Views From The Turnbuckle: Indie Talent Search 2016, Which Talents Should Be Signed Next

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Over the last three years I have published a yearly installment that highlights some of the best indie talent from around the world. The goal is to showcase top names that would make welcome additions to WWE, and previous names that have appeared on the list include Uhaa Nation (Apollo Crews), Biff Busick (Oney Lorcan) and Johnny Gargano, all of whom have been signed by WWE. With the company aggressively signing indie talent and always looking to add more names to NXT, all the top names on the independent scene have a real chance at being signed. I think before we get into the list we should talk about what an indie specifically is. To some, any company that is not WWE is considered an indie. For the sake of this article, I am putting a rule down that a company that pays their employees a full-time contract and not a per-appearance deal cannot have any of their talent listed on this list. If WWE really wants to sign one of those talents even they will have to likely wait for their contracts to expire with their current employer. That disqualifies talent from TNA, ROH, AAA, CMLL, NJPW and NOAH, almost everyone else is fair game.

Matt Riddle

Riddle has only been wrestling for 18 months but has already made a name for himself on the independent seen wrestling for EVOLVE. Riddle is a former MMA fighter and is best known for delivering one of the most devastating knockouts in MMA history on an episode of The Ultimate Fighter to Dan Simmler. After failing to win on The Ultimate Fighter, he had several fights for UFC but ultimately was released from the company and decided to pursue a career in professional wrestling, training at the venerated Monster Factory in New Jersey. Riddle has shown a terrific proficiency in wrestling and despite his lack of experience has already become one of the more popular wrestlers in EVOLVE. He wrestles in fight shorts and bare feet just like an MMA fighter, and he relies mainly on strikes and submissions during his matches, making his work unique for EVOLVE, which relies a lot on high-flying wrestlers. He has also shown some solid charisma, gotten a catch phrase (mainly just saying “Bro” after every sentence) over with the audience and has seemed to grasp the entertainment aspect of wrestling as well as he has grasped the wrestling side of it. In an interview in October, Riddle mentioned that it was actually WWE who was instrumental in getting him signed to EVOLVE. WWE has shown an appreciation for EVOLVE’s product and has been rumored to be using them as a de-facto development brand used to test talent before signing them to NXT. One would think that WWE has been impressed with Riddle’s development in EVOLVE and it seems …

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