As they say in any sport, there is only so much room at the top, and professional wrestling is no exception. There can only be one World Champion in a company, unless you’re WWE of course who creates World Champions (or Universal Championships) at will, but mostly there is one guy who is ‘the guy’ for a promotion. Someone that everyone knows is the main event player for the company. In wrestling, however, you need a few guys who can hold that spot down, as you can’t keep running the same two guys every night, and not every main event feud needs to be over the World Championship.

The indie scene is packed with talented performers, as wrestling seems to be on a comeback after sliding in the early 2000s. While WWE continues to be the top promotion in the world, other organizations are starting to catch up and offer what fans have wanted to see for years, true and pure wrestling as opposed to over the top gimmicks. The WWE has a loaded roster, however, some wrestlers are just never going to break that glass ceiling and become main event players no matter how hard they try. But maybe they just need some time in the indies. Going back down isn’t always so bad, as plenty of wrestlers make a great living in the indie scene and many eventually come back to the WWE better than they were.

Here are some wrestlers the WWE could grab right away and watch them become main event players, and some that for many different reasons, need to go back to the indies.

20 To Indies: Bayley

Bayley is one of the most talented women wrestlers in the WWE, but her gimmick since coming up to the WWE main roster has derailed her growth. It just doesn’t work for a large crowd and the WWE has time and time again buried her by making her out to be more of a joke than anything. Bayley could use some time in the indies again to change gimmicks and get away from the hugger character, as she is typecast into a face gimmick and needs a heel run somewhere else where they aren’t worried about merchandise numbers or pleasing little kids in the audience. For the sake of Bayley, the further away from ‘hug life’ the better.

19 To WWE: Marty Scurll

Marty Scurll is one of the top wrestlers outside the WWE today, and held the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship for a short time, taking it off and losing it back to Will Ospreay. While he hasn’t got many opportunities to be a main event player with the World Championship in any indie promotion, in WWE his Villain character could fill a much-needed hole, and could also make him one NXTs main event stars, crossing over into the main roster better than anyone else in the past. Add in the history he has with Adam Cole, who he kicked out of Bullet Club when Cole left to go to NXT, and the two could have a great rivalry in WWE, especially if Scurll is brought in with a team like Cole was with the Undisputed Era.

18 To Indies: Good Brothers

Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows are just a couple of Good Brothers who could really use a better direction in the WWE. Anderson was once the leader of the Bullet Club and in 2012 he reached the finals of the G1 Climax where lost to Okada. Gallows, who has had a stint with the WWE prior, joined Anderson in Japan to form a team and when they came over to the WWE, they joined AJ Styles to form ‘The Club’ and eventually went on to win the RAW Tag Team Titles. But after losing them, the Good Brothers have mostly spent their time calling people nerds and teasing a Bullet Club return with Finn Balor (under Balor Club). They could use a return to the indies to get away from terrible WWE booking.

17 To WWE: Kenny Omega

Kenny Omega has main-evented the last two Wrestle Kingdoms in New Japan Pro Wrestling, one for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, the other against former WWE Superstar Chris Jericho, so there is no doubt that Kenny Omega could cross over very easily and become a main event star in the WWE. He has the look and is unquestionably one of the best wrestlers in the world today, putting on six-star matches three times in 2017, something that is unheard of in wrestler. Omega is also very dedicated to his craft and carries so much about telling a good story, that he would fit into WWE’s storyline driven company pretty easily and could become the top heel on RAW or Smackdown and be a main event player on the biggest stage of them all.

16 To Indies: Chad Gable

Chad Gable could be a younger Kurt Angle, as he has incredible talent and is a true wrestler with plenty of power. As part of American Alpha, they were the hottest team coming out of NXT, until they split up and Jason Jordan went to RAW. Chad Gable, meanwhile, tried to get a singles career going and had some strong matches with AJ Styles, but then was teamed back up with a returning Shelton Benjamin and while they have got some chances at the Smackdown Tag Team Championships, American Alpha 2.0 just isn’t the same as the original, and if Gable wants to be more than a tag team partner who gets tossed between partners, he needs a run in the indies to develop his performance.

15 To WWE: Matt Sydal

Matt Sydal already had a run with the WWE back in 2007 to 2014 where he was known as Evan Bourne, and was most known for his high-flying moves and shooting star press. But after a while, he became just another small jobber that could take a great bump and ended up on the shelf more often than not. Sydal went back to the indies and since then has wrestled for some of the best promotions in the world, including Ring of Honor, New Japan, EVOLVE and Impact Wrestling, where he was the Grand Champion until he lost it to Austin Aries. He may be small still, but Sydal is established and experienced and could help lead the 205 Live division to the main event status, as opposed to being a spot monkey on the main roster.

14 To Indies: Bo Dallas

Is anyone Bo-lieving in Bo Dallas anymore? At one point, Bo Dallas was an NXT Champion, and as of today, has the second longest reign at 280 days, behind only Finn Balor. But since coming up to the main roster, Dallas has floundered, as his Bo-Leave gimmick didn’t translate over to the big crowd, many of which didn’t know what the gimmick was all about because they didn’t watch NXT. Now Dallas finds himself as part of The Miztourage, where he does get plenty of spotlight because of The Miz, but he is nothing more than a lackey who takes the beating for the heel. He could use some time to step away and fresh his gimmick, so a trip on the indies could restart his career.

13 To WWE: Austin Aries

Austin Aries was given plenty of chances in the WWE to hold down the cruiserweight division, but bad booking saw him leave the company and head back to the indies. Consider now that Aries is the Impact World Champion, Grand Champion, and a quintuple champion overall with five titles between four companies based in three different continents, it’s easy to say that WWE missed the mark. Aries is a proven talent capable of being a world champion if given the chance. He may be smaller than Vince McMahon would like, but he has all the tools needed to be on top of the organization, and with him leaving on good terms with the WWE, there is always a chance he’ll make a return.

12 To Indies: Mojo Rawley

Mojo Rawley is a big former football player who made the transition to WWE. As part of The Hype Bros with Zack Ryder, they created a unique tag team, but the WWE never pushed them far at all or gave them shots. Mojo’s biggest claim to fame is his Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal victory at WrestleMania last year, but that was more because the WWE probably wanted to use his friendship with Rob Gronkowski, and less about pushing the young Superstar. Rawley hasn’t been used much on TV this year, other than breaking up The Hype Bros after a losing streak, and could use some indie time to learn the business, as WWE is all he knows as he went straight from football to the performance centre.

11 To WWE: The Young Bucks

With the tag team division in the WWE going through its own revolution, where it’s being taken as seriously as the singles competition, and even being given main event spots on televised events, the WWE would be wise to look at The Young Bucks as a new team to add to the division that comes with a lot of worldwide experience and the ability to put on a pure classic match with many already established teams in the division. A match against The Usos or The Bar would be Pay Per View main event worthy, as The Young Bucks have shown they can hold their own on the largest stage, and can carry a tag team division on their own.

10 To Indies: Cesaro

It is beyond confusing how Cesaro has only held one singles title in his six years with the WWE, the United States Championship which he held for 239 days. He won the first Andre the Giant Battle Royal at WrestleMania 30, and was thought to be given a push when he was named one of Pual Heyman’s guys, but that was only done to give Heyman more time to talk about Brock Lesnar. Since then, Cesaro has spent most of his time in the tag team division, where he is a five-time champion, winning once with Tyson Kidd and four times with Sheamus as The Bar. He’s in a great spot in the tag team, but as a singles star, WWE has never had faith in him, so he may need to head back to the indies to show he can be the main event player.

9 To WWE: Zack Sabre Jr.

Zack Sabre Jr nearly won the WWE Cruiserweight Classic, losing in the semi-finals to Gran Metalik, reportedly because he didn’t want to sign with the WWE. If he had, he probably would have won the tournament and would be a main eventer on 205 Live today, but instead, he went back to the indies, which wasn’t a bad choice, as he won the 2018 New Japan Cup and challenged IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada for a title shot at Sakura Genesis. While he may have lost to Okada, the fact he was in the ring with the best in the world proves he is a main event player and WWE would be foolish to let him slip through their fingers any longer.

8 To Indies: Jason Jordan

Jason Jordan is a wrestler who could use some indie time to learn the business outside the WWE. He went straight into the WWE system and has no experience anywhere else. He didn’t click as a singles star in NXT, so he was teamed with Chad Gable to form American Alpha, and that was extremely successful. But after the team had a run on Smackdown, Jordan was brought to RAW as Kurt Angle’s son, a gimmick that will take him nowhere fast and more than likely find him released from WWE. He has plenty of potential, but a dead-end gimmick and a lack of experience is going to hurt his long-term future and a stint in the indies could be what he needs to make people forgot a horrible angle that had no chance of success.

7 To WWE: Cody Rhodes

This is one the WWE let slip through their fingers, but it might have been for the best for all parties, as Cody Rhodes, who goes by just Cody now, has turned into one of the biggest talents in Ring of Honor, having won their World Championship, and most recently he has taken over as the leader Bullet Club, arguably the most popular faction in wrestling today. When you consider who the other leaders were, Finn Balor, AJ Styles and Karl Anderson, and where they are today, it would be no surprise if Cody came back to WWE and was inserted into the top of the card, as he went away from the Stardust gimmick and showed he can be a main event player, capable of holding down the top spot in an organization.

6 To Indies: Apollo

Apollo has a unique skill set, as he is a powerful wrestler who is capable of performing some high flying moves, such as his standing moonsault and shooting star press. At one point he was the No. 1 contender for the NXT Championship but couldn’t knock of Finn Balor. He would get his call-up to the roster and the WWE tried to put Apollo in squash feuds where he would come out on top, the WWE Universe was having none of it. He eventually joined Titus Worldwide, a stable that has seen Apollo take back seat to Titus O’Neil, leaving Apollo without much direction. Apollo was on the indies prior to WWE and could use a refresh on the indie scene to learn some more tools that would be useful to the WWE.

5 To WWE: Will Ospreay

For many reasons, Will Ospreay would be the perfect WWE Superstar, as the current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion is one of the finest wrestlers in the world, has plenty of experience for being only 24-years-old, and could easily put on a five-star match with so many of WWEs top stars. In fact, if you want to make the 205 Live division relevant and main event caliber, Will Ospreay is the man to do it and could make the main event positions the division used to get on RAW actually mean something. He is a can’t miss high flyer whose move set is unquestionably one of the best in the business, and with Ricochet on the WWE roster already, the rivalry could be renewed on a main event level.

4 To Indies: Neville

As the King of the Cruiserweights, Neville was the main eventer of the 205 Live division. It was the perfect spot for him, but unfortunately, no one cared about 205 Live because wrestlers were stuck telling stories instead of wrestling amazing, fast matches. This led to Neville dropping the title to Enzo Amore of all people, which led to Neville walking out on the WWE. It isn’t known if Neville is completely finished with WWE, but he could use some time on the indies to reclaim his place as an outstanding lightweight wrestler and get back to the top again, as WWE isn’t going to put the championship on him after he took his ball and went him due to creative differences.

3 To WWE: Allie/Cherry Bomb

Allie or Cherry Bomb, depending what promotion you are watching, is one of the top female wrestlers still not signed to the WWE. And with the women’s division the hottest it has ever been, they are going to need new talent just like the men do to keep the division fresh. Insert Allie, who is the current Knockouts Champion over at Impact Wrestling, proving she can hold down a division on her own. At 30-years-old, she would come in and be one of the most experienced wrestlers on the roster and could take a top spot against either RAW or Smackdown’s champion right away. There is no denying she is talented, and the women are main eventing pay per views now, and Allie could be the one to make it a regular thing.

2 To Indies: Finn Balor

Finn Balor is no doubt one of the best wrestlers in the WWE, but he was so much better on the indie scene and in Japan and in NXT. His start on the main roster was red hot, as he was one of the top five draft picks in the Brand split, being picked by RAW right out of NXT. A short while later, he was the first Universal Champion, but he had to give it up the very next night due to a shoulder injury and since then, he has floundered. WWE just doesn’t know what to do with him, other than have him smile a lot of television. His Demon persona is even starting to get old and the booking of him has been terrible. It’s not Balor’s fault, as he has done his best with what he has, but he would be so much better off main eventing elsewhere.

1 To WWE: Kazuchika Okada

Overall, there may not be a better wrestler in the world than Kazuchika Okada. The Rainmaker is the current IWGP Heavyweight Champion, the fourth time he has held the title and has held it for over 650 days and counting, the longest of any champion in history. He is a master of telling a story in the ring, but where he lacks in his ability to speak English, which doesn’t lend well to promos in the WWE. But considering how much faith the WWE has put behind Japanese stars as of late, with Asuka and Shinsuke Nakamura headlining WrestleMania and both winning this past year’s women’s and men’s Royal Rumble matches, the WWE could easily find a way to hide his inability to speak and let him tell his story in the ring.