2. Johnny Gargano
WWE wanted him, but he didn't want them - it's the reason Davey Richards is exempt from the list, he having admitted to rejecting a WWE contact due to the road schedule required, but where "American Wolf" and Johnny Gargano differentiate is, Johnny never said he'd never go, he simply wanted to stay loyal to Gabe Sapolsky and Dragon Gate USA. Johnny has the look, the talking ability and the walking ability, at 25-years of age and almost a decade of experience already under his belt Johnny Gargano cant go anywhere but upward as he strives to prove he isnt just hype. Gargano describes his in-ring persona as, someone lacking self awareness and living in his own deluded little world. Gargano is the current Dragon Gate USA Open the Freedom Gate Champion. I fully expect Gargano to join WWE down the line, had he not been the DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Champion I'm of the opinion he'd be presently competing for NXT Wrestling, but for now he's happy representing Gabe Sapolsky and regularly appearing for several indy promotions across the States.
1. Colt Cabana
How many indy wrestlers have had their name chanted by 12,000 people at a WWE pay-per-view or live taping? Colt Cabana has, not once or twice, but after CM Punk's worked shoot promo for approximately a month or so, the name "Colt Cabana" would be bellowed by fans attending WWE events, most of whom probably had little clue of who he was. Having formerly competed for WWE as the horrendous Scotty Goldman, which was none of Cabana's fault as WWE Creative rejected his numerous requests to write his own lines and instead subjected him to ones of their own, Colt Cabana returned to the indies and has since gone from strength-to-strength promoting himself, his name and just about anything related to him over the past two years. The host of the "Art of Wrestling" podcast which has had numerous WWE contracted stars such as CM Punk on several occasions, William Regal, Tyson Kidd, Natalya Neidhart and others, you'd think Cabana would have found a way back into the WWE? Not only is he puzzled by it by I'm dumbfounded to. It's a case of ignorance on WWE's behalf, so this isn't a so much, "it's not a matter of if it's a matter of when" candidate on this list but instead... why? Colt Cabana has wrestling ability, a likeable personality, a comedic tone to his performing, he can speak, he can promote, hes had the number one downloaded podcast on iTunes and still where is his WWE contract? If Colt Cabana fails to return to the WWE by the time his career ends It'll be a shame.