Who will be the next top star?

Last week, the WWE announced that Roman Reigns was rushed to a hospital and he underwent emergency surgery. The time frame for his return is said to be 4-6 weeks, but with the nature of the injury and the physicality of the WWE schedule, it's possible that it will be a few months before Reigns returns to in ring action. There's much speculation that Reigns is the next top star for the WWE and that he will be the competitor to eventually dethrone Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania 31 to win the title. While Reigns has the potential, I don't think the next top performer is set in stone yet and a lot of it depends on the development of some of the younger stars on the WWE roster. In some respects, it's unfair to tout Reigns as being the next main event superstar while he's still relatively new to the WWE landscape and it might be more useful to lower the expectations that Reigns will be the one to get the torch from John Cena until he grows into the role. However, with Reigns on the sidelines, what does the WWE book for the next few months?

The answer is exactly what the WWE did, Dean Ambrose steps into the Authority storyline and it actually might be the right decision, even for a long term basis. It's not anything against Reigns because as mentioned he has the potential to develop into a main event star, but at this point, he seems to lack somewhat on the mic. However, Ambrose has some of the best mic skills on the roster and he's solid in the ring so it's possible that he might be the competitor to get to the next level before Reigns. That being said, the WWE finds itself in somewhat of a transition phase because it seems like Lesnar will be the one to transition the title to the next top name in the company, but there's more to it than just an on screen performance. Many fans don't realize how many different things go along with being the top star in the WWE, which is why John Cena deserves credit for the work he's done for the company. Essentially, the top star has to work every house show, Raw, and pay-per-view. Plus, there's the travel to those events and many media appearances so obviously, the WWE has to make a wise decision when investing the TV time for the next star. As I've said before, John Cena is a work horse and nobody can question his work ethic. The other aspect is that regardless of the cheers or the boos from the crowd, Cena gets a reaction from the crowd. Regardless of if the audience pays to see him win or pays to him lose, the point is they pay to see him. However, who is going to be the next face of the company?

Daniel Bryan is currently on the sidelines and his future is still doubtful, but considering the reaction on Raw when his name is mentioned, Bryan is still over with the audience. In fact, his return could set up for another run at the title, but if he can return, the effects of the injury could shorten his career so the WWE will still probably invest in a younger star. Ultimately, Cena will be the face of the WWE until he retires, but as I said earlier, it's a pivotal time frame for the WWE because Cena isn't going to wrestle another ten years and more specifically, the WWE has used nostalgia acts to draw for Wrestlemania the past few years so it will be interesting to see how they push the next superstar that will main event the biggest show of the year. Don't get me wrong, the WWE has a lot of great talent that have potential to become a draw for the promotion, but with the state of the business as a whole down, it's not an easy task for the next superstar to emerge. NXT has a lot of potential as well, but the talents their aren't featured on the main shows yet so it's doubtful they would be pushed directly into the title picture. As for now, Ambrose seems like a safe bet to book into the main storyline on Raw, but it's still a question mark as to who will challenge Lesnar for the title at the next PPV? While it makes sense for a marketing stand point to keep Lesnar as much of a WWE network exclusive as possible and Paul Heyman does great work to keep him relevant on TV, it can be difficult to launch another feud for the title if there isn't direct interaction between Lesnar and the potential challenger. Despite his solid work on Raw, I don't think Ambrose will be booked for a title match with Lesnar and the DQ finish at Night Of Champions leaves the door open for another Cena rematch so it's possible there could be another Lesnar vs. Cena match in a cell. Since Lesnar will make sporadic TV appearances, hopefully the Ambrose/Rollins feud will continue to get a decent amount of TV time because it can elevate both of their profiles in the process with additional TV exposure. It will be interesting to see the direction of the storylines in the next few weeks and more specifically the direction of the title picture for the next PPV.