WWE: John Cena heralds NXT starlet as next big thing, Daniel Bryan held back and another huge name heads to the US

A round-up of all the latest action from this week's WWE

(WWE)

WWE legend John Cena has said he feels NXT superstar The Velveteen Dream could be set for a huge future in the industry after a breakout start to his career.

The Dream, Real name Patrick Clark, is just 22 years of age but has already started to make major waves in WWE, his feud with Aleister Black and their match at NXT: Takeover being one of the highlights of the last year.

He’s been making a big impression on Cena, while WWE officials have also been impressed by Io Shirai, the Japanese superstar who has signed for the company, according to the Stardom wrestling promotion.

Reflecting on everything from the last seven days or so, here’s a review of the latest wrestling news…

Velventee is Cena’s dream

Velveteen is one of WWE’s first homegrown superstars, a product of their WWE Performance Centre and a huge part of their NXT developmental territory, where he’s currently feuding with Ricochet.

His efforts have won him plenty of fans from within the passionate WWE Universe and have also, it appears, not gone unnoticed by Cena, who paid a handsome tribute to the Washington native when pressed on the subject of future stars recently.

Cena, also a big fan of Dream’s fellow NXT star EC3, said of the youngster: “‘You know how in the Star Wars movies the old Jedis can look at the rookie Jedis and be like, ‘I think that’s the one?’

“I kinda have a weird, odd mid-ichlorian feeling about Velveteen Dream. I think there’s something special there.”

Bryan waits on the verge

Daniel Bryan is loving life as he adjusts back to life as an in-ring competitor after three years on the outside due to an injury that had looked set to end his career.

Now back in action, Bryan could end up being one of the hottest properties in the industry as his current WWE contract is not too far away from expiring. While WWE is undoubtedly the industry’s biggest name in terms of exposure and stage for talent, it is somewhat restrictive for someone of Bryan’s broad talents.

So, is Bryan holding out for something more elsewhere, or will he stay put in WWE? One thing’s for sure, the company are holding off on investing in him too heavily where television storylines are concerned – he features at a fairly tepid level on Smackdown Live as fans are left wanting more.

(WWE)

WWE snare another star

Io Shirai, one of the top female names in wrestling, is WWE bound according to her former promotion, Stardom.

Shirai, a former two-time world champion there, finally looks set to commence her WWE career after injury prevented a reported first attempted debut last year around the time of the Mae Young Classic.

The 28-year-old is, according to Tokyo Sports, ready to make her debut after Stardom’s event on June 17th.

Joe heads to Money in the Bank

Samoa Joe continues his hot streak and on Smackdown Live this week he became the latest name to qualify for the upcoming men’s Money in the Bank ladder match after he overcame Bryan and Big Cass in a triple threat match.

Joe, it seems, was born to be a wrestling villain and plays the role to perfection both in the ring and on the microphone. The focus WWE have put on him in recent weeks is fully deserved and I for one would be delighted to see him be thrust into the blue brand’s title picture with a win on pay-per-view in a couple of weeks’ time.

That’s a rap!

Former WWE star Enzo Amore, real name Eric Arndt, is back in the spotlight after releasing a rap video.

Amore was fired by WWE amid sexual assault allegations earlier this year, but they have since been dropped. In his first public work since then, the 31-year-old released the video on YouTube, the track covering the recent allegations and plenty more.

Released via WorldStar HipHop, the video already has close to 700,000 views and fits Amore’s rather outspoken personality.