Five Superstars to Watch This Summer
Rusev
Just like the majority of hardcore wrestling fans I am a huge Rusev mark. While I wasn't the biggest fan of his work down in NXT and it took me a while to grow on his character and his overall style the moment he was called up to the main roster I was hooked. Admittedly I wasn't sold on his first few months. The WWE did a decent job building him up but the booking wasn't original and at the time I wasn't left feeling as though this was a man that would be a top star, despite the fact he looked like so and clearly had a serious amount of potential. The start of his career was rough and could easily have been a lot stronger. Looking at him now however, those first few months seem to be completely forgotten. He currently stands as a true favourite amongst fans and as one of the most over men on the roster the majority of the WWE universe are desperate to see him given a monster of a push upon his return. Now, the turning point of Rusev's career came when he began feuding with John Cena. Of course I wasn't happy with the ending of this feud but Rusev proved a point and established himself as one of the best in ring performers and all round stars in the WWE. Prior to this his work with Jack Swagger allowed him to make a stronger impact and his run as the United States Champion allowed him to perform at a higher level and allowed us as fans to see him in a new light as we were finally able to see him as potentially being an even bigger star in the future. He is yet to take his position at the top in a main event space but the time does feel as though it is now (oh god thats impossible to write without sounding like a slightly more posh John Cena). RuRu has been out of action of several months nursing an injury and boy has he been missed. While both brands are currently looking strong and bringing something different to the table Smackdown LIVE is crying out for something new and another star to take center stage in the main event. The man most suitable for this position is without a shadow of a doubt Rusev. We learnt the news that he and Lana would be joining the blue brand during the superstar shakeup and while they are both yet to make their arrival the pairs comeback is set to take place very soon. It does look as though they will once again be working separately (something I am worries about particularly for Rusev considering his best work has always been when he has had Lana by his side) however, it does also look as though both will be receiving a much deserved push. I will be writing more about Lana in my women's version of this post next week. As for Rusev we have currently been provided with videos of Rusev demanding a title match targeting the Smackdown LIVE commissioner Shane McMahon. He continues to prove he is someone worth the investment. He is constantly improving in the ring, on the mic, and as a character and these videos are more certainly getting me more excited for this return. Now, I do believe he will get the push he deserves upon his return and the Summer will see the true rise of the Bulgarian brute. I would love to see him go on to defeat Orton for the WWE Championship but regardless of what his first month back will hold I'm confident he will make a huge impact and for sure will be one to watch in the Summer.
Nia Jax
Since her debut in NXT I have been one to make it perfectly clear that I am a big big fan of Nia Jax. Following her work at live events before she even arrived on TV I grew to become a quick fan of her very early into her career and looking at where she currently stands as the most dominate women in the WWE. While she is yet to get her hands on the RAW women's championship is forever edging closer to doing so and her new alliance with Alexa Bliss has opened many doors for Nia. I'm aware of the fact that she isn't a fan favourite as of yet and she still has a lot of work to do in order to win over the fans particularly with her character development and mic work but lets cut the girl some slack for a little while; Nia only arrived on the main roster in the Summer of last year and already she has made such a big impact. She has competed against some of the best women on the roster and managed to separate herself from all the other female talents, she has improved in the ring and continues to show her potential, and of course she competed in her first Wrestlemania match in an elimination style fatal four way for the RAW Women's championship. The WWE have been very sensible and careful with her booking and while others such as Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss have reached the top before her I have no doubts that Nia will eventually be the face of the division and the RAW Womens Champion. It does feel as though every week we are edging even closer to her reaching that top spot but like I already mentioned she still has a while to go and if she really wants to win over the fans and prove she should be champion then we really are going to have to see more character development and her mic work to improve. What I am loving at the moment is her alliance with Alexa Bliss. As real life friends their chemistry is fantastic and the moments we have seen of the pair of them working together has been really strong and I'm really hoping that the WWE keep this going and we to see this relationship really grow. I don't want to see this rushed or over done, let them take their time and really build this up to be something really strong. Lets have Alexa manipulate and use Nia. Bliss is so perfect at her role and we could really see some great work from her here also. However, what this really does is allow Nia to get an opening. A future face turn and feud against Bliss. This is something that has great potential and this relationship could be the start of a really good run for Nia. I strongly believe that she will be one to keep an eye on over the summer season and looking ahead throughout the rest of the year. This should be the time we really get to see Nia grow and become the star she needs and deserves to be.
Pete Dunne
At the start of the year the WWE announced that they would be hosting a two day event in the Summer focusing on British Wrestling. Several British wrestlers would compete in a two day tournament held over a weekend in January where the winner would become the first ever WWE United Kingdom Champion. The event was extremely well done and very well received. Night two in particular was fantastic but overall this was one of the early highlights of the year and set the bar for what the rest of twenty seventeen was set to present. Come the end of the tournament it was nineteen year old Tyler Bate who walked out with the win and crowned the new and first ever WWE United Kingdom Champion. Always great to see the fan favourite baby face get the victory it was the perfect ending to an outstanding tournament. Throughout the whole thing I was one hundred and ten percent backing Bate and when he got that win I was literally the happiest person in the world. He was one of the standout performers of the week and won over fans from all around the world in the space of twenty four hours. However, there was one other man that had everyone talking, one other man that really did manage to steal the show completely, that man Pete Dunne. As someone who is very familiar with the British wrestling scene and being a London girl myself I have pretty much always been a fan of Pete Dunne. Hes someone that has incredible skill and charisma and over the years I have watched him grown to become one of the best wrestlers on the British. During the two day tournament he not only showcased his fantastic in ring capabilities but prove to be one heck of an all round performer. He portrayed himself as the perfect heel and it was his captivating promos and work with William Regal that made him such a major standout over the two days. He became a major star in such a short space of time and got heads turning everywhere. The reaction Pete got was of course well deserved. His performance was fantastic both in and out of the ring and out of everyone who took part he showed the most character. I wish I could sit here all day and talk about why Pete Dunne is so bloody amazing. Now, since the tournament Dunne has remained heavily spoken about and after an appearance at an NXT show it was made clear that he would continue to be a big part of the division. During the recent European tour Dunne went one on one with Trent Seven in a number one contenders match,. Dunne did walk out with the win meaning that at NXT Takeover Chicago he will challenge Tyler Bate for the WWE United kingdom Championship. This is a match I honestly cannot wait for. The pair have previously worked some brilliant matches and with the experience they have working with one another it means they really do have fantastic chemistry as we have seen in the past. They were the final two men in the tournament put on one of the best matches of not only that weekend but of the year so far and I'm most certainly expecting them to perform at the same level when they face off at Takeover. I am expecting to see the title change hands and of course I'm expecting Pete Dunne to make a massive impact regardless and following his win I'm confident that he will be one of the most talked about men in wrestling. The next few months are for sure going to be huge for Dunne.
Lana
So we have already spoken about Rusev and how I believe he is set to have a fantastic Summer upon his return but now its time to take a look at his wife. Lana has always shown brilliant potential. She won the fans over on day one and ever since her fan base has only grown. While her beauty has a lot to do with why she has always been so over with the male audience she has always shown that she has great skill and amazing potential to be a big part of the WWE and it's women's division. Her mic work has shown to her be one of the best females speakers the company has and her character is something she has down perfectly. She has always come across confident in her character and everything she does and the comfortable she has gotten with her position the more we have seen her explore her career and try new things out. She has won over the hearts of the fans and its time to see more of her as she elevates her career to the next level. Lana has been training to wrestle for quite some time now and as we have seen on episodes of Total Divas she has been ready to step in the ring and make something of her singles career for a long time. Finally it looks as though she will be getting what she has always wanted, to be able to make an impact in the ring on her own. Now, we did see some of her singles work back in two thousand and fifteen when she competed at Wrestlemania during the kick off show in a huge tag team match. That match was such a huge deal for her and you see how nervous she was however, during the build up and what we did get to see from her in the ring she was impressive with her execution of every move being very clean and well done. She hasn't since stepped in the ring for WWE TV but over the past few months she has been touring with the NXT roster working live events and from what I have seen again she looks very impressive. She also comes across a lot more comfortable and confident in the ring with her matches looking far cleaner and more thought out. One thing I do worry about is the change in her character. Just ,like with Emma I don't really think there was much of a need to make any big changes to her character but from what I have seen so far she seems to know exactly what she is doing and if they can find a way to keep her old character still in with this new one a little then she could have something very special. Now, I don't know what the WWE have planned for Lana upon her return but regardless the fans are excited for her to get in the ring and kick start her singles career properly and I for one am very excited to see what she has to bring to the table.
Braun Strowman *THIS POST WAS WRITTEN BEFORE STROWMANS INJURY*
And finally we have my current favourite WWE Superstar, Braun Strowman. Now, I'm not going to talk too much about Braun because lets fact it, I have been talking about him a heck of a lot recently both here on my blog and over on twitter so I will keep things short and simple here. Now, Strowman has been the most dominant force on Monday night RAW. Since the brand split he has gone from strength to strength and has been the man we have all had our eyes on. It's crazy to think that this
And that is my list! As always you can have your say and let me know who you think we should be watching this month by leaving a comment bellow or by tweeting me over at @TezangiVictoria. Recent blog posts will be linked bellow.
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