10 Wrestlers Neville Must Face After Leaving WWE
A sharp detour through Dream Match City.
Neville and WWE are going through a divorce, and soon, the former Cruiserweight Champion will be cast adrift.
Disgruntled with his place in the hierarchy, the Brit reportedly walked out on this week's Raw, and is about to enter the free agent pool. WWE have denied the claims, but that was always going to be the company line, and with this week's Wrestling Observer Newsletter stating the promotion consider him "gone," Neville's return to the smaller stages should be right around the corner.
This is extremely exciting from a fan's perspective. Neville has been one of WWE's most consistent performers in 2017, in-ring or otherwise, and his stock as never been higher. Throw his outstanding workrate and previous indie experience into the mix, and you have one of the hottest commodities to hit the scene in years.
Neville could slot into any promotion in the world without looking out of place, and the global talent pool's staggering depth means there's no shortage of potentially great matches, wherever he lands. Leaving wrestling's biggest promotion means he'll probably take a financial hit, but we could be looking at the golden age of Neville's career if even half of these bouts come to fruition...
10. Travis Banks
A tour of the white-hot UK independent scene will likely sit towards the top of Neville's post-WWE bucket list, and if so, a match with Travis Banks is a near certainty. 'The Kiwi Buzzsaw' is one of the hottest wrestlers in the country at the moment, and a major star for PROGRESS - the UK's biggest indie promotion - after defeating Pete Dunne to win the organisation's top title on September 10th.
Neville would be treated like royalty upon returning to the British isles. His stock has never been higher, and his skills are sharper than ever. Companies aren't going to mess around by putting him in middling or preliminary matches: they'll book him like a star, and place him in immediate headlining spots with their biggest names. Thus, Neville showing up in PROGRESS all but guarantees a match with Banks.
An intense, hard-hitting striker and grappler, Banks' own reputation has gone through the roof in 2017. When he's not dominating PROGRESS, he's usually found playing a lead role for promotions like Fight Club Pro and Lucha Forever. Him and Neville have never wrestled, either, making this a fresh, first-time match.