Charles Roskilly is the latest guest blogger to be featured on silvervision.co.uk after he submitted his entry via the Mark Silvervision Facebook page.

After spending about an hour and a half every night for a week working my way through the Best of Raw 15th Anniversary DVD I finally realised how great ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin was. After Austin defeated Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts to become King of the Ring 1996 he gained momentum at such a pace that he must have had white knuckles to go along with his red neck.

I was so excited about his match with Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13 and the pair put on one of the best matches I have ever seen. It was such an unusual feeling to be rooting for the ‘anti-hero’ Austin instead of the ‘squeaky clean’ Hitman but one thing was for sure…..I liked it!

It is impossible for any wrestler to achieve the type of legendary status that Stone Cold enjoys today without a bit of help along the way…..and Steve had lots of help in the form of the fantastic opponents he faced over the years like Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, Triple H, Kane, The Rock, Kurt Angle and not forgetting Vincent Kennedy McMahon and the various incarnations of Mick Foley. All these awesome performers helped to keep the ‘Stone Cold’ character fresh for a long time but after a couple of years of seeing Austin headline virtually every PPV I grew tired of the Bionic Redneck and as the WWF (as it was back then) continued to force feed me a never ending diet of Stone Cold Stunners I eventually became sick of the Texas Rattlesnake. It’s a bit like when you say to your mum “Hey mum, I really like that new breakfast cereal”…..and the next time you go to the cupboard you find she has bought you 316 boxes of the stuff and suddenly you are sick of it!

Just like it is healthy to have a varied diet, it is also (in my opinion) healthy for the WWE to have a variety of wrestlers getting a chance to main event PPV’s. I’m not saying John Cena (for example) shouldn’t hold the WWE Championship for a whole year but what I am saying is he (or whoever might be the champion) should have varied opponents instead of a 3 month feud with Orton, then a 3 month feud with Edge etc etc. Rematch after rematch, rematch in a cage, TLC rematch, Iron Man rematch, who can wear the most items of WWE merchandise rematch, baby oil in the locker room rematch, France vs. Republic of Ireland rematch…..errrr, I don’t think we are going to see a rematch for that but I’m sure WWE’s Scott Armstrong was the referee for that World Cup Qualifier in Paris!

So what I am getting at is the need to really shake things up, we all know the obvious candidates to step up to main event status in the near future, the likes of John Morrison, Kofi Kingston, Christian and maybe even the much improved and ‘awesome’ Miz…..but I want to argue the case for some superstars who I personally rate very highly. You may think some of these wrestlers are past their sell by date, nothing more than a gimmick or simply not worthy of main eventing major PPV’s but without knowing them personally I would have total faith in the following ‘Great 8’ (That truly is a rubbish name…..‘The Great 8’…..oh dear.)

Carlito
Back in January 2006 Carlito was headlining the Elimination Chamber match at New Years Revolution along with John Cena, HBK, Kurt Angle, Kane and Chris Masters for the WWE Championship…..but 3 years later as part of The Colons with brother Primo their Tag Team Title Unification match against The Miz & Morrison was shockingly scrapped from WrestleMania 25 at the last minute…..and instead WWE decided to give us 5…..yes FIVE, count ‘em 1-2-3-4-5 songs from Kid Rock. Carlito can talk the talk and walk the walk because he possesses two of the most important elements needed to become a top star, in-ring ability and microphone skill. He has the uncanny ability to get over as a baby face with his sharp wit just as easily as he can gain heat as a heal for being a real piece of trash and he always shows a mix of speed, agility and innovation during his matches. From time to time he reminds me of ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper who I incidentally think is quite possibly the greatest superstar of all time.

Finlay
It was so cool when Finlay was a bad guy who was rough and tough, beating people up and winning or beating people up and losing but never being beaten up himself. Hornswoggle or ‘Little B*****d’ as he was known then (I totally understands WWE changing his name) would come out from under the ring like a little pit bull terrier and just go wild. Finlay would throw him at his opponents like a human cannonball and the men in green were at the top of their game. Now Finlay is a big green family friendly softy who is only a lick of face paint away from being the new Doink The Clown. I know the man from ‘Belfast’ is heavily involved in the writing side of things and is probably just taking things a bit easier these days but if Finlay wanted to exchange the inflatable hammer for the old oak shillelagh and start knocking heads like he was doing back in 2006 and 2007 he is capable of hanging with the best of ‘em.

Goldust
Shocking, strange, bizarre…..all things that Goldust used to be…..but all things he still possesses more of than any other superstar and he could prove it if he was just give the chance. “Ring, Ring! Ring, Ring! Hello, 1996 is on the phone and it wants its wrestlers back!”…..Yeah, yeah, yeah I know but there’s many a good tune played on an old fiddle and to steal a phrase from Chris Jericho, Goldust is still the best in the world at what he does. Believe it or not, the Bizarre One is only 40 years old and can tell a story in the squared circle like no other. The last time the ‘son of a plumber’s son’ had even a glimmer of the spotlight was when he was one half of a tag team with Booker T and the pair produced some of the best moments in RAW history. A heart warming story developed where Booker didn’t want to team with Goldust and was embarrassed by him but they eventually got over their differences and won the World Tag Team Titles. Anyone who has seen their vignettes will agree that they were some of the funniest moments in WWE history.

Final thought: Dusty Rhodes & Goldust vs. Cody Rhodes & Ted Dibiase Jr…..that is a WrestleMania match if I ever saw one, just think how thrilled the Rhodes family would be about the prospect of that match and I think the WWE Universe would be just as excited.

Jack Swagger
I’m not sure that Jack needs an endorsement from me to become a main event wrestler in WWE but as someone once said “Every little helps”. The only thing I don’t like about the ‘Two Time, Two Time All American American’ is his slightly dodgy in-ring attire but if that is all he has to worry about then he should be fine. I like to think of Swagger as a ‘fusion wrestler’ or the love child of Bob Backlund and Brock Lesnar combining the technical skills of Backlund and the explosive power of Lesnar. Far from having an adverse effect on his promos, I think his speech impediment adds to his individuality and the fact that it is hardly ever mentioned on TV these days is testament to Jack’s ability and how highly WWE officials rate this talented young star. I think Swagger is destined to be the next great WWE superstar…..and if nothing else he has got really cool entrance music!

Kane
Having been employed by WWE for over 15 year and being one of the best workers in the business I find it totally amazing that the Big Red Machine has only held the company’s top prize once and for a grand total of 24 hours! In my opinion Kane is one of the greatest WWE superstars of all time and the fact that he has worked for the company for so long speaks volumes for the man. Kane’s in ring performances are faultless and when you add this to his very believable and demonic character it makes for a top main event performer. Whether it is setting Jim Ross on fire, tombstoning Linda McMahon on the metal stage or getting jiggy with Katie Vick, Kane has performed some of the most despicable acts in the chronicles of WWE…..but that is why we love him.

Kane is most over with the WWE Universe when he is at his most evil and no one does it better than Paul Bearer’s little boy! Because Kane is so entwined in to WWE history and the fact that even after all this time the fans still buy in to the Kane gimmick make it easy for Kane to be elevated in to a main event star. Kane is ready for the top exactly as you see him now however imagine a revamped Kane with a new costume and the return of the Kane mask which has to be one of the most iconic items of wrestling attire ever.

How about if WWE hired the ‘Sinister Minister’ James Mitchell to come and manage Kane, the pair could wreak havoc on the WWE superstars for a year or so before daddy dearest Paul Bearer returns to save his son from the evil and controlling Mitchell…..just an idea but exciting ay?

Santino Marella
Is it just in Italy, Great Britain and New York that this man is over? It is true that his humour is very British in the fact that it is camp and self-deprecating but I see no reason for this to hold the ‘Italian’ back. I find it strange that the WWE invests in Santino by giving him air-time every week with his hilarious vignettes but on the rare occasion he is given a televised match he usually gets squashed. I don’t need to tell any of you how good his microphone skills are but to be honest it has been so long since I have seen a proper match involving Santino that I am finding it hard to remember if he is any good in the ring.

Maybe because he is so funny WWE would be reluctant to put the strap on him because he might detract from the legitimacy of the WWE/World Heavyweight Championship or the wrestler he is competing against but maybe WWE need to be reminded that wrestling is not legitimate…..that is why it is so popular. The fact that Evan Bourne could beat the Big Show on any given night is what makes wrestling so fun. The world of professional wrestling is a world that fans escape to for a few hours each week and it is a world where the fantastic and improbable can happen. If football was sports entertainment you could expect to see Paul Gascoigne earn a late call up to the England squad for the World Cup in South Africa and then score the winning goal in the final. Comedy and general nonsense have been vital ingredients in the characters of some of the top performers of all time, remember Ric Flair getting smashed with a steal chair then walk around the ring for ten seconds before taking a nose dive to the canvas? That always made the fans pop and that is the main goal for any performer. Santino Marella is a star waiting to happen, the type of wrestler who could carry a company but the WWE need to be brave enough to pass him the ball so he can run with it.

Shelton Benjamin
“Who better than Kanyon?”…..well Shelton Benjamin…..but I think the question should be “Who better than Shelton?”…..in my eyes no one! There is no better wrestler in the world today than Shelton Benjamin and he should have been main eventing for the last three to four years. The annual ‘Money in the Bank Ladder Match’ staring Shelton Benjamin is my most anticipated match every year but it has also become a match that arouses sadness in me. Year after year I see ‘The Gold Standard’ put his life on the line and steal the show but his efforts are never fully rewarded and then WWE expect him to do the same at the next WrestleMania with no pay off. I just hope that WrestleMania 26 will be the launch pad for Shelton’s career…..hell yeah, put him in the ‘Money in the Bank Ladder Match’ again and let him do what he does best but this time, give him the pay off he deserves and let him win it. Then tell the story of Shelton’s determination and desire to return year after year in pursuit of his dream of winning the most famous match in WrestleMania history. If the WWE are worried about having legitimate superstars in the main event slots (as mentioned in my Santino Morella segment) there is no one more legitimate than ‘The Gold Standard’ Shelton Benjamin.

William Regal
I think Mr Regal would have any English man who didn’t think he was a main event wrestler sent to the Tower of London and beheaded…..so taking that in to consideration last but certainly not least I have chosen William Regal. Just when the WWE were building a bit of momentum with Regal after he won the 2008 King of the Ring tournament he ended up getting himself suspended but if the WWE didn’t give 2nd chances their roster would be pretty thin. Regal has a feel for the business the likes of which I have not seen since the truly legendary Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts, and just like Jake he can say more with one look than most wrestlers could say with an hour long promo. The ‘Blackpool’ native truly has an unusual in-ring style which is both technical and hard hitting and at times I can actually feel the pain Regal is inflicting on his opponents. Americans love an evil English man and with his vicious and spiteful wrestling style, willingness to break the rules and classic bad guy persona Sir William ticks all the boxes. His story telling and talking are top notch and his facial expressions which are all important are as good as Vince McMahon himself.

So they are some of the wrestlers I would like to see given a chance to main event some PPV’s.

How cool would it be if once a year WWE ran a competition for a fan to become the guest host of RAW and the winner really did get the chance to pick the matches and decide the direction of storylines…..that would be the ultimate prize for most fans and could give the WWE writers a new perspective on things.

Who would you like to see pushed towards main event status and why?