LAS VEGAS -- On Monday night in T-Mobile Arena following WrestleMania 41, the WWE paved the road for the next 12 months, leading to New Orleans. Paul Heyman, who turned on the two men he's been tied to for the last decade in CM Punk and Roman Reigns, passionately stated that his new crown jewel of Seth Rollins would be the leading man of the entire industry heading into the Superdome for WrestleMania 42. After being confronted by Punk and then Reigns, a surprise assailant aided the newfound pair against the scorned exes. The 27-year-old Bron Breakker revealed himself as the next piece of the puzzle.
Regarding storytelling, Paul Heyman and head creative Paul "Triple H" Levesque love long-term narrative writing and don't use words in important moments if they aren't anchors to lay the foundation of their sagas. When Heyman proclaimed that Rollins (and this forming group) would be the centerpiece of WWE for the next year heading into New Orleans, I don't believe it was hyperbolic or thrown in for extra pizzazz
Rollins said before the match against Punk and Reigns that he needed to win to secure the future of the company and business as a whole, and it wasn't just flowery words to hype up the match. By siding with Heyman and bringing Bron into the mix, it announces the formation of the new No. 1 faction in the WWE. As the overarching timeline of the WWE centered around Bloodline for these past few years, this group is primed, at least for the next year, to be the focal point.
So, now comes the fun part as Monday draws to a close and all ideas of the imagination are possible: Who is next to join the team?
The common perception right now is that the creation of this group will resemble the model of Heyman's Dangerous Alliance of the late '80s/early '90s. Or maybe even Triple H's own Evolution, which dominated a decade later.
While everything is up in the air, I will use what Rollins said in the buildup to Mania 41 as the parameters of the group. He needed to win the main event, so Punk, someone who left the company and returned, couldn't lead the superstars of tomorrow, and Reigns, who works a sporadic schedule, couldn't either. This entire group, especially with the addition of Breakker, feels like Heyman and Triple H as creatives want to build up the next class of main eventers we'll be seeing taking over as the likes of Reigns, Punk, the Usos, and others wind down their time in the spotlight.
So, though someone like Drew McIntyre or LA Knight would be fun to add to this team, I will focus more on wrestlers who have yet to have world title opportunities or are established main eventers.
Carmelo Hayes
Out of everyone possible who can join this group, Carmelo Hayes is my pick for the wrestler who not only needs this group the most but is also the one who can elevate it the best.
When NXT 2.0 formed, two wrestlers were handpicked as the pillars leading the men's division: Bron Breakker and Carmelo Hayes. These two main evented a pair of Stand & Delivers (NXT's marquee show of the year), and once against each other in 2023, where Hayes went over to become NXT Champion. During their time in NXT, they were the two aces that helped right the ship as the developmental brand underwent massive changes.
Breakker has had a head start on the main roster with his raw force-of-nature persona, but Hayes has everything in his arsenal to be just as good as the second-generation star. He's the yin to the blue-chip prospect's yang, relying more on his speed, high-flying ability, and savvy to get to the top compared to Breakker bulldozing through every obstacle placed in his way. It's not too dissimilar from Evolution's Batista and Randy Orton, where the former rocketed to the top through pure power and stature, with the latter needing to find the right character and seasoning to come into his own.
Hayes is a generational talent in his own right, and with his recent André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal win on the eve of WrestleMania 41, it's time to pull the trigger on him. He was a first-round pick in the WWE draft for a reason. After working with a veteran in The Miz the last few months, let Heyman and Rollins work with him, and there's no ceiling to how high Hayes can fly.
Ethan Page
I honestly overlooked Page when he first signed with NXT. I had always enjoyed him as a performer and YouTube vlogger, but I never saw him during his time in TNA or AEW as a guy who would fit a faction leading the central narrative of WWE television.
Since he got to NXT, Page has shown I was dead wrong. He's taken every story, small or large, and knocked it out of the park. Every curveball thrown at him, and Page only gets better and better, not only doing fantastic character work but proving to be a wrestler capable of having main event-level matches and starring in them.
After losing to Ricky Saints at the most recent Stand & Deliver, Page has nothing left to prove on the brand. He could come out next Monday as the new crew member and not skip a beat. He should be able to find his own space within a group already housing two top talents. As someone who fashions himself as a thinker and always wants to push the creative limit, there might not be a better duo than Rollins and Heyman to learn from.
And as we've seen in NXT, Page will run a mile with no end in sight if given an inch of a chance.
Austin Theory
Three years ago, Theory was on the cusp of becoming the next Randy Orton. He had the rocket strapped to his back and was on his way to the moon.
Then creative shifted, and he crashed back down to earth. Since then, he’s been treading water. He’s had some positive moments, like winning the tag titles at WrestleMania 40, but for the most part, he’s been spinning his tires. Instead of becoming a main eventer catapulted by beating John Cena to open WrestleMania 39, he’s now in dire need of a repackage.
The good news for Theory is that he’s still only 27, the same age as Bron Breakker. He hasn’t even come close to sniffing his prime. And while his character has fallen off a cliff, his in-ring skills have only gotten sharper. He’s one of the most underrated talents in WWE today within the ringposts. All he needs is the right guidance and character work.
McIntyre once had a comparable rise and fall en route to becoming one of the industry's finest workers. Theory just needs that same kind of opportunity—and this could be it.
Trick Williams
In a similar position to Page, there's not much left for him to do on NXT. WWE could keep him down there and have him work on being a full-fledged heel before ultimately calling him up, or they could see the time right now and have him learn on the fly with two of the best teachers in the game.
Williams has all the tools the WWE wants in a future WrestleMania main eventer. And like Breakker and my top selection of Hayes, he's also headlined back-to-back Stand & Delivers, first against his former running mate Hayes and then this past weekend against Oba Femi and Je'Von Evans. Also, like those two, he won his first main event (vs. Hayes) and then lost his second time around.
Williams would also create an interesting dynamic if Hayes were a part of the group. The two were magic with and against each other on NXT and playing off one another and the rest of the group might help them carve out their spots in the faction. Not all of them can go for the top singles belts out of the gate, and with Rollins and Breakker already there, Hayes and Williams could be the duo to bring tag gold to the faction. They also have an easy emergency button to have them break up or go for singles gold if needed.
Becky Lynch
I said I wouldn't consider any established main eventers, but if anyone can, it's Lynch. The wife of Rollins and one of this generation's biggest WWE stars, a power couple at the top of the group leading both the men and women of the future, sounds incredible.
Although their first run together as a couple on television wasn't the greatest, they're in different places as characters now. Lynch just turned heel on protégé Lyra Valkyria, and the timing seems conspicuous. Maybe Lynch doesn't think Valkyria is the right young talent to take the torch from her.
Let's say Lynch does join, which means that the leading candidate on the women's side would be an obvious choice.
Roxanne Perez
Perez is a slam dunk even without Lynch if Heyman and Rollins also look to lead the women's division's future. "The Prodigy" had a remarkable audition leading into WrestleMania 41 and was the last woman eliminated in this year's Royal Rumble. There's nothing left for her to do on NXT, and as she's already shown, there are built-in feuds with veterans Bayley and Charlotte Flair ready to go.
Also, Rollins recruiting Perez would devastate CM Punk. The veteran was one of her idols growing up and has been a mentor to her since returning to the company. If stealing Heyman wasn't enough, Rollins bringing her into the fold and announcing her as his protégé would take Punk's hatred of his new archrival to never-before-seen heights.
Logan Paul
Sure, he's young, but he is everything Rollins rallied against in why he needed to align with Heyman and win the main event at WrestleMania in the first place. He has had a part-time schedule for the three years since he's become a constant part of the WWE, instantly making him ineligible to join.
"Dirty" Dominik Mysterio
Let Dom be Dom with the Judgment Day. The Rollins group will overshadow them, but with Dominik improving every week he steps out there, I'd love to see him lead Judgment Day on the opposite brand as a misfit group. He's already doing amazing as he is, and the next year or two for him should be more about becoming a leading man on his own than going back to being a right-hand man.
Ilja Dragunov
He'd be an interesting option if he returns from his long-term injury in the next few months. My only hesitation is that Breakker already fills the machine-go-kill role, so I would be more interested in Dragunov being part of the resistance than joining the faction.
Oba Femi
It's the same as Dragunov. He and Breakker fill the same spot, and I want to see Femi run the Breakker/Hayes/Williams playbook of main eventing back-to-back Stand & Delivers before being called up. Femi should come up to the main roster after this faction rules the roost for a year, entering the fray as an unstoppable force looking to upend the new status quo.
Jacob Fatu
Like the previous two, I want to see Fatu fight Breakker and this new group, not be with them. He is a surefire main eventer regardless of where or who you put him with, so let the "Samoan Werewolf" hunt up the card on his own. If Roman Reigns needs someone to help him combat this opposing faction in the coming months, the fans are ready to cheer and be fully behind Fatu.
It doesn't take much imagination to see the possibility of a face Fatu fighting a heel Breakker in a marquee match at WrestleMania 42. The meeting could spark a rivalry that becomes the next decade-long feud, which main events multiple Manias.