Bron Breakker, Jacob Fatu And The 5 Next Faces Of WWE
WWE is already strapping the proverbial rocket to Bron Breakker and Jacob Fatu, but they won't be alone.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t WrestlingNews.co), both Breakker and Fatu, along with Rhea Ripley, are being positioned as WWE's next top stars. In the case of Ripley, one could argue she's already there. She's a three-time women's world champion on the main roster and has been cemented as one of the biggest stars on Monday Night Raw over the past few years.
While Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes have been the main two driving forces behind WWE's boom period over the past decade, Ripley is one of a handful of other stars who've been right beside them. Still, as John Cena nears retirement while Rhodes and Reigns continue to dip their toes into Hollywood, WWE is in a major transitional period right now.
These stars are the closest thing WWE has to a next 'face of the company,' and it could happen sooner rather than later.
Liv Morgan
As is the case with Ripley, Liv Morgan is essentially already one of WWE's cornerstones, but she isn't always mentioned in that conversation.
Morgan, a former three-time world champion herself, recently landed her first major movie role and reportedly wowed the filming crew with her performance. That's not a surprise given Morgan's roles in cinema-style storylines in WWE over the past several years, most notably her love triangle with Ripley and Dominik Mysterio.
As Morgan has developed her acting chops during her decade in WWE, she's also developed into one of the most well-rounded performers in the entire company. In fact, Morgan has been the glue that's held WWE's women's division together during the long-term absences of stars like Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair.
While Morgan's WWE resume isn't quite as impressive as those stars, she's still just 31 years old, already has a list of Hall of Fame-worthy accomplishments and is becoming a household name both in and out of the pro wrestling circles.
Trick Williams
A sign of strange times in pro wrestling, WWE NXT star Trick Williams is currently holding the TNA World Championship, a true testament to WWE's faith in him as a potential future face of the company.
Indeed, there have long been reports that WWE views Williams, a former football player and standout athlete, as a WrestleMania main eventer in the making. Williams certainly has the look, the athletic pedigree and the charisma to get there, but WWE will never truly know what it has in Williams until he's officially promoted to Raw or SmackDown.
The one thing that might hold Williams back is his in-ring skills, which aren't progressing quite as quickly as other rising stars in WWE. Yet, WWE fans have seen time and time again that stars dripping in charisma can make it to the top before their in-ring skills match their crowd connection or in-ring abilities.
Williams could follow a similar path because if his wrestling skills catch up with everything else, he truly is a possible generational talent.
Bron Breakker
There's a reason why Bron Breakker has long been considered to be someone WWE can build its future around: he's the total package.
Breakker has the look, the in-ring skills and the crowd connection that make him a virtual shoo-in to be a main eventer and world champion contender for the next decade-plus. The recent injury to Breakker's stablemate Seth Rollins, which has resulted in an even bigger spotlight on Breakker, is only going to expedite the process.
Breakker is on track for a mega match involving Reigns at SummerSlam in just a couple of weeks, and that's a sign of things to come. Still just 27 years old, Breakker has developed into a human highlight reel over the past year, and he's only getting started.
If he isn't headlining WrestleMania within the next year or two, someone in WWE creative will have dropped the ball.
Stephanie Vaquer
Stephanie Vaquer has been on WWE's main roster for a cup of coffee, but it's already clear that she's one of the biggest stars in the women's division.
The former NXT standout is quickly generating some of the loudest crowd reactions in WWE, especially with her Devil's Kiss move, and in a matter of mere months, she's developed an incredible connection with WWE's fan base. Whatever 'it' is, Vaquer has it, and WWE fans are already recognizing it.
Even with limited English, Vaquer is already improving in the promo department, too, which is the final piece of the puzzle to make her a five-tool player. Vaquer will challenge for a women's world title at next month's Clash in Paris event, demonstrating that she's already perhaps just a match away from reaching the mountaintop.
With the right feud, Vaquer is all but guaranteed to solidify herself as a top act by next year's WrestleMania, if not sooner.
Jacob Fatu
Speaking of meteoric rises, Jacob Fatu, in the span of roughly one year, already ranks among WWE's biggest babyfaces.
In fact, WWE recently began a massive marketing push for the Samoan star, who has that type of rapport with the crowd that is almost indescribable. Part of Fatu's virtually instantaneous success on SmackDown is that everything he does, from his promos to his in-ring work, feels incredibly authentic.
Nothing Fatu does seems forced or fake, so it's been easy for WWE fans of all ages and backgrounds to be able to relate to him. Throw in a feud with Solo Sikoa's hated stable and some stellar highlight-filled matches, and all of the ingredients are there for Fatu to be a world champion sooner rather than later.
Much like Reigns, he should headline a number of WrestleManias, win a handful of world titles and remain a prominent fixture in the main event scene for as long as he's in WWE.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
CC Sabathia's car breaks down on way to Cooperstown for Baseball Hall of Fame induction
CC Sabathia's 19-year Major League ride toward baseball's Hall of Fame appears to have been a smoother one than the actual drive he made to Cooperstown for this weekend's induction. Heading to Cooperstown with his family for Sunday's festivities, Sabathia's car apparently broke down on the side of the highway, leaving the New York Yankees great and his family temporarily stranded. Sabathia posted a photo (with laughing emojis) on X, formerly Twitter, of himself, his wife Amber and their children on July 24 at 8:22 p.m. Sabathia posted the words: 'Car broke down on the way to Cooperstown. Anyone headed that way?' The road sign in the photo showed Route 17 West in upstate New York. Sabathia later posted at 11:02 p.m. that he and his family made it to Cooperstown: And on Friday, July 25 at 10:47 a.m., Sabathia posted a photo of the Cooperstown grounds where he will be speaking Sunday: This article originally appeared on CC Sabathia car breaks down on way to Cooperstown for Hall of Fame induction
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Billionaire film mogul David Geffen sued by estranged husband Donovan Michaels
David Geffen is being sued by his estranged husband. The 82-year-old film producer is accused of treating Donovan Michaels, 32, like a "living social experiment" during the couple's two-year marriage in a lawsuit filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court. Michaels has accused Geffen of breach of contract and alleges that the record executive kicked him out of their New York while he attended Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos's wedding to Lauren Sanchez in Venice last month and went back on a promise to give him lifelong financial support. The lawsuit alleges that Geffen – who has an estimated net worth of $8.8 billion – used a "toxic mix of seduction, control, promises of love and lavish displays of wealth to entrap" Michaels in a loop of "dependency, submission and humiliation". Patty Glaser, a partner at the law firm representing the film mogul, said: "There was no contract – express, written, oral or implied – that has ever existed. We will be vigorously and righteously defending against this false, pathetic lawsuit." The complaint says that Geffen met Michaels on the dating site in 2016 and paid him $10,000 for sex. The couple married in a private Beverly Hills ceremony in 2023 and the complaint claims that Geffen did not seek a prenuptial agreement. The DreamWorks co-founder filed for divorce in May, citing irreconcilable differences, and the pair had kept details of their separation private until Michaels filed his lawsuit. The dancer – whose real name is David Armstrong – described himself in the lawsuit as a vulnerable young gay black man who had been exploited by a "wealthy, powerful white gay billionaire who believed himself untouchable". Geffen is alleged to have criticised "every aspect of Michaels's appearance" and body hygiene that required him to get "painful" laser and dental treatments. Michaels claims that he was frequently subjected to "back-handed insults and put-downs" about his "past and lack of sophistication". He likened the pair's relationship to the plot of the movie Trading Places and alleges that Geffen treated him like "a living social experiment – a trophy to show off to his wealthy friends, under the guise of benevolence". The lawsuit states: "Geffen told Michaels he loved him, and the two agreed to treat each other as life partners, share all assets equally and that Geffen would support Michaels financially for life. "Michaels gave up his dreams – his modelling career, his independence – to dedicate himself fully to this promise." The suit also alleges that Geffen ordered Michaels to "immediately vacate" the couple's New York home as he partied aboard his $400 million Rising Sun superyacht in the lead-up to the Bezos wedding. It states that Michaels was left homeless as Geffen was "decadently and extravagantly partying and dancing the night away in Venice, Italy with the other 0.0001 per cent of the wealthiest people on the planet". The complaint says: "While Geffen holds himself out to the public as an extraordinarily charitable man whose foundation gives millions and millions of dollars to advocacy and support groups for the homeless and disadvantaged populations, he is simultaneously endeavouring to render Michaels impoverished and homeless."
Atlantic
20 minutes ago
- Atlantic
The Most American Wrestler
The world of professional wrestling includes many types of characters: the tough guy; the masked acrobat; the silent killer; the undersize underdog; the wild man; the high-flying heartthrob; the sex god. Over the course of a pro-wrestling event, which may last a few hours and feature several matches, these roles work in tandem as a type of variety show, giving fans many flavors of entertainment. But over the past half century, the headlining star—the one whose name tops the marquee, and who is paid the most money—has usually been someone like Hulk Hogan. Hogan himself was uncommonly tall, blessed with biceps bigger than a baby's head, a booming voice, dozens of repeatable catchphases, and a 1,000-watt personality that could be felt from the cheap seats. Both visually and in his affectations, he was what you might come up with if you were to ask a hundred strangers on the street, or ChatGPT, to draw the prototypical 'pro wrestler.' Hogan, who died yesterday at the age of 71, is by many objective metrics the most famous pro wrestler of all time. Pro wrestling, as entertainment, has existed since at least the early 20th century. But in the 1980s, Hogan popularized a brash and cartoonish style that became swiftly synonymous with the form, at least in America. When the promoter Vince McMahon built up the company now known as World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), which transformed the business by becoming the first to broadcast its wrestling show across the country, Hogan was his agent of change—a muscle-bound pitchman who sold a patriotic vision of strength, heroism, and integrity. (As his theme song went: 'I am a real American / Fight for the rights of every man.') Hogan's superpower was his pure conviction; he embodied outlandishness without a trace of irony, imprinting himself onto the hearts and minds of millions of people, many of them children who would carry their adoration into adulthood. Most pro-wrestling fans will freely admit that the entertainment is at least a little ridiculous. We're talking about half-naked men and women in leather underwear and fake tans who pretend to fight one another, their beefs based on storylines as simplistic as I don't like you. But the unbelievability is part of the point. Pro wrestling offers a digestible fantasy in which good guys usually triumph and villains get their comeuppance. The bad guys aren't acquitted on technicalities or rewarded for their deviousness; they're punched in the mouth, before a roaring crowd of thousands. When Hogan became wrestling's brightest star, this was his essential promise—he was not just a do-gooder who said the right things about loving God and eating your vitamins; he also almost always won. He was like a one-man Harlem Globetrotters, a dazzling showman guaranteed to come out on top. He remained beloved even when he became a bad guy, in the 1990s, popularizing a new archetype of 'cool scoundrel' that upended the entire business by making it unclear which side of the good-versus-evil conflict fans should root for. In his case, it was obvious: You rooted for Hulk Hogan. This success brought millions of dollars, worldwide fame, acting roles, a few restaurants—even as Hogan himself remained something of a cipher. Today, WWE produces hours of behind-the-scenes documentary programming in which its wrestlers speak as themselves. But in that earlier era, when it was not yet publicly acknowledged that the entertainment was predetermined, men like Hogan were careful to stay in character, lest they be judged as phonies. The WWE admitted that the wrestling wasn't 'real' as far back as 1989, but still, Hogan never quite shed the role of 'Hulk Hogan'—never casually transitioned into being known by his birth name, Terry Bollea. Even his reality show, which purported to depict his everyday family life, was called Hogan Knows Best. (His ex-wife Linda; his son, Nick; and his daughter, Brooke, all adopted 'Hogan' as their public surname, too.) Hogan generally seemed to be living out some version of his wrestling identity. In a courtroom, he might admit that 'Hogan' was a character he played for a living; still, he would say this while wearing his trademark bandanna and bleached-blond goatee. As the years went on and he spent more time out of the wrestling ring—his last match was in 2012, but he hadn't been a regular performer since 2002—he extended the logic of his character into real life. When in 2013 he sued Gawker for publishing a tape that showed him having sex with his friend's wife (with the friend's consent), and eventually won a $140 million judgment, he dominated the court of public opinion by portraying the website as just his latest adversary to overcome. (That the behind-the-scenes circumstances of his lawsuit were more complicated didn't matter much.) When audio of Hogan using wildly racist invective, from that same tape, was leaked in 2015, he was excommunicated from WWE—'It was unacceptable for me to have used that offensive language; there is no excuse for it; and I apologize for having done it,' he said in a statement —but negotiated a triumphant return to its programming just a few years later. He was sometimes down, but never out; he behaved as though the fans would always be there for him, and they usually were. This ability to wave away the past and shamelessly present himself for renewed applause was an especially American trait. Like a carnival barker or a veteran televangelist, Hogan wielded his charisma as a cudgel against all criticism. The sordid, tasteless incidents never dinged him for long. Whatever happened then did not matter as much as what was happening now. If he could present as the Hulkster, his muscles rippling and his bandanna tightly strapped on, he could pretend to be the conquering hero even when the truth was more troublesome, more dreary, more human. In pro wrestling, the ability to stay in character is highly valuable; in real life, it's sort of obnoxious. (Try affecting the loudest version of your personality, all of the time, and see how many of your loved ones stick around.) But if your paying customers don't care, there's little downside to maintaining the illusion for as long as possible. Today, America is inundated with public figures who loudly insist they are one thing when they're really something else, who stick around mostly because they refuse to go away. We are surrounded by Hulk Hogans, boisterous personalities who commit to their bit as they try to sell something and unabashedly ignore the truth. Even by the standards of his wrestling peers, Hogan's ability to stretch the truth was something else. And his belief in himself was rarely shaken; no matter the occasion, he could always snap into character and launch into a bravura monologue. Slowly, though, the covenant between Hogan and those paying customers began to crack. The racist tapes were a major blow, even after WWE brought him back; several Black wrestlers refused to accept his apology, calling him insincere. The ugliness of his remarks is still shocking to revisit today—for many fans, they will be his enduring legacy. And his public alliance with President Donald Trump, which included an absurd pro-wrestling-style speech at last year's Republican National Convention ('I know tough guys but let me tell you something, brother, Donald Trump is the toughest of them all'), was just as polarizing. When Hogan made his last WWE appearance earlier this year, on the Netflix debut of the company's Monday Night Raw, he was resoundingly booed by the Los Angeles crowd. It was an ignoble final interaction with an audience he had helped create, though hardly surprising, given his recent reputation. Even so, he was willing to bet on being forgiven: This year he co-founded the wrestling company Real American Freestyle, whose first show is scheduled for August. Ticket sales were soft, and many pro-wrestling fans derided the concept; still, he was going for it one more time, committing to a character who was no longer believable to anyone but himself.
