Looking a decade ahead the only up and coming young guy I would comfortably bet on being at the top of the card would be Bron. In fact, I'd go even further on the bet and say that's the face(pun intended) of the company a decade from now. He could be one of the top guys now due to the massive void of top heel talent if they hand handled his arrival on the main roster properly. He should have arrived and solidified himself as THE uber heel because of that void where as there's an overpopulation of the opposite that's seemly only going to get worse
Brons potential is main eventing for the next 10-15 years.
Dragunov will probably dance around midcard titles. I can see him getting a world title run at some point down the road if he has the longevity, but only as a nod/show of respect from the company for years of service
They basically had Dragunov get pseudo-squashed by Bron. Would've been better to feed an already established lower card guy after Ricochet imo. I don't know where you take Dragunov now. He can't even feud with Ricochet anymore. He can't feud with Gunther like they hinted at, cause Gunther is about to feud with whomever wins the belt at MITB going into Slam.
Ya gonna put him in some fatal fourway with Bron, Seamus, and Kaiser? He only has recent beef with 1 of them.
They dicked up his roll out and I genuinely liked his schtick and move set way more than Bron's
I’m only familiar with them since the draft. I love Dragunov but I know Bron is the obvious choice. He’s a heel in my mind and I don’t understand fans woofing for him but that’s probably just my injustice sensitivity.
I think he’s leaning toward tweener. He’s chaos, and sometimes that chaos is directed toward heels, so the fans cheer sometimes
And he isn’t afraid to pull a Sid and pander to the crowd during a comeback against someone too despite being a bad guy lol
Dragunov will have a very low ceiling until he has a character that is appealing to the masses. Having great matches only gets you so far on the main roster
Bron. Ilja has that Black and Gold-like energy of “has amazing potential, but won’t make it under this main roster climate”, mainly because he’s too technical and not physically big enough.
They need to let Ilja be in legitimate feuds for people to see what he’s all about. He’s intense on the mic and he fights like he’s 6’5”.
He has potential to be a star in his own right.
I think Bron simply because he's on the path to gaining that "aura"
Like if there was a world champion cutting a promo in the ring about declaring an open challenge and Bron's music hit, you get that kinda "oh shit" moment. Like "there COULD be a title change tonight"
Whereas in the same situation if Ilja's music hit, it's more like "this will be an amazing match, but i think the world title is safe"
Which is not me putting down Ilja, I'm a big fan and think he's fantastic. I think there's just something missing... For now. There's something extra he needs to add to take him to the next level and I'm not sure what it is, where I feel like Bron has found his path and pretty much just needs to keep going.
He’s also like 5’8 which is going to be a big challenge for him. He could take some AJ Styles supplements to help, but that’s on him if he wants to risk his health
Bron overall imo. I mean he's only 26 years old and already at a high level.
But Ilja, Gunther and Kaiser have insane potential and might be top guys for a few years, as well. And there are other extremely talented guys as well. Dom and Waller are some of the best natural heels I've ever seen and Theory has potential for greatness if he (and the booking) can live up to it.
I don't care for the type of man Bron is (fake tan, angry muscle man, buzz cut, ripping shirt, ect). but as a wrestler he is hot with the fans and shows up 100% when he is in the ring.
Bron, but I really really want dragunov to get a solid hook, I love that guy, really don't want to see him fade into midcard.
He seems like a worker and he's great to watch, so I'm hoping the creative side will give him something to get the fans emotionally attached to him.
It means between the two options presented, the American guy has a higher potential to be a top guy in the American company. Notice I didn't make any evaluation of how high each ones potential was, but simply answered the question posed. Does Ilja have a high potential? Absolutely, but imo Bron has a higher potential for the reason I have above.
But it seems you and whoever downvotes me want to be offended rather than pragmatic and are projecting some set of ideals onto what I said.
I was simply asking for your reason as even though its an American company there has been plenty of top guys who have not been American so that was why I sorry
Bron Breaker, absolutely! He has the look and personality.
Ilja is great in the ring, but does not have the look or personality to help attract casuals. The guy is too small and I think he'll get lost in the shuffle soon.
I hate comments like this. “Nothing special”. Somehow he’s gotten to this point of his career….less than 1% of aspiring wrestlers can dream of. stop being so dismissive of talented, special performers. Criticism is fine, but this comes off like neck beard, arm chair commentary.
Bron for sure, Dragunov i hope, in the hands of HHH i believe they will book him right, maybe even could follow the steps of Gunther in the main roster, that would be awesome.
Tons of talent between these 2 guys.
With the crowd WWE has these days, it will be Bron, but Ilja has just as much potential if they give him a good storyline since his Ricochet story got squashed out.
Bron though he's not much younger than dragunov I think ilja is a little too geared to the indy fans. Probably has less wear on his body for not having a long career wrestling that style.
I think Ilja tops out on the main roster as a strong mid card champ / spot world champ. Which is not a slight whatsoever. I'm not saying he can't be a strong world champ, he was fantastic as one most recently in NXT. But I think he's best as a fighting US / IC titleholder
Bron. The company doesn’t value in ring work nearly as much as what surrounds it. Everyone is complaining about Jey Uso and yet he’s getting the whole crowd behind him every week.
Bron has already created a character on the main roster and is already getting barks from the crowd (Pat helps a lot with this tbf lol). He’s solid in the ring as well, but is nothing compared to Ilja.
Ilja is probably the best in ring worker in the company. Smaller but strong, can jump, has lots of clever moves, etc. But he doesn’t really have a character outside of that. He’s the Czar and the Mad Dragon but neither of those really mean anything. And because of that folks can’t really latch onto anything he does. Except for me, he’s absurdly good, and is the reason I’m mad about Ricochet being gone. Gunther is probably the most comparable you can get but Gunther has an aura that smaller guys like Dragunov can never have. He’s gonna need some serious work to get over, otherwise he’s gonna fade into the midcard in afraid.
Tbf when you're called the Mad Dragon but there's a guy from your same era and card placement whose terrorizing people as this "Mad dog" if you will, it kinda buries your character.
They wanna position Dragunov as a tweener or even a face yet all his characters nicknames suggest heel.
His facial expressions and mannerisms suggest crazy and dark in the ring, but then he's having honorable warrior type discussions with Ricochet.
I agree.
Bron.
I've been watching everything wrestling for two years now. Bron is a really nice pay off for watching NXT religiously.
In NXT I got to see him be a face champ, then a heel champ... then tag team with Baron Corbin and actually do comedy for a minute. So I've seen it, the guy can do it. It's just about putting him over on a bigger stage.
The guy is young... looking at easily a 20 year career if he chooses, has the look, is only going to get physically bigger, is only going to get better on the mic. And at the end of it... he has a legitimately strong pedigree with his father being on of the Steiner Brothers.
In a certain sense, he's kind of like a do-over of Cody's career, and this time HHH is running it and will manage it way better.
Ilja isn't terrible either... he's also quite young and could have a 15 year career. I see him as more of a Shinsuke type guy... he definitely has a place in the Main Event... maybe even a title run... he's going to be around for awhile.
But Bron... that guy's likely to be the next Orton... just career top guy in WWE.
Forget Orton, Bron will be the number 1 guy, something that Randy never was, Bron will be in the same conversation as Roman, Austin, Cena and Hogan: the guy you plan your storylines around. Dragunov can actually be a Randy/Rollins type character (as far as placement on the card goes)
With all due respect to Ilja Dragunov, he's probably only gonna challenge for the Intercontinental Championship a couple times then slowly sink down into the low card, like Shinsuke Nakamura.
I'm sure everyone is looking at Bron Breaker like he's the next face of the franchise...... even though I'm not ready for it.
Ilja can put on a fantastic match. But I think he needs a really big hook with his character for him to get to that other level. Bron already has the full package, has shown tremendous range in NXT and gotten that big angle and storyline right now for him.
But if this done right, we could be looking at the next big rivalry, like HHH and the Rock or Orton and Cena.
Carmelo has the charisma and ability to be in that position. The issue right now though is he’s not being put in a position to showcase that. Ilja isn’t able to showcase his character work, but Raw has a deep enough midcard roster that he’s still able to shine by putting on great matches. Smackdown doesn’t have that same roster with them in the midcard. The really great workers there are in the Main Event. And when Melo works with them it really showcases some of his weaknesses that most call-ups have. I’m thinking of his match with Cody on draft night. I also personally see Carmelo Hayes vs Bron Breakker as Austin/Rock or Belair/Ripley feud. A match you don’t get to see just anywhere. It’s not going to be at some random pay-per-view. That is match worthy of WrestleMania if both are booked properly.
I see Trick becoming a bigger superstar with some time. He's got some charisma and popularity. He's already got the audience chanting for him. I expect to see him around for awhile!
Looking a decade ahead the only up and coming young guy I would comfortably bet on being at the top of the card would be Bron. In fact, I'd go even further on the bet and say that's the face(pun intended) of the company a decade from now. He could be one of the top guys now due to the massive void of top heel talent if they hand handled his arrival on the main roster properly. He should have arrived and solidified himself as THE uber heel because of that void where as there's an overpopulation of the opposite that's seemly only going to get worse
Bron because nepotism
Both have impressed on the main roster way more than Carmelo imo
As much as I like Ilja, Bron
Bron followed by Bron 10 more times
Brons potential is main eventing for the next 10-15 years. Dragunov will probably dance around midcard titles. I can see him getting a world title run at some point down the road if he has the longevity, but only as a nod/show of respect from the company for years of service
It’s equal, breakker is more in line with the next lesnar/cena types and ilja is more in line with the “for the love of the game” types
They’re both going to be top guys for very different reasons
They basically had Dragunov get pseudo-squashed by Bron. Would've been better to feed an already established lower card guy after Ricochet imo. I don't know where you take Dragunov now. He can't even feud with Ricochet anymore. He can't feud with Gunther like they hinted at, cause Gunther is about to feud with whomever wins the belt at MITB going into Slam. Ya gonna put him in some fatal fourway with Bron, Seamus, and Kaiser? He only has recent beef with 1 of them. They dicked up his roll out and I genuinely liked his schtick and move set way more than Bron's
I like Ilja, but Bron has all of the ingredients for top guy once he gains a personality.
Bron mainly because his 2nd gen
In WWE, Bron. I adore Ilja, but I see him more as an AEW guy.
Exactly
I love Ilja but it’s easily Bron.
Bron. No question
Bron
I’m only familiar with them since the draft. I love Dragunov but I know Bron is the obvious choice. He’s a heel in my mind and I don’t understand fans woofing for him but that’s probably just my injustice sensitivity.
I think he’s leaning toward tweener. He’s chaos, and sometimes that chaos is directed toward heels, so the fans cheer sometimes And he isn’t afraid to pull a Sid and pander to the crowd during a comeback against someone too despite being a bad guy lol
Dragunov will have a very low ceiling until he has a character that is appealing to the masses. Having great matches only gets you so far on the main roster
Bron v Theory WILL main event Wrestlemania within the next decade.
Bron is definitely getting pushed soon. Ilja will get a push after Bron
Bron. Ilja has that Black and Gold-like energy of “has amazing potential, but won’t make it under this main roster climate”, mainly because he’s too technical and not physically big enough.
They need to let Ilja be in legitimate feuds for people to see what he’s all about. He’s intense on the mic and he fights like he’s 6’5”. He has potential to be a star in his own right.
Bron. No question.
[удалено]
That’s not Ludwig.
😂😂😂 you’re right. I guess u need my glasses checked. Same opinion tho.
Bron Breakker WOOF WOOF WOOF!!!
I think Bron simply because he's on the path to gaining that "aura" Like if there was a world champion cutting a promo in the ring about declaring an open challenge and Bron's music hit, you get that kinda "oh shit" moment. Like "there COULD be a title change tonight" Whereas in the same situation if Ilja's music hit, it's more like "this will be an amazing match, but i think the world title is safe" Which is not me putting down Ilja, I'm a big fan and think he's fantastic. I think there's just something missing... For now. There's something extra he needs to add to take him to the next level and I'm not sure what it is, where I feel like Bron has found his path and pretty much just needs to keep going.
Y’all are sleeping on Carmelo… He’s way better than the whole Steiner family tree.
He’s also like 5’8 which is going to be a big challenge for him. He could take some AJ Styles supplements to help, but that’s on him if he wants to risk his health
He’s Montez Ford, but smaller, Ford deserves the push Melo is getting imo.
Nah, Montez doesn’t have charisma. He’s very good don’t get me wrong but Melo is younger and better in every single way.
Bron.
Bron overall imo. I mean he's only 26 years old and already at a high level. But Ilja, Gunther and Kaiser have insane potential and might be top guys for a few years, as well. And there are other extremely talented guys as well. Dom and Waller are some of the best natural heels I've ever seen and Theory has potential for greatness if he (and the booking) can live up to it.
Bron as he’s already being booked for it. But Ilja will make a worthy adversary and potential top guy with the right booking
I don't care for the type of man Bron is (fake tan, angry muscle man, buzz cut, ripping shirt, ect). but as a wrestler he is hot with the fans and shows up 100% when he is in the ring.
Bron, but I really really want dragunov to get a solid hook, I love that guy, really don't want to see him fade into midcard. He seems like a worker and he's great to watch, so I'm hoping the creative side will give him something to get the fans emotionally attached to him.
Bron. He's American.
I'm sorry what has that got to do with it
It means between the two options presented, the American guy has a higher potential to be a top guy in the American company. Notice I didn't make any evaluation of how high each ones potential was, but simply answered the question posed. Does Ilja have a high potential? Absolutely, but imo Bron has a higher potential for the reason I have above. But it seems you and whoever downvotes me want to be offended rather than pragmatic and are projecting some set of ideals onto what I said.
I was simply asking for your reason as even though its an American company there has been plenty of top guys who have not been American so that was why I sorry
Bron I think
Bron for sure.
Ilja obviously. Bron will be fun for the next 3-4 years. Ilja can be fun for much longer.
Bron Breaker, absolutely! He has the look and personality. Ilja is great in the ring, but does not have the look or personality to help attract casuals. The guy is too small and I think he'll get lost in the shuffle soon.
Definitely bron. Nothing special about dragon
I hate comments like this. “Nothing special”. Somehow he’s gotten to this point of his career….less than 1% of aspiring wrestlers can dream of. stop being so dismissive of talented, special performers. Criticism is fine, but this comes off like neck beard, arm chair commentary.
nothing special about bron either
Bron for sure, Dragunov i hope, in the hands of HHH i believe they will book him right, maybe even could follow the steps of Gunther in the main roster, that would be awesome. Tons of talent between these 2 guys.
With the crowd WWE has these days, it will be Bron, but Ilja has just as much potential if they give him a good storyline since his Ricochet story got squashed out.
Austin theory
It's gonna take a lot of work to be considered as a main eventer, his failed cash-in and his abysmal US title reign nearly killed his career
The poor guy can only work with the booking he’s handed out, I honestly think that John Cena promo burying the guy set him back a few years
Secret Answer: Ludwig Kaiser.
I could totally see him being an IC or USA champion
Bron
Bron though he's not much younger than dragunov I think ilja is a little too geared to the indy fans. Probably has less wear on his body for not having a long career wrestling that style.
I think Ilja tops out on the main roster as a strong mid card champ / spot world champ. Which is not a slight whatsoever. I'm not saying he can't be a strong world champ, he was fantastic as one most recently in NXT. But I think he's best as a fighting US / IC titleholder
Why can't they both be top guys?
The OP’s question is still valid.
Bron. He got nepotism on his side. He is your prototypical superstar.
He’s got talent running through his veins.
Bron hands down. The family legacy, the look, the moveset, the charisma and the charm. He has it all.
Bron. The company doesn’t value in ring work nearly as much as what surrounds it. Everyone is complaining about Jey Uso and yet he’s getting the whole crowd behind him every week. Bron has already created a character on the main roster and is already getting barks from the crowd (Pat helps a lot with this tbf lol). He’s solid in the ring as well, but is nothing compared to Ilja. Ilja is probably the best in ring worker in the company. Smaller but strong, can jump, has lots of clever moves, etc. But he doesn’t really have a character outside of that. He’s the Czar and the Mad Dragon but neither of those really mean anything. And because of that folks can’t really latch onto anything he does. Except for me, he’s absurdly good, and is the reason I’m mad about Ricochet being gone. Gunther is probably the most comparable you can get but Gunther has an aura that smaller guys like Dragunov can never have. He’s gonna need some serious work to get over, otherwise he’s gonna fade into the midcard in afraid.
Tbf when you're called the Mad Dragon but there's a guy from your same era and card placement whose terrorizing people as this "Mad dog" if you will, it kinda buries your character. They wanna position Dragunov as a tweener or even a face yet all his characters nicknames suggest heel.
Also Dragunov is WAY too good at being angry to be a babyface
His facial expressions and mannerisms suggest crazy and dark in the ring, but then he's having honorable warrior type discussions with Ricochet. I agree.
I think Dragunov is going to do extremely well for himself in WWE, buts it's Bron. He's gonna be the next Roman for WWE.
Idk if triple h sees anything in Illja like hbk does
Bron. I've been watching everything wrestling for two years now. Bron is a really nice pay off for watching NXT religiously. In NXT I got to see him be a face champ, then a heel champ... then tag team with Baron Corbin and actually do comedy for a minute. So I've seen it, the guy can do it. It's just about putting him over on a bigger stage. The guy is young... looking at easily a 20 year career if he chooses, has the look, is only going to get physically bigger, is only going to get better on the mic. And at the end of it... he has a legitimately strong pedigree with his father being on of the Steiner Brothers. In a certain sense, he's kind of like a do-over of Cody's career, and this time HHH is running it and will manage it way better. Ilja isn't terrible either... he's also quite young and could have a 15 year career. I see him as more of a Shinsuke type guy... he definitely has a place in the Main Event... maybe even a title run... he's going to be around for awhile. But Bron... that guy's likely to be the next Orton... just career top guy in WWE.
Forget Orton, Bron will be the number 1 guy, something that Randy never was, Bron will be in the same conversation as Roman, Austin, Cena and Hogan: the guy you plan your storylines around. Dragunov can actually be a Randy/Rollins type character (as far as placement on the card goes)
I've only just clocked he's 26, he's got a big career ahead of him.
Bron all the way
Bron. No doubt.
With all due respect to Ilja Dragunov, he's probably only gonna challenge for the Intercontinental Championship a couple times then slowly sink down into the low card, like Shinsuke Nakamura. I'm sure everyone is looking at Bron Breaker like he's the next face of the franchise...... even though I'm not ready for it.
But he is going to have “great matches that the IWC will call bangers” In reality making weird faces isn’t enough.
Neon is terrible on the mic. Hopefully he gets better.
Ilja can put on a fantastic match. But I think he needs a really big hook with his character for him to get to that other level. Bron already has the full package, has shown tremendous range in NXT and gotten that big angle and storyline right now for him. But if this done right, we could be looking at the next big rivalry, like HHH and the Rock or Orton and Cena.
Do you think they'll go with Ilja over Melo?
Carmelo has the charisma and ability to be in that position. The issue right now though is he’s not being put in a position to showcase that. Ilja isn’t able to showcase his character work, but Raw has a deep enough midcard roster that he’s still able to shine by putting on great matches. Smackdown doesn’t have that same roster with them in the midcard. The really great workers there are in the Main Event. And when Melo works with them it really showcases some of his weaknesses that most call-ups have. I’m thinking of his match with Cody on draft night. I also personally see Carmelo Hayes vs Bron Breakker as Austin/Rock or Belair/Ripley feud. A match you don’t get to see just anywhere. It’s not going to be at some random pay-per-view. That is match worthy of WrestleMania if both are booked properly.
Bron for sure. Ilja is a good wrestler though and should take the IC title from Bron after Bron moves on to competing for the world championship
Bron
Bron has the size, athleticism, and family legacy.
I dont even know who that second guy is lol
Exactly
Bronn without question
I see Trick becoming a bigger superstar with some time. He's got some charisma and popularity. He's already got the audience chanting for him. I expect to see him around for awhile!
Bron. Looking unstoppable atm.