Ranking the Young WWE Stars Most Likely to Main-Event WrestleMania in the Future
Graham GSM Matthews@@WrestleRantFeatured Columnist IVSeptember 11, 2024Ranking the Young WWE Stars Most Likely to Main-Event WrestleMania in the Future0 of 7
Top NXT prospect Trick Williams is WrestleMania main event material.Credit: WWE.com
WWE’s youth movement in recent years has already spawned several stars that are virtually guaranteed to headline WrestleMania one day.
NXT’s abrupt shift from the critically acclaimed black-and-gold era to the sports-oriented recruitment program was rough at first but eventually evolved into a solid breeding ground for the talent of tomorrow.
A number of impressive prospects have since made the move to the main roster and immediately excelled under the bright lights of Raw and SmackDown. It won’t be long before some of these fresh faces being called up have top billing at The Show of Shows.
Of course, being booked properly and avoiding injury will be crucial to their upcoming success. So far, the Triple H regime has done an admirable job of creating new stars, but any number of circumstances could prevent them from reaching their full potential.
Roman Reigns, one of the first NXT alums to join the main roster in 2012, surpassed Hulk Hogan for most WrestleMania main events earlier this year. Other NXT alumni who went on to become WrestleMania main-eventers include Seth Rollins, Bianca Belair, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair.
The following seven Superstars have the strongest chance of following in their footsteps, ranked from least to most likely.
7. Oba Femi1 of 7
Oba Femi is approaching 250 days as NXT North American champion.Credit: WWE.com
At first glance, Oba Femi looks like a future WrestleMania headliner, and it wouldn’t be a stretch to see him that in elusive spot within the next five years.
The 26-year-old emerged victorious in the 2024 men’s NXT Breakout Tournament and captured the NXT North American Championship soon after.
From Dragon Lee to Wes Lee, he’s defended his title against all comers and has been involved in several show-stealers on NXT premium live events. Additionally, he’s just shy of a month away from becoming the longest-reigning North American champ ever.
All in all, Femi has had one of the best rookie years in the brand’s history.
There’s still room for improvement as far as the Nigerian’s skills in the ring and on the mic are concerned, but it’s clear officials are high on his upside and rightfully so. His sheer dominance has made him a fan favorite in NXT, which will bode well for him when the time comes for his call-up to the main roster.
An undefeated Femi challenging Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship screams “WrestleMania main event.” Next year’s installment is far too soon, but eventually, that marquee match is a must for The Grandest Stage of Them All.
6. Jade Cargill2 of 7
Jade Cargill has adapted exceptionally well to the WWE environment after jumping over from AEW.Credit: WWE.com
After steamrolling through the All Elite Wrestling women’s division and holding gold longer than anyone else in company history, Jade Cargill made the jump to WWE in the fall of 2023 and left a lasting impression in her Royal Rumble debut the following January.
She’s been teaming with Bianca Belair since WrestleMania 40 and is currently one-half of the WWE women’s tag team champions. Sometime soon, their powerful partnership will implode and Cargill will have the chance to shine as a singles star.
The Storm didn’t work many lengthy matches in AEW due to her lack of experience, but her aura alone makes her an undeniable attraction. Once she’s on her own, she’ll be able to enter the main event mix and set her sights on either the WWE Women’s Championship or the Women’s World Championship.
With the right opponent in a high-profile program, the 32-year-old can absolutely close out WrestleMania. In fact, an eventual outing with Belair would be worthy of such a spot, especially with an extensive build.
While that may not be imminent, Cargill will be a major star for WWE for years to come, ensuring there will be many main events in her future.
5. Jacob Fatu3 of 7
WWE’s booking of Jacob Fatu has been practically perfect so far.Credit: WWE.com
From the moment he arrived on the SmackDown scene in June and was introduced as the newest member of The Bloodline, Jacob Fatu felt like the perfect fit for WWE. The only question fans had was why he wasn’t signed sooner.
He instantly overshadowed the self-appointed “Tribal Chief” Solo Sikoa, and although they’ve remained a cohesive unit as of late, the endgame should be Fatu ousting the leader from the group and superseding him as the head of The Bloodline.
Roman Reigns vs. Sikoa is likely imminent, but Reigns vs. Fatu is easily the more anticipated matchup. That’s a WrestleMania-caliber contest, and if a world title were on the line, it would be main event material.
Fatu spent several years on the independent scene (most notably in MLW) honing his craft before making it to the big leagues, yet he’s only 32 and, arguably, hasn’t entered his prime yet. In other words, plenty of time remains for him to ascend to the top of the card.
He has the presence of a star and is one of the most dynamic in-ring performers on any roster. Beyond the inevitable outing with Reigns, he’d be a believable opponent for almost any of WWE’s main event players on The Grandest Stage of Them All.
4. Tiffany Stratton4 of 7
Ms. Money in the Bank Tiffany Stratton is one cash-in away from winning a world title on WWE’s main roster.Credit: WWE.com
WWE hasn’t had many collegiate-athletes-turned-wrestlers take to the business quite as quickly as Tiffany Stratton.
Her NXT run started off rather rough with the “Daddy’s Princess” persona in 2022, but after returning with a new gimmick at the onset of 2023, she ascended the ranks to the NXT Women’s Championship within a matter of months.
Her back-to-back bouts with Becky Lynch for the title—including an Extreme Rules main event at No Mercy—caused her stock to skyrocket.
Since signing with SmackDown in late January, the 25-year-old has competed inside the Elimination Chamber, challenged for the WWE Women’s Championship at Backlash and become Ms. Money in the Bank. Above all else, she’s gotten over with the audience through her natural charisma and breathtaking offense.
Her opportunistic briefcase will eventually lead her to a reign with the WWE women’s title, but the main event of WrestleMania is where she ultimately belongs. Being early on in her development, it won’t happen within the next year, but headlining with either Charlotte Flair or Bianca Belair in 2026 or 2027 is a realistic possibility.
By then, Stratton will be an even more important piece of WWE’s stacked women’s division.
3. Trick Williams5 of 7
Trick Williams has thrived as the face of NXT the last several months.Credit: WWE.com
Trick Williams has emerged as one of NXT’s most promising prospects since the brand underwent its total overhaul in late 2021.
From Carmelo Hayes’ hype man to NXT champion, his NXT journey has perfectly prepared him for what’s to come on the main roster.
Williams, 30, has shown remarkable progress both in the ring and on the mic in the last three years. With a bit longer of a stay down in developmental, he’ll be the complete package and a move to Monday or Friday nights won’t be far behind.
Despite still being in NXT, a WrestleMania main event may come sooner for him than most. He has size on his side along with an incredible connection to the crowd, so WWE may want to give him more of an aggressive push out of the gate.
The support of Shawn Michaels, a WWE Hall of Famer and current head of NXT, is a positive sign that he’ll forever be in the good graces of the company. He’s improved leaps and bounds from where he started, and a WrestleMania main event is undoubtedly in his future.
Williams’ rise to ‘Mania glory will be fun for fans to follow in the coming years.
2. Rhea Ripley6 of 7
Rhea Ripley is among WWE’s most popular performers today.Credit: WWE.com
At the age of 27, Rhea Ripley has already achieved a Hall of Fame-worthy career, but there’s still so much left for her to do, including closing out WrestleMania.
Two years removed from her main roster debut, she won the women’s Royal Rumble match and earned the right to challenge for a world title at The Show of Shows.
She unseated Charlotte Flair as SmackDown women’s champ at WrestleMania 39, but the main event nod that night went to The Usos vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship.
Ripley was again involved in a marquee ‘Mania match this year with Becky Lynch, whom she defeated to retain the rechristened Women’s World Championship she won one year earlier. That had the potential to headline but was instead relegated to the opener in favor of Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns and The Rock.
The Eradicator isn’t in possession of the prestigious prize at the moment, but she could well regain it from Liv Morgan at Bad Blood on October 5 and walk into The Show of Shows for the second straight year with the title. If so, she’d have a fair chance of finally getting the spot that has alluded her up to this point.
Ripley vs. Bianca Belair at a WrestleMania is inevitable and would be an excellent choice as the main event for the upcoming installment.
1. Bron Breakker7 of 7
Bron Breakker is well on his way to becoming WWE’s next big thing.Credit: WWE.com
It was obvious the night Bron Breakker debuted on the launch of NXT 2.0 in September 2021 that he was a WrestleMania main-eventer in the making. He simply needed to put all of the pieces together to become the big star he was destined to be, and in the three years he spent on the brand, he did just that.
His two reigns as NXT champion saw him hold the gold for well over a year in total and set back every challenger put his path of destruction. He also formed a fun partnership with Baron Corbin toward the end of his time there that allowed him to showcase more of his personality.
There’s been nothing funny about Breakker’s run on Raw so far, however. The one-man wrecking crew knocked off Sami Zayn for the Intercontinental Championship at SummerSlam and has been positioned prominently as a blue chipper on the verge of breaking through to that next level.
Depending on how long he carries that Intercontinental title and who’s in the running to win the 2025 men’s Royal Rumble, fans could be looking at a WrestleMania main-event featuring Breakker as early as next spring.
Bet on Breakker to be the next youngster to join the elite few to have headlined WWE’s premier pay-per-view—a spot he’ll find himself in many more times before his career concludes.
Graham Mirmina, aka Graham “GSM” Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.
