to carry the company for years. If he could remain healthy, I would consider him as my #1 guy to be a future WWE Champion.

#6 - Cesaro

@TitoWrestling: If you don't believe that the WWE doesn't go out of their way to bury certain types of wrestler, look no further than Cesaro. He wins the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at Wrestlemania 30 and then gets buried by WWE Creative thereafter. He was given Paul Heyman after Wrestlemania but Creative made Heyman care more about Brock Lesnar defeating the Undertaker than Heyman promoting Cesaro. Additionally, Cesaro was naturally turning babyface by the fans through Wrestlemania 30 but his becoming of a "Heyman Guy" returned him as a heel. Then, he started losing matches regularly. What happened to that Wrestlemania 30 momentum.

Ask any of the top wrestlers for the past few years what some of their best matches were... I'm willing to bet that their Cesaro matches are on their lists. The guy constantly delivers in the the ring and his moves, like the Giant Swing, get huge pops by the fans. What the WWE needs is a guy who can consistently deliver GOOD matches on their Pay Per View events and if Cesaro had the booking favors that Rusev, Ryback, Bray Wyatt, and Miz have received, he would be a major superstar by now. Instead, he keeps losing matches and appears to lose more anytime the fans start getting him over. WWE hates former Ring of Honor employees, for the most part, with maybe Seth Rollins being the lone exception. CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, and now Cesaro... Buried by WWE Creative.

@ChrisssLoP: Poor Cesaro. Here's a guy who had so much momentum following his massive win and ‘torch-bearing moment' at WrestleMania 30, yet WWE pissed it away. It wasn't that long ago that people were making a serious case for Cesaro challenging Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 31. Now, there is no way that match-up could happen, and it's sad. On the Stone Cold Steve Austin Podcast this week, Vince McMahon publicly stated that “Cesaro hasn't made the connection with the fans…yet.”

Jeez, I wonder why not? You can see the guy getting over because of his wrestling skills and you pair him with your top heel manager, Paul Heyman. Then you take away his swing, which got a huge reaction from the fans. Then you change his music two or three times and have him inexplicably split with Paul. Yet, it's a mystery why Cesaro can't get over? Cesaro vs. Lesnar could have been an amazing spectacle to watch, but I can't see that happening, at least not sometime over the next six-twelve months. Hopefully WWE one day rewards Cesaro's amazing work ethic with a short world title reign, because let's be honest – he deserves it.

#5 - Roman Reigns

@ChrisssLoP: Like it or not, Roman Reigns is a future world champion. It's simply a matter of when, not if. WWE seems determined to make it happen at next year's WrestleMania, but even if it doesn't happen this April (and hopefully it won't), it will happen eventually. The sooner you accept it, the better. It's a shame because Reigns is probably the least-ready guy on the roster to lead the company as world champion. Sure, he has a great look and charisma, but so what? Since the dissolution of The Shield, Reigns hasn't had a good singles match, and still can't cut a promo to save his life. I know WWE are itching to get someone new at the helm and The Rock's cousin is a great choice on paper, but the truth of the matter is…he's simply not ready. The reigning and defending WWE World Heavyweight Champion – Brock Lesnar – has been booked to look like an absolute beast, and it would be beyond corny to see him drop the title after being hit with a Superman Punch and a Spear.

I sincerely hope WWE calls an audible and has someone else face Lesnar at WM31 – win or lose – as I don't think I could stomach Reigns winning the Royal Rumble and being built up to dethrone The Beast. Such a sequence of events may very well force me to take another hiatus from WWE programming.

@TitoWrestling: The problem with Roman Reigns is that he's 100% look and has nothing to show otherwise. Charisma, none... Personality, nothing there. Weak mic skills. In-ring ability? What might work for a midcarder is not working for a main eventer. He bombed HARD in singles matches against CM Punk and Randy Orton, along with any other big singles opportunities that he's been given. The injury should have been "writing on the wall" that Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins were the better Shield members by a mile but yet the WWE is about to double-down on Reign's being the "next guy" with a probable Royal Rumble victory and defeating Brock Lesnar for the WWE Title at Wrestlemania 31. It shall be an epic disaster.

Problem is that WWE Management, notably Vince McMahon, Kevin Dunn, and Triple H, do NOT have a strong track record on selecting the "next guy". Just look at the WWE Title or World Heavyweight Champions for the past decade who have been major failures. Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio, Jack Swagger, and the Miz are shining examples of Vince/Dunn/HHH being completely incapable of selecting the "next guy" while they have actively destroyed CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Shelton Benjamin, Cesaro, and in case you haven't noticed lately, Dean Ambrose. Since the end of the Shield vs. Evolution feud, WWE has gone out of their way to cool Dean Ambrose down with losses and bad booking in order to open up doors for Roman Reigns. For Reigns recent RAW match with the Big Show, chants of "Roman Sucks", "Daniel Bryan", and "Boring" occurred but that won't stop WWE management from shoving the Roman Empire down their throats.

#4 - Luke Harper

@TitoWrestling: I was sort of high on Luke Harper during November when myself and Chrisss actually made this list, but since then, I've had buyer's remorse. His singles matches have been "meh" and he seems lost outside of the Wyatt Family. Ditto for Erick Rowan. I would have kept the family together to let Harper and Rowan grow as a tag team while supporting Wyatt as needed. WWE needed a strong stable after both the Shield and Evolution dissolved immediately after their feud.

I was imagining Luke Harper as the next Bruiser Brody but I'm just not seeing it yet. Having him as part of "Team Authority" was a bad booking move as it was a complete 180 on what his persona once was for the Wyatt Family. It was a bad booking impression after the promos were put in place to build up his "freedom" from the Wyatt family. Just goes to show you how short-term the WWE Creative Team thinks instead of caring about how wrestlers could be an asset long-term to the company.

@ChrisssLoP: Surprised to see the recent Intercontinental Champion this high up the list? You shouldn't. A year ago, I wrote a column where I ranked each member of The Shield and The Wyatt Family in terms of potential success, and Harper came in at number two (with #1 coming up in a bit). I'll be the first to admit that Harper aligning himself with The Authority didn't make a lot of sense, nor does his beef with Erick Rowan, but it's telling that Harper was the first Wyatt Family member to capture gold. Bray may have been the leader of the faction, but I always thought Harper was the more impressive one – he played his character better and put on better matches. Some may not agree with that, but it sure seemed that way to me.

While it may seem a bit odd to picture Harper carrying around the top belt in the company, it has never stopped WWE from giving the world title to a ‘strange' fellow before (see: Undertaker, Mankind, Khali). I don't think Harper would be ready to capture the belt as early as next year, but if he is constantly in the spotlight, constantly putting on good matches, I could see him transitioning to that level in the not-too-distant future.

#3 - Seth Rollins

@ChrisssLoP: When Tito and I were compiling this list, we were a bit unsure whether not we should include Mr. Money in the Bank, Seth Rollins. After all, history shows that Rollins is basically guaranteed to win the world title sometime before next year's MitB Pay-Per-View, so he's a shoe-in, right? Unfortunately, Rollins has a few things working against him. For one, look who's the champion – someone who has been on WWE programming less than half-a-dozen times since Rollins initially won the briefcase. That doesn't exactly give Rollins the opportunity to cash in his briefcase “anytime, anyplace”, does it? From a kayfabe perspective, Rollins should try to cash in anytime Lesnar decides to show up to work.

Another thorn in Rollins's side is The Lunatic Fringe, Dean Ambrose. Both men have been feuding with different people since their encounter at Hell in a Cell, but I have a feeling their rivalry is far from over. Ambrose has vowed to show up anytime Rollins tries to cash in his briefcase, and I think he will. So…Rollins has a guaranteed title shot in his possession, but no WWE Champion to cash it on, and a full-time superstar has vowed to interfere anytime Rollins even attempts to cash it in. That kind of puts Rollins' back to the wall, no? Rollins is a future WWE Champion, but it may not be courtesy of MitB…

@TitoWrestling: I completely admit that I was wrong assessing Seth Rollins at first. When I first saw the Shield as a whole, to me, it looked like Ambrose was the talker, Reigns was the muscle, and Rollins was the spot guy. In my opinion, I was right for sometime... Rollins would enter matches and hit high impact spots, almost as if he was the 3rd Hardy brother... But then, the personality and charisma either developed or were allowed to shine, take your pick. Furthermore, I was at first against the Shield break-up because I thought that all 3 could be strong babyfaces together. However, the heel turn by Rollins has made him into an instant star and he has stepped up his game to accept this new role. I now (a) consider Rollins equally as the most talented Shield member with Ambrose and (b) now consider the Shield break-up to be a brilliant idea by WWE Creative. I WAS WRONG.

Now, Seth Rollins has positioned himself to be the eventual #1 heel once Brock Lesnar moves on... He's the complete package and he's getting nice heat by WWE fans. He's the wrestler, as a heel, that John Cena should be putting over instead of Rusev. He has the personality that would cause fans to pay money in order to see him lose. Better yet with Rollins, he's amazing in the ring and will carry the WWE Main Event scene as needed for Pay Per Views.

#2 - Bray Wyatt

@TitoWrestling What I don't understand is why doesn't the WWE just name this guy Windham Rotunda, which is his real life name. He's the son of former WWE/WCW wrestler Mike Rotunda and the nephew of former WCW/WWE wrestler Barry Windham. The stuff writes itself... Instead, the WWE called him "Husky Harris" at first as a member of the Nexus and now as a Deliverance like character named Bray Wyatt. WWE Creative has gone overboard in trying to sell this gimmick instead of just letting Wyatt's natural in-ring ability to do the talking. Bray Wyatt can cut a good promo but he's restricted in talking about theatrics because of his character. Like the Undertaker before him, he would need to have the production truck in his back pocket to play up his mysterious character. Just bad psychology that hurts the wrestling product. WWE was so in love with Bray's character that they had him defeat Daniel Bryan cleanly at Royal Rumble which proved to be a big mistake.

Bray has what WWE needs... Size and pedigree (not the move, but the family connections), along with the intangibles of a good personality and mic skills. Instead, he's 100% committed to being a family member of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre group instead of competing for wrestling championships. The psychological games are not working and ditto for the WWE overpushing. WWE has now used Bray Wyatt to "cool down" Daniel Bryan and now Dean Ambrose with clean wins. Destructive booking that will have fans turning on Bray instead of helping to get him naturally over. WWE should have started small with Bray, letting him work his way up the midcard and then pushing him when he was naturally over. Instead, the WWE gave him a MEGA PUSH from the start, let John Cena and Chris Jericho get the better of him, and then continued with the MEGA PUSH over Dean Ambrose.

@ChrisssLoP: I've talked a lot about questionable booking up to this point, but there's probably no one else on this list who WWE Creative seem to be more confused about how to book properly. Unlike many people, I agreed with John Cena going over Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania 30 because I felt it was too early for Bray to get a win of that caliber (with Punk gone, Bryan beaten at the Rumble, there would have been nowhere for Bray to go down the card). I would have been okay with the loss to Cena HAD he emerged victorious from his feud with WWE's Golden Boy.

…but he didn't. Cena and Wyatt met at three straight PPVs, and Wyatt's only win came thanks to help from Rowan, Harper, and a creepy little boy (seriously). After Payback, Wyatt was taken off TV only to have a disappointing feud with Chris Jericho which, thankfully, he emerged the winner of. Instead of capitalizing on that momentum, Wyatt again disappeared from television and randomly returned at Hell in a Cell, where his feud with Dean Ambrose now seems to be picking up steam. There's no denying Wyatt has the potential to be the next mysterious character WWE needs to fill the void left by The Undertaker. WWE just has to learn to book Wyatt better (his vicious assault of Ambrose on SmackDown last Friday was a great example of that).

#1 - Dean Ambrose (unanimous pick)

@ChrisssLoP: If you don't believe the hype surrounding the Unstable One, then I don't know what's wrong with you. When The Shield broke up, many people felt Ambrose would be the odd man out. Reigns would receive the mega babyface-push, while Rollins would emerge as the next top heel, leaving Ambrose to dwell in the midcard. Intentional or not, things didn't work out that way. Even before Reigns went down with an injury days before Night of Champions, the fans had already chosen Ambrose as ‘their guy', not the guy who WWE had chosen, and it was evident in the fan reaction – Ambrose's pops were growing week-by-week, while Reigns' were decreasing in volume.

I was pleasantly surprised to read the report the other day about Ambrose making WWE a lot of money during Thanksgiving weekend, as his merchandise was a top seller – not Reigns', not Cena's, not Orton's. WWE pays a lot of attention to who's moving merchandise and rewards them for it (after all, they want to make money, do they not?). WWE will definitely add value to Dean's stock now that the numbers are in, and he's ready for that kind of push (unlike Roman). Will his ongoing feud with Wyatt be the catalyst for Ambrose to cement himself atop of the WWE ladder? Probably not, but I see Ambrose having a HUGE 2015. His WrestleMania role may be uncertain, but how awesome would it be if Dean wins the Rumble, defeats Lesnar at ‘Mania, only for Rollins to cash in and win the title at the end of the show? That would be 100x more satisfying than a lame Reigns vs. Lesnar match, I'll tell you that much.

Dean Ambrose IS the future. But so are a lot of guys on this list.

@TitoWrestling: As he turned babyface, along with the rest of the Shield, to challenge teams like the Wyatt Family and Evolution, you could see that Dean Ambrose had the "it factor" that you just can't teach. It's the kind of charisma and personality that is captivating to a pro wrestling audience much like "Stone Cold" Steve Austin developed in 1996 to begin growing as a wrestler (I'd argue Austin had "it" in WCW). He was getting over quickly as the "wildcard" of the Shield, thus when Rollins turned on his fellow Shield members, the WWE had a ready-made feud between Rollins vs. Ambrose. And feud they did... However, at the moment when the WWE could have blossomed Dean Ambrose into a HUGE star by finally overcoming his mortal enemy Seth Rollins at Hell in a Cell 2014, the WWE, for no reason at all, had Bray Wyatt attack Ambrose and cost him the match. And now, Dean Ambrose has lost twice to Bray Wyatt since...

Yes, Virginia, that was a burial. Dean Ambrose was sabotaged by WWE Creative because Vince McMahon, Triple H, and Kevin Dunn are all 100% behind Roman Reigns becoming the next big superstar at all costs. Ambrose getting naturally over with fans was a threat to the "Roman Empire" that Vince, HHH, and Dunn were trying to build with a Royal Rumble win and Wrestlemania 31 defeat of Brock Lesnar for the WWE Title. By destroying Ambrose creatively, fans will have no choice but to accept Roman Reigns... Yeah, that worked for Batista/Orton last year with Daniel Bryan, right?

In some ways, I may agree with WWE Creative... Long term, I don't know if a wildcard type mentality that Ambrose employs will get over strong as a babyface character. Many compare him to the Joker, notably Heath Ledger's Dark Knight version. I actually see far more value in him as a heel instead of a babyface. I do believe that he has intangible talent to pull the babyface push, but I just don't see him getting to the level of John Cena as the #1 babyface in terms of popularity such as houseshow draws or merchandise sellers. CM Punk was the only guy close to that... The next epic babyface has yet to arrive on the WWE roster, in my opinion, unless someone like Bray Wyatt or Wade Barrett can connect well with fans as babyfaces. The replacement of John Cena, when he's officially gone, will be a tough task to do. However, I don't know about Dean Ambrose because the WWE is actively trying to destroy his babyface momentum since the Evolution feud.

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LAST WORD: We hope that you've enjoyed our combined column assessing the Top 10 wrestlers who could win the WWE Title. Comments below or Tweets to us on Twitter are certainly welcome. Thank you VERY much for reading and we'll hope to deliver quality entertainment during 2015 for you, the readers. Thanks much!

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