Rhea Ripley and 15 Stars Under 30 Who Will Shape WWE for the Next Decade

The WWE roster is an ever-changing cast of characters. New stars are constantly cycled in to replace people who have retired due to age, release or injury.

Over the many decades the company has been in business, hundreds of names have come and gone, some with more fanfare than others. We have seen big stars like John Cena dominate for more than a decade, and we've seen people barely make a blip on the radar before fading away.

As each generation passes the torch, a new group of young, hungry individuals stands poised to take over and carry the promotion until it's their time to move on.

For about the last decade, WWE has used NXT and its Performance Center in Florida as its training ground for new talents. Even those who have had long careers in the indies before signing with WWE tend to spend a little time in NXT so management can judge their potential. A few have bypassed this process like AJ Styles, but not many.

The current crop of young wrestlers across the industry is what will keep the business thriving for years to come, and WWE has a few of those under its own roof.

Let's take a look at some of the most promising young Superstars under 30 who will help shape the next generation of WWE programming.

Honorable Mentions

Before we get to the main 15 names on this list, here are some figures who deserve an honorable mention.

Dominik Mysterio: Whether you love him or love to hate him, there is no denying the heat Dom can generate from the crowd. If the 26-year-old can maintain that after he no longer has Rhea Ripley to rely on, he will be alright.

Nathan Frazer: At only 24 years old, Frazer has already earned a spot on the NXT roster with his incredible wrestling ability. If he proves he can carry a promo and work with any kind of opponent, he will be around for a long time.

Noam Dar: The former NXT Heritage Cup champion is a technical wizard and a pretty entertaining character when he has the right material. The 29-year-old's new stable should be good for everyone involved.

Sol Ruca: Don't let the surfer gimmick fool you, Ruca is a serious athlete. An unfortunate injury has sidelined her for some time, but when she returns, the 23-year-old will pick up right where she left off by impressing the crowd with her unique abilities.

Cora Jade: The former NXT women's tag team champion is still finding her way with her new bad-girl attitude, but once she puts all of the pieces together, the 22-year-old is going to be one of NXT's top stars.

Tiffany Stratton: The current NXT women's champion has taken a character that seemed annoying at first and turned it into one of the best in the developmental system. She is only 24 years old and has only scratched the surface of her potential.

Austin Theory: The 25-year-old United States champion was originally left off this list, but after some consideration, it felt wrong to exclude him. He has proved he has the physical ability to carry a good match, but his character has been divisive at best. If he can find a good balance with the gimmick side of things, he will be around for a long time.

Ilja Dragunov

A lot of wrestlers come and go, especially in WWE, but sometimes one comes along who just has a special indefinable quality that separates them from the pack. Ilja Dragunov is one of those talents.

The 29-year-old has put on some of the best matches in all of WWE in recent years, and he did it all before he has ever stepped foot inside a ring on the main roster.

His feud with Gunther (f.k.a. WALTER) across NXT and NXT UK produced some unforgettable encounters, and he has continued to show his versatility since he returned from an injury in September. His recent feud with Dijak has been a highlight on NXT programming.

Dragunov might not be the biggest dog in the fight, but his bark is just as loud as anyone else's. When he is eventually called up to Raw or SmackDown, he is going to gain a lot of new fans very quickly.

Isla Dawn

Isla Dawn has a unique character that can be altered depending on how management wants to use her at any given time. That is a very valuable trait to have in WWE.

Occasionally, the 29-year-old Scot will lean into the spookier side of her gimmick, and sometimes she will scale it back and have a more traditional feud.

Having a wide variety of different types of characters is something WWE has always tried to do so it can cast the widest net possible when appealing to fans.

If you are somebody who enjoys characters such as The Undertaker or Bray Wyatt, then Dawn is going to be right up your alley.

Wes Lee

Wes Lee may have started off in WWE as a tag team wrestler, but circumstances outside of his control forced him to focus on a solo career. Thankfully, he has excelled when given the chance every single time.

The NXT North American champion is one of the most gifted high-flyers on the gold brand. The precision and accuracy he has when performing some of these high-risk maneuvers are on par with some of the best to ever climb the ropes.

Lee is only 28 years old and already has 12 years of experience, so he has developed great instincts as a performer while still having a lengthy career ahead of him.

If you are a fan who doesn't watch NXT, you should go out of your way to check out his work. He might just become one of your new favorite wrestlers.

Zoey Stark

When it comes to the world of professional wrestling, a powerhouse is always a good asset on any roster. When that powerhouse proves they also have good technical ability, they instantly become more valuable.

Zoey Stark has proved that not only is she capable of overpowering almost any other woman in the company, but she can also have a great match against opponents of any size.

Pairing the 29-year-old with Trish Stratus has put more eyes on her and given her a leg up after she was called up during the WWE draft in April.

The best part about their relationship is that Stark is not just playing the backup. She is her own character with her own goals and aspirations, as evidenced by what we saw during the women's Money in the Bank summit on Monday's Raw.

When Stratus indicated she was going to win, she immediately made sure to mention Stark was a possible winner so as not to upset her.

Butch

It's easy to forget that Butch is only 29 years old because he has been with WWE for several years and had a career on the UK indie scene before that.

The former NXT UK champion had a bit of a rough start on the main roster. His name change was met with almost universal disdain by fans, and his character was turned into a silent ball of rage.

Over the past year, WWE has allowed Butch to show off more of his personality and revert some of his character traits back to what we saw when he was Pete Dunne. Now, he is a beloved member of the popular Brawling Brutes faction with Sheamus and Ridge Holland and is about to compete in the men's MITB match, so it all seems to have worked out for him.

His wrestling ability is apparent to anyone, but it's the unique ways he tries to hurt his opponents that make him stand out from the other brawlers and technicians on the roster. If you ever find yourself standing across the ring from him, watch your fingers.

Liv Morgan

Liv Morgan is only 29 years old and has already won the women's Money in the Bank match, the women's tag titles and the SmackDown Women's Championship. Needless to say, she's had a good run so far.

When she was first called up as part of The Riott Squad, she wasn't given a lot of chances to shine on her own. After her teammates were released, she was forced to figure out who she was as a solo act.

However, not only has Morgan developed a great connection to the WWE Universe, but she has also set herself apart by embracing a high-risk style of offense in her matches.

She recently reunited with Raquel Rodriguez and appears to have her sights set on the tag titles again, so she has already picked a big target by going after Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler.

Bron Breakker

WWE management clearly saw the potential in Bron Breakker right away, because he has been booked as a nearly unstoppable monster ever since his NXT in-ring debut in September 2021.

His recent heel turn has allowed him to embrace a more aggressive side of his character. He even managed to get a World Heavyweight Championship match against Seth Rollins at the NXT Gold Rush special, so his new attitude is already paying off.

The son of Rick Steiner is only 25 and already seems destined to be a top star in the company. As long as he stays healthy and keeps growing at the rate he has been, he will have a long and prestigious career.

Rhea Ripley

Rhea Ripley is one of the most popular women in WWE right now, and considering she is a heel paired up with a guy who gets nuclear heat whenever he picks up a mic, that is saying something.

The 26-year-old already has a laundry list of accomplishments to her name:

• NXT UK women's champion
• NXT women's champion
• Women's Royal Rumble winner
• WWE women's tag team champion
• Raw women's champion
• SmackDown women's champion, which is now the Women's World Championship

Without her, The Judgment Day doesn't work. Without her, Dominik wouldn't work. Ripley is one of the brightest young stars in the entire company and has already earned her spot at the top of the food chain.

Tyler Bate

Comparing one wrestler to another can be tricky because each is their own unique self, but if someone asked us to pick the next Daniel Bryan in WWE, it would be Tyler Bate.

He is just 26 years old and has already spent nine of those years working as a wrestler. His technical ability is off the charts, but it's his impressive power that tends to surprise people.

The Englishman put on some incredible matches in NXT UK, and if he is allowed to do the same thing in NXT and on the main roster, he will quickly become one of those underdog wrestlers the WWE Universe can't help but love.

Go back and watch his match to crown the first NXT UK champion and you will see how good he was at 19 years old. He has only gotten better since then.

Roxanne Perez

WWE has nicknamed Roxanne Perez "The Prodigy" and it's easy to see why. She is only 21 and has already put together an impressive list of accomplishments.

She was the ROH women's champion before she even stepped into a WWE ring, and since signing with the company, she has already won the NXT Women's Breakout Tournament, the NXT women's tag titles with Cora Jade, and the NXT Women's Championship.

Perez combines a lot of different skills to create an all-encompassing style. She can ground someone on the mat just as easily as she can fly off the top rope.

With any luck, WWE won't make her spend too long in NXT. She already has a great foundation to be a star on the main roster, especially for someone her age.

Perez will immediately form a special connection with younger fans, which is always important when introducing a new generation of stars to the audience.

Trick Williams

Trick Williams was introduced to the NXT audience as Carmelo Hayes' hype man and bodyguard, but ever since being given more chances to shine on his own, he has proved he is destined to be more than somebody else's backup.

He's 29 years old, is well over six feet tall with the kind of physique usually reserved for superheroes, and he has great mic skills and comedic timing.

When you add all of that to his athleticism, you have the recipe for a breakout star. He has just about every attribute you could want in a WWE Superstar, but it's up to management to give him the opportunity to succeed.

When he and Melo eventually go their separate ways and Trick is allowed to worry solely about himself, he is going to prove to everyone how valuable he is.

Gigi Dolin

For the past couple of years, Gigi Dolin has been a fixture in NXT. She first rose to prominence as a member of Toxic Attraction, but she has recently embraced her babyface side as a solo performer.

The 26-year-old not only stands out because of her bright orange hair but also because she is clearly so passionate about the business. You can see it in every performance.

Fans tend to gravitate to wrestlers who show the most love for the industry. Some people seek out wrestling as a second option after a different athletic endeavor fell through, but those who choose pro wrestling first and dedicate their life to it earn a different kind of respect from fans.

Dolin is talented and has her own style that makes her memorable. She's going to do well for herself on the main roster once she gets called up.

Dragon Lee

Dragon Lee is new to WWE after having just signed with the company in December, but he's already had a 10-year career and comes from a family of pro wrestlers, so he is by no means a new talent.

The 29-year-old is the brother of All Elite Wrestling stars Rush and Dralístico, and all three are the sons of wrestler Arturo Muñoz, who is better known as La Bestia del Ring.

Lee's high-flying skills have already earned him some big matches in NXT, and he has put on a great performance on every occasion.

Masked luchadors are not as common in WWE as they once were, so that gives Lee a chance to stand out from the pack.

Thea Hail

Chase University is one of those gimmicks you either love or hate. It's such a weird part of NXT, but it has managed to give a few names a chance to shine.

Duke Hudson and Andre Chase have been the most prominent members, but Thea Hail has quickly become one of the most beloved students in the group.

Her character is energetic and funny, but she has also been able to make us genuinely care about her by being so naturally likable. Whenever she succeeds at something, it's hard not to smile and be happy for her.

At just 19 years old, she is one of the youngest members of the WWE roster. The fact that she has gotten so much screen time at such a young age shows that management clearly sees her as a good investment.

Carmelo Hayes

Carmelo Hayes might be the NXT champion, but he has already started popping up on the main roster in recent weeks, so it's just a matter of time before he is a regular fixture on Raw or SmackDown. This isn't a ranked list, but he would have been No. 1 if it was.

The 28-year-old is just as good on the mic as he is in the ring, which makes him a prime candidate to receive a major push as soon as he gets called up.

He is one of the most boastful stars in NXT, but he backs up every word by actually being one of the best all-around talents in the game, so you can never accuse him of having misplaced confidence.

As stated earlier, some wrestlers just have this quality about them that makes it obvious they're going to be a top star someday. Melo is one of those guys. He is HIM.

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Who is your favorite young star in WWE? You can check out the AEW list here.