9. Kevin Knight
The sky’s the limit for Kevin Knight!
While Knight’s in-ring skills are simply mesmerizing, I believe his overall package would be enough for him to jumpstart a good career for himself in the WWE. Knight has shown some decent acting chops on Impact in segments before, and he’s also shown that he can work the role of an underdog really well (with his match against Moose being a prime example of how easy he is to get behind). With him being this skilled at just twenty-six years old, Knight can really find success anywhere if he continues improving at the pace he currently is. The thought of pitting talents like Wes Lee, Noam Dar, Nathan Frazer, Dragon Lee, Tyler Bate, and more would be incredible.
8. Shota Umino
It could be electric!
You may be confused as to what I mean by that. Well, all I’m saying is that Shooter’s entrance could be electric with the assistance of the WWE’s massive production budget. He’s already got an incredible aura with his current entrance, but just imagine him emerging from doing it in the WWE with their presentation. Furthermore, Shooter has one of the most distinctive characters in New Japan, and I really think his current presentation and cadence would translate well and could only be enhanced by the WWE. With Shota also impressing in the G1 this year, it’s safe to say he’s already got good enough in-ring skills to prove himself in the WWE. His matches against Kaito Kiyomiya, Ren Narita, and Yota Tsuji were by far the highlights of his tournament run. A match I would like to see for Shota in the WWE is against Bron Breakker. The side of Shota we’ve seen, when paired with the BCC, coming out against Breakker would be one hell of a program.
