Projecting Raw's 7 New Cruiserweights' Long-Term WWE Career Prospects

7. Lince Dorado

Lince Dorado entered the Cruiserweight Classic to little fanfare. Though he’s been a solid hand on the American independent circuit for years, his name was lost in the hype surrounding wrestlers like Kota Ibushi and Gran Metalik. Regardless, he produced the goods in tournament matches with Mustafa Ali and Rich Swann, and now finds himself on the precipice of mainstream wrestling success.

Dorado is a slick high-flyer who has carved-out a strong career on the indies, but he’s never really separated himself from the pack. He was a decent masked high-flyer in an ocean of decent masked high-flyers in CHIKARA, and he’s never broken into the perceived top tier of indy flyers occupied by wrestlers like Ricochet and Will Ospreay.

Moreover, WWE’s poor history with handling masked wrestlers is a big issue, as is entering at the same time as Gran Metalik. Lince didn’t feature on Raw, but CWC finalist Metalik has already established his identity as a risk-taking and surprisingly hard-hitting luchador. Dorado, at this stage, has no such traits to separate himself from the pack.

That’s not to say he can’t be a success in WWE, but it’ll likely take major work to make Lince Dorado one of the division’s stars. He’s a fantastic wrestler in his own right, but differentiating him from Metalik in-particular will be key to his long-term prospects.