Evaluating True Current Value of Top WWE Superstars
When it comes to investing in stars of tomorrow, pro wrestling is a lot like car shopping. WWE has the tall task of committing to a few vehicles, the values of which are based on wear and tear, injury, prestige, star power and potential overuse.
As WWE soldiers on into its New Era, its current crop of talent is an eclectic mixture of veterans and rookies. WWE has struggled with injury over the past few years, with many WWE Superstars piling up mileage, causing them to inevitably break down.
As the current roster works to move from transitional to transcendent, there's no better time to evaluate some of the top WWE Superstars today in the spirit of Kelley Blue Book.
This is a forward-thinking evaluation with WWE's future in mind. Age and experience will often count against otherwise talented performers. Each slide will analyze the top 15 WWE Superstars and ultimately assign a dollar value based on the following criteria:
Year: When Superstars made their professional wrestling debut.
Rank: A median number, on a scale of one to 10, based on rankings from several Bleacher Report experts. The ranking takes into account factors such as star power, eyeball test, charisma, promo ability and wrestling ability.
Injuries: Significant injuries, defined as any injury serious enough to keep a WWE Superstar out of action for at least one month.
Condition: New: less than five years on the independent circuit and less than two years on the WWE main roster; Gently Used: less than five years on the independent wrestling circuit and less than five years on the WWE main roster; Used: more than five years on the independent wrestling circuit.
Values are assigned on the following scale:
$50,000 and above: Luxury item. A WWE Superstar with headliner potential for several years to come.
$30,000 to $49,999: Items ranging from standard to high-end. Items valued lower in this class come with concerns with wear and tear and injury history, which limit long-term potential. High-end items demonstrate stability, flashes of main event potential and/or seem to be on the verge of the main event.
$29,999 and below: Substandard. Significantly limited long-term potential due to lack of exposure, extremely high wrestler mileage (i.e. wear and tear) or injury.
Becky Lynch: $24,624
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While currently the women's champion on the overachieving SmackDown brand, Becky Lynch seems doomed to play fourth fiddle to Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Bayley—and things may get worse once Asuka makes her debut.
Playing fourth fiddle in what is still a secondary division limits Lynch's value. Also hurting her value is nearly 15 years in pro wrestling and a history with head injuries, which is a major concern in WWE these days.
Lynch will be at or near the main event in the women's division as long as she stays healthy, but it's fair to question her long-term potential. While she is very likable and has quickly connected with WWE's audience, Lynch received an overall score of seven with the experts, which is a disappointing score for a veteran of a decade-and-a-half.
Lynch's potential will grow as WWE's women's division does, but the growth of the women's division will not rely on The Lass Kicker.
Sasha Banks: $26,552
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Sasha Banks seemed like a lock to be a runaway star in WWE. And while her main-roster run can hardly be considered a failure, she has not been without her share of issues.
Following her debut on the main roster, Banks wrestled infrequently and even disappeared from WWE TV for weeks on end. This prompted the "We want Sasha" movement, as fans were eager to see The Boss compete.
Banks has also had to battle rumors of being injury-prone, rumors which she has personally addressed in multiple interviews.
Banks suffered a concussion earlier this year, and just last month at SummerSlam, she suffered a back injury, per F4WOnline.
Her small frame mixed with an aggressive style already lends itself to inherent injury concerns. With a score of eight out of 10, Banks received the highest expert score among all women on this list. But with her injury history quickly piling up through such a brief run, an otherwise youthful Banks may not be the wisest investment.
AJ Styles: $29,712
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AJ Styles is the current WWE world champion. He was a high draft pick on SmackDown Live. He beat John Cena twice this year. He debuted for the first time in WWE, with no buildup, to a parade of cheers that made it seem like a homecoming.
Nobody is hotter right now. But this list is about so much more than right now.
At 39, Styles is the second-oldest WWE Superstar in these evaluations. He has been wrestling for 17 years at a fast, high-flying pace that is not conducive to surviving WWE's unforgiving schedule unscathed.
Despite his millennial hairstyle and WWE announcers' best efforts to call him a "rookie," AJ Styles is in just as much of a victory lap as John Cena, but without the years of WWE credentials.
Based on pure talent, Styles would be a good bet for short-term gains but nothing else. The man is on borrowed time and cannot be trusted to be a major factor in WWE for the next 10 years.
John Cena: $30,000
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John Cena is the gold standard in WWE, and his stature will never be questioned. Any other WWE Superstar with almost two decades under his belt and such an extensive injury history would be valued somewhere in the low-$10,000 range.
But this is John Cena. Cena's status as a living legend who can still fill arenas and reach casual fans bolsters his value. Now on the back end of his WWE career, with Hollywood aggressively knocking on his door, the 39-year-old 15-time world champion is virtually a part-timer on the SmackDown brand.
Cena's potential as a long-term draw is limited to one-offs during higher-profile pay-per-views, similar to The Rock or Brock Lesnar. And while no promoter should build a promotion around Cena in 2016, he still carries inherent value on the strength of a prolific career, which was rewarded with a 9.5 out of 10 from the Bleacher Report experts.
Dean Ambrose: $30,016
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Dean Ambrose should be right up there with Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins as a luxury item loaded with years of main event potential. But Ambrose was somewhat exposed during his recent WWE World Championship run, which was as forgettable as it was brief.
Ambrose's Lunatic Fringe gimmick hinders his ability to transcend his talents past hardcore fans, and his lengthy wrestling career is also a point of concern when it comes to becoming a headliner of the future.
The edgier SmackDown Live seemed like it would be the perfect landing spot for Ambrose, but the fact that he largely fizzled out during his first world championship reign is troubling.
After losing the WWE World Championship at Backlash, James Caldwell of PWTorch noted that "as the match unfolded, the crowd was more into Styles winning than Ambrose as defending babyface champion."
Perhaps he's better long-term as a heel, but WWE has some work to do with Ambrose to justify his current position on the card.
Sami Zayn: $31,216
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Sami Zayn is a veteran performer who is being booked like an up-and-comer. Zayn was pretty much a legend on the independent wrestling circuit before ever setting foot in WWE. When he did join the main roster, he suffered a freak shoulder injury that kept him out of action for several months.
Since the brand split, Zayn has been a middling performer who, despite defeating Kevin Owens in a great match at WWE Battleground, has largely been lost in the shuffle on a smaller roster.
At 32 years old with almost a decade-and-a-half of mileage, Zayn has very little time to waste. Even the experts, which is an area where the critically acclaimed star typically shines, seem down on him, rating him only a seven out of 10.
Even if he lives up to his potential as a top babyface star—he is a rarity as a pure, naturally likable good guy, which places him slightly above Ambrose—Zayn's high wrestler mileage, mixed with an injury history, puts his ceiling in the $35,000 range.
Charlotte: $33,679
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Charlotte is one of the leaders of WWE's women's division, which has gone from a manufactured revolution to a full-fledged renaissance. No longer a novelty, women's wrestling has never been more relevant.
Whether she has been the women's champion—a title which she has already won twice and currently holds—or not, Charlotte has been a focal point of this division since debuting on the main roster in 2015. The growth of this division will rely, in part, on her continued development, and with just over one year on the main roster, she has already established herself as an elite performer.
Although the potential for women in WWE has certainly increased of late, Charlotte's current valuation is hampered by the limitations that are still apparent within the division as a whole. Male performers still get significantly more TV time, and to this day, a women's match has never headlined WrestleMania.
As times continue to change, so will Charlotte's valuation.
Rusev: $35,444
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Rusev has long-term potential as a top heel, but in WWE, that doesn't carry nearly as much value as a potential top babyface.
WWE has always been about the hero: Bruno Sammartino, Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, The Rock, John Cena and now Roman Reigns. Top heels certainly have a place in WWE, but it's mainly to help the poster boy get over.
Rusev benefits from being part of the NXT generation—which helps him politically as Triple H's influence continues—although he was not a prominent star in NXT when the brand began to take off.
Despite being on the main roster for less than two years, Rusev has already suffered a significant injury. With a large frame to go along with a hyper-athletic move set, staying healthy long-term could be a concern.
Finn Balor: $41,882
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Finn Balor was WWE's first choice to lead the brand extension era on Raw. Unfortunately, he went down with a shoulder injury before he was even coronated. Balor was in position to become a top star before getting hurt in his SummerSlam Universal Championship match against Seth Rollins.
Balor and Kevin Owens seem to be templates for WWE's graduation tract. Both enjoyed reigns as NXT champion before being promoted to the main roster and capturing world titles as well.
Being on the right side of WWE's new generation helps Balor. His status as a 35-year-old pretend rookie with over 16 years in the business hurts the Irishman.
Not only is Balor's wear and tear becoming apparent as he recovers from a serious injury, but he also dealt with the injury bug in NXT when he went down briefly with a bum ankle, per WWE.com.
Balor's Demon King gimmick can elevate him to a larger-than-life WWE Superstar who captivates arenas the way The Undertaker did with his supernatural gimmick. But stability, and enduring the WWE schedule for a lengthy period of time, is an obvious concern.
Kevin Owens: $42,118
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As the current WWE universal champion on Raw, Kevin Owens' career is surging. One can't help but feel that this title is more of a lifetime achievement award than the beginning of a new era.
Shortly after debuting in NXT, Owens raised some red flags when he required knee surgery, per WWE.com, but the Raw star has remained injury-free since then.
Owens became a star on the indies by wrestling a hardcore style reminiscent of the ECW days. That pace is bound to take its toll, even though he has toned it down in WWE.
If Owens would have debuted in WWE five years earlier, he could easily be considered a luxury item. But he'll need a bit more time without any serious ailments to prove he can carry the load of being World Championship material for years to come.
Big Cass: $49,982
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One of the worst-kept secrets in WWE is that Big Cass is a front-office darling. He is one of the latest WWE Superstars to be the subject of one of those "officials are high on..." headlines on PWInsider (h/t Wrestling Inc).
Big Cass is currently one-half of arguably the most popular tag team in the WWE alongside Enzo Amore. He has had spot starts in main events over the past few months. WWE is slowly easing the 7-footer into the fabric of WWE programming as a top babyface, and he has all the tools to take the ball and score.
Unlike many stars of the New Era, Cass does not have significant wear and tear from years of wrestling at a highly physical pace. Cass made his main-roster debut this year after a memorable stint in NXT, and as long as he continues to fill the holes in his game (the experts only gave him a 6.5 out of 10), he'll be a shoo-in as one of WWE's luxury items of the future.
The Miz: $49,986
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The Miz is an anomaly. He has wrestled for over 10 years with no major injury to date. He started out as a joke, then headlined WrestleMania, then became a joke again, and now he's a main eventer again.
As intercontinental champion, The Miz has become one of the only WWE Superstars of the modern era to instill value in the once-prestigious title.
And while Miz is entrenched as a straight-to-DVD standout in WWE movies, his appearances on various TV shows and in movies could catch him a big break in Hollywood one day.
Miz has a high floor in WWE. Even when he seems to violently tumble out of the main event, he is constantly winning championships (prior to the brand split, he captured every active WWE title), and he once again finds himself on an upward trajectory.
Bayley: $59,000
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Remember all that talk about limitations of the Women's division in the Charlotte slide? Bayley is so good, she transcends them.
I was very bullish on Bayley's valuation because she has the type of appeal that can grow WWE's audience on its own merits. Her appeal as a somewhat awkward (by design) girl next door makes her popular with WWE's male audience.
Her impish antics, from her happy-go-lucky disposition to wearing a backpack onscreen, make her just as appealing to young girls.
Roman Reigns is often criticized for being booked as the next John Cena. But, in terms of transcending the product to an untapped, mainstream audience, the next John Cena is Bayley.
Bayley has youth on her side, and there's little reason to believe she won't be able to handle a full workload over the long haul. Her popularity in NXT was so strong, it bled into the main roster, where "We want Bayley" chants rained down prior to her debut. Jason Powell of ProWrestling.net already called her "arguably the greatest female character in company history."
Even at $59,000, Bayley might be undervalued.
Seth Rollins: $61,281
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WWE has made no bones about hitching its wagon to Seth Rollins as its franchise. An ACL injury in 2015 was the only thing that could stop an otherwise lengthy run as WWE world champion. In his first match back after returning, he won the title back before quickly flipping it to Ambrose.
Rollins has been back for four months and by the end of this month he will have competed in three world title matches. He was also selected No. 1 overall at the WWE draft. Did I mention WWE is hitching its wagon to Seth Rollins?
Rollins falls into the indy veteran mold with over a decade in the wrestling business. He is also beginning to develop a reputation, fair or not, for being reckless. This was the criticism WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart used to describe him in a recent interview in Forbes:
"You watch Seth Rollins who they've pushed as this huge mega, mega push. I watched him a few months ago, and you can watch it back on YouTube but he knees John Cena in the face. Just knees him in the face so hard, so recklessly, so dangerously, you can easily kill somebody with a knee like that in the face.
"
Cena's broken nose was just the beginning of his worries, as subsequent Buckle Bombs to both Sting and Finn Balor resulted in serious injuries (and in Sting's case, retirement).
Rollins is a once-in-a-generation talent. In any parallel universe, he'd wind up atop the biggest wrestling promotion in the world, because he's that good. He has the talent to overcome his currently unfavorable reputation and, with enough time, will threaten the likes of Bret Hart as one of the great technical wrestlers in WWE history.
Roman Reigns: $67,116
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The dirty little secret about Roman Reigns is that those who cover wrestling tend to be high on his work. The B/R experts gave him an eight out of 10, which was among the highest. He topped the PWI 500.
WWE Superstars, his direct competition, are constantly praising him. The often outspoken Chris Jericho called Reigns "a great guy and a great worker" in an interview with Josh Barnett of USA Today.
Former WWE Superstar Santino Marella told Under the Mat Radio that "Reigns is awesome (people are silly) he looks the part, he’s a great human being, he’s a locker room leader."
John Cena told Inquirer.net that the former three-time WWE world champion "has all the attributes to be a successful WWE superstar for some time to come."
Reigns is not without his critics, Steve Austin has not been shy of pointing out his flaws, but that's part of his intrigue. Reigns represents the next evolution of a babyface who WWE allows fans to choose how to react to him. The mixed, at times hostile reactions are real and add a different energy to Reigns' matches.
Reigns is a homegrown talent whose body has not been placed through the ringer of the independent wrestling circuit. Outside of his incarcerated hernia in 2014, he has remained healthy.
WWE has made a heavy investment in Reigns, who has headlined the last two WrestleManias. It will hardly be a surprise if he headlines several more. WWE, like many in the wrestling industry, recognizes a wealth of potential in the Samoan lightning rod. Fortunately for him, WWE's vote matters more than any other.
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