Al Posted July 30, 2018 Report Share Posted July 30, 2018 Looking at the stars of wrestling today, I'm struck by how few young wrestlers there are at a high level. (Speaking male wrestlers here. Female wrestling sees far more turnover.) WWE still has only one male aged 28 or younger on their main roster, Bo Dallas. As a test, the first WWF Pay Per View I watched, Survivor Series 1990, had six wrestlers out of 40 younger than 28. Either the industry has a dearth of young wrestlers or more likely, they aren't being pushed by WWE. So who are the best of the next generation currently floating around the Indies, Mexico, Japan, etc.? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superkix Posted July 30, 2018 Report Share Posted July 30, 2018 As far as Japan goes, Takuya Nomura (24), Fuminori Abe (23), Konosuke Takeshita (23), and Shotaro Ashino (28) to name a few. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richeyedwards Posted July 30, 2018 Report Share Posted July 30, 2018 I would throw in Big R Shimizu as the best guy in dragon gate at 25, Koji Iwamoto is 28 and Naoya nomura is 24 from ajpw. Absolutely agree on takuya and ashino, really not a fan of abe though, all his little movements and facial expressions are really annoying. I can see ashino and takuya being the aces of bjw strong division and wrestle 1. Koji however is always going to be a jr lieutenant to jake lee at best, Nomura could become a big deal in ajpw along with tag partner aoyagi who is also 22. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDuke Posted July 30, 2018 Report Share Posted July 30, 2018 Aren't Pete Dunne and Tyler Bates both really young? Maybe in the 2020's we will see all the top wrestlers in the world come from Europe/UK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blehschmidt Posted July 30, 2018 Report Share Posted July 30, 2018 Mexico has Fenix, Bandido, and Flamita off the top of my head all under 28 years old who are fantastic, and I am sure many others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rah Posted July 30, 2018 Report Share Posted July 30, 2018 10 minutes ago, TheDuke said: Aren't Pete Dunne and Tyler Bates both really young? Maybe in the 2020's we will see all the top wrestlers in the world come from Europe/UK. Tyler Bate is 21. Authors of Pain are 24 and 25. Wouldn't the change in age be due to a shift in what WWE look for in talent? Let's be honest, that has changed a lot since the 2000s. Before, it was about making stars and ensuring they didn't become big stars out of their "universe". Now, they seem to favour taking in already produced stars, shipping them around the NXT loop and then bringing them up once they've run their course. There are the odd exceptions (The Shield were 28/29 when they got their push in 2013), but a lot of the current WWE "stars" all started at the same time as the current crop of Indy talent, yet had a much faster track into the main events. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ButchReedMark Posted July 31, 2018 Report Share Posted July 31, 2018 Adults are born in the year 2000 now. It's not revelant to wrestling, but fuck me sideways it makes me feel old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted July 31, 2018 Report Share Posted July 31, 2018 7 hours ago, ButchReedMark said: Adults are born in the year 2000 now. It's not revelant to wrestling, but fuck me sideways it makes me feel old. You don't say. It just can't be ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leo Posted July 31, 2018 Report Share Posted July 31, 2018 Abe has some vague comedy appeal but I don't see him breaking past that sort of role in his career. Keeping within Japan, DDT has a slew of good-to-great young dudes who can all go to some extent and are only getting better. Kota Umeda and the aforementioned Takeshita stand out. Mexico has plenty of names in this category, Soberano Jr, NGD, Mistico, Dragon Lee, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superkix Posted July 31, 2018 Report Share Posted July 31, 2018 2 hours ago, leo said: Abe has some vague comedy appeal but I don't see him breaking past that sort of role in his career. Keeping within Japan, DDT has a slew of good-to-great young dudes who can all go to some extent and are only getting better. Kota Umeda and the aforementioned Takeshita stand out. Mexico has plenty of names in this category, Soberano Jr, NGD, Mistico, Dragon Lee, etc. Abe works very differently in BJW and Hard Hit than he does in, say, DDT or Basara. His match against Nomura in BJW from February of this year is a great example. Or his match against Iwamoto from Hart Hit. He's very slick on the mat and has some great strikes. The little movements/expressions is a tribute to his trainer Sawa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viking Hall Posted July 31, 2018 Report Share Posted July 31, 2018 There's definitely a cultural thing here I think, in the U.S. wrestlers tend to go to college etc first which means they're well into their twenties by the time they start training. If you're lucky you'll need say five years minimum before you start to gain a buzz and then you might get a shot at the big time, the likelihood being that by the time that happens you'll already be heading towards 30 or surpassed it. However, in the UK you'll find that a lot of wrestlers are training and making their debuts in their teens which means their formative years are coming much earlier which gives you the likes of Tyler Bate, Pete Dunne, Will Ospreay, Noam Dar etc being ready for the big stage at a far earlier age than their North American counterparts. As for other young UK wrestlers who could be destined for bigger things I'll go with Flash Morgan Webster (27), Chris Ridgeway (25), Zack Gibson (27) and Chris Tyler (21), all of which I'm sure are already on your radars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laz Posted August 1, 2018 Report Share Posted August 1, 2018 It's going to take either a horrible injury or a dark personal revelation to stop Zack Gibson from being in WWE. He's so naturally unlikable that you have to love him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotJayTabb Posted August 1, 2018 Report Share Posted August 1, 2018 I went to a show last month where a guy called Joe Nelson wrestled, and his tights had "Est 2002" on them, which means he must only be 16. And he was excellent, a guy less than half my age, made me feel ancient. Heck, Millie McKenzie is only 18 and is already getting a huge reputation and getting noticed by WWE (dark match at NXT UK). If she stays healthy, she'll be a star in the next 5 years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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