WWE's Future Will Be Anchored by Smaller, Sleeker Athletes

WWE fans are witnessing an evolution in progress as the sports entertainment giant is forced to welcome the smaller warriors of the world.

From the days of Bruno Sammartino manhandling heels at Madison Square Garden to John Cena lifting two foes at a time, WWE's top tier has long been home to massive, muscular men. That is set to shift. A good number of the company's future cornerstones are of a different breed.

Pro wrestling is changing. It's increasingly becoming home to speedy, agile grapplers who leave a blur across the screen.

The company certainly won't stop looking for big brutes to continue its long tradition of those kinds of gladiators, but it will have to adjust to the downsizing of the average wrestler. It appears to know that. WWE has already accepted that shift to a large degree by signing and featuring guys like Finn Balor and Hideo Itami. 

When Cena was still in WWE's developmental system, he was part of a loaded class. Brock Lesnar, Batista and Randy Orton all worked to make their way into the big leagues.

Lesnar is a beastly man with shoulders that looked to have been built by a mason. Batista's size and imposing look has landed him movie roles where he is asked to be the monster in the background or an oversized man made of metal.

Orton may have been small compared to those men, but at 6'5'' and 245 pounds, he's still much more of a prototypical WWE wrestler than the kind of talents who are thriving at NXT today.

A Stockpile of Smaller Warriors

Sami Zayn knocked off Neville at NXT TakeOver: R Evolution in one of 2014's most captivating matches. 

It was a thriller of a bout. The combatants attacked the mat-wrestling portion of the action, making quick, rapid-fire moves. Flying kicks, somersaults and suicide dives comprised much of the rest of the battle.

This was not a showcase of the cruiserweights; this was the main event.

Neither man is as big as Shawn Michaels, who had to fight against the idea that he was too small to be a top guy. Both Neville and Zayn are fully capable of being key WWE talents for years to come, size be damned.

They represent a move toward athletes just like them. 

The behemoths are aging. The youth movement is made up of many a man who has to strain to look up at the top stars of the past.

Mark Henry (43), Kane (47), Big Show (43) and Undertaker (50) are all on their way out. Their heirs won't be carrying on the tradition of spectacle by size.

Rank them however you want, but NXT's best prospects right now include Zayn, Itami, Tyler Breeze, Balor and Kevin Owens. Aside from Owens, every one is the kind of wrestler who would get pushed off into a cruiserweight division at some point in WWE history.

WWE won't be able to do that to these men. So many of the company's best assets are mold-breaking, smaller wrestlers. 

And that goes for the main roster as well. One-half of the tag champs, the intercontinental titleholder and two exciting rookies are all under 6 feet tall.

Wrestler	Age	Height	Weight
Finn Balor	33	5'11''	207 lbs
Neville	28	5'10''	194 lbs
Tyson Kidd	34	5'10''	209 lbs
Sin Cara	36	5'10''	205 lbs
Solomon Crowe	27	5'10''	200 lbs
Daniel Bryan	33	5'10''	210 lbs
Hideo Itami	34	5'9''	187 lbs
Kalisto	28	5'6''	170 lbs

The current world heavyweight champion isn't much taller than that, either: Seth Rollins is 6'1'' and 217 pounds.

He's every bit as nimble as many of the top high-flyers waiting for the chance to soar on the main roster. His matches are fast-paced, falling in line with the direction wrestling is going.  

Speed Minus Gravity

Just as basketball is moving away from big men dominating in the half-court to a speedier, more fluid pace of play, pro wrestling is undergoing a change. 

There is no better way to gauge what fans expect from today's matches than to listen to the lack of reaction at a Kane or Big Show match. Both Kane and The World's Largest Athlete work a more plodding style. Their move sets are caveman-like—punch, kick, headbutt.

Credit: WWE.com

That won't cut it anymore.  There are so many fantastic displays of athleticism going on in wrestling rings around the world that high-flying and snappy offense is what fans have come to expect.

Dolph Ziggler and Rollins' clashes are a good example of the kind of matches fans are drawn to more and more. The same goes for Daniel Bryan, who launches himself around the ring.

At NXT TakeOver: Rival, Neville and Balor provided a glimpse of what future WWE bouts can look like, where the speed is cranked up and boots don't stay on the mat for long.

The show-stealing performance saw Balor hit a missile dropkick that sent Neville crashing through the guardrail. Other highlights included Balor diving from the top rope, Neville corkscrewing in the air and each men revving up the crowd with high-flying moves that weren't even attempted years ago.

Expect more action like this. Neville is already on the main roster; Balor promises to be right behind him.

In addition, guys like Solomon Crowe, Itami and Zayn are going to be the next generation of Superstars. Looking beyond that, one sees more speed and flight but fewer brawny brutes. The places where WWE will pluck its future prospects brim with a new kind of wrestler.

The Shift on the Circuit

When WWE sends scouts out to Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla or any of the top promotions out there, it has to notice how smaller wrestlers are dominating. There are far more Zayns than there are Batistas out there. 

ROH has been a go-to source for WWE talent for years. Bryan, CM Punk, Owens, Rollins and Cesaro all came from that promotion.

Who WWE lands next isn't likely to be built like Cesaro, though. The top tier of ROH's roster is occupied by smaller guys.

Wrestler	Age	Height	Weight
Mike Bennett	29	5'11''	225 lbs
Adam Cole	25	5'11''	205 lbs
Kyle O'Reilly	28	5'11''	207 lbs
Jay Lethal	29	5'10''	215 lbs
ACH	27	5'9''	190 lbs

The same goes for the other promotions around the globe.

Ricochet is flourishing at Lucha Underground as Prince Puma with a dizzying in-ring style. Kota Ibushi is using his seemingly spring-loaded legs to excel in Japan. AJ Styles owned New Japan Pro Wrestling last year with exciting offense that would fit in nicely with what Ziggler, Rollins, Balor and Neville do each night.

These are the kinds of wrestlers who are making names for themselves. These are the kind of athletes WWE will be inviting to NXT in years to come.

The wrestling world has moved toward an era of agility over power.

Former TNA world champ Austin Aries, who stands just 5'9", knows a little something about that. In an interview with Newsday's Josh Stewart, the topic of smaller wrestlers' getting more chances came up.

Aries said, "The major companies are seeing that talent is talent, and whatever talent you want to utilize that can make money you'll use, regardless."

That's exactly what WWE is going to have to do. So much of the talent worth scooping up from the independent circuit and the talent making the most impact at NXT would have been considered undersized at one point. 

That's changing. Men like Balor are poised to take WWE over as athletes push the powerhouses aside.