With two nights of WrestleMania 40 plus Stand and Deliver, the biggest NXT show of the year, rapidly approaching in April, fans, pundits, and wrestling journalists like Dave Meltzer alike have been looking ahead to the future and which members of the WWE Universe could be in for major bumps in  the future.

Booker T, the two-time WWE Hall of Famer and NXT color commentator, has given major props to Trick Williams, declaring that he could main event WrestleMania as soon as next year, but what about Meltzer, the man who has been observing wrestling since 1982. Discussing WWE's developmental system on Wrestling Observer Live, Meltzer, a noted fan of what Shawn Michaels is doing in NXT, was asked one simple question: which developmental stars could main event WrestleMania in the future?

“(Bron Breakker) – Headline? I don't know about headline. I think he'll be a star on the show as far as main events… (but) maybe he will. They're high on him, but still, headlining WrestleMania – there's a lot of guys they talk about headlining WrestleMania that never get there. There's no guarantees. But I think that he would have the best shot, him and Trick Williams. I don't even know that Trick will main event WrestleMania, but I think that Trick can be a major player. Major, major player,” Dave Meltzer explained via WrestleTalk.

“I thought Tiffany Stratton, but she's already gone to the main roster. She didn't stand out to me when she did her debut though, for whatever reason, but that's just one match and she's new and all that. I mean, I don't see Nathan Frazer as a main event at WrestleMania. But he can talk, an absolutely phenomenal wrestler. He stands out, he's got that speed and everything in the ring, and just that athletic ability that very few have. But I don't know about main event.

“Trick would be my other pick with Bron Breakker.”

Interesting, very, very interesting.

Like Booker, Meltzer is a big fan of Williams, but naming Breakker first is very interesting, too, as he looks to be  joining Tiffany Stratton on the main roster in the next week or two. While there are a few more interesting options that the Wrestling Observer scribe left off, including current NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov and the man he beat for the title, Carmelo Hayes, all in all, a pretty good list with a puncher's chance of coming to fruition, as Breakker, Williams, and Stratton appear destined for very big things on the main roster.

Dave Meltzer breaks down WWE's excellent SmackDown rating.

Elsewhere on Wrestling Observer Live, Dave Meltzer broke down the SmackDown rating for the first show after the WrestleMania 40 Kickoff event, which hit a very good 2.578 million viewers.

Crediting the number to both the hype surrounding the show and for booking a strong opening segment with Paul “Triple H” Levesque appearing, Meltzer broke down just how successful the show was and why fans should be excited about a football-less future heading into WrestleMania 40.

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CM Punk with a text bubble reading "Soon, I will be back" with the SmackDown logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

Seth Rollins on the right side of the screen with the RAW logo and a red background behind him, and Carmelo Hayes on the left side of the screen with the SmackDown logo and a blue background behind him with the WWE Draft logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

Logan Paul with a text bubble reading "Good Luck" next to Cameron Grimes with the SamackDown logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

“SmackDown did fantastic. 2.578 million viewers and 0.75. I think next week's gonna be the week. Because, no football, and they did an 0.75, next week they've got The Rock and Roman Reigns both on the show, and I think Triple H too right, because Heyman said he was gonna bring them on to confront Triple H. So I think that combination will do at least what this one did, and I don't know that there's gonna be anything else on TV… Daytona 500 is pretty big, is that the same week? I'm not even sure. That's coming up. But they're getting there where they may be the biggest show on television for a week,” Dave Meltzer explained via WrestleTalk.

“They were number one for the night, by far. Second place I think was the Best Superbowl Commercials and Worst Superbowl Commercials special or something like that. The two big quarters were both the ones with Triple H – the opening quarter with him talking about the press conference, and then the other one was the one later with him and Heyman, and also the Bayley segment with Damage CTRL and Dakota Kai and all that. They did both 1.040 million in 18-49, so, yeah, SmackDown did giant numbers.”

Would SmackDown have drawn as big a number if fans weren't buzzing to see the fallout of WWE's Las Vegas spectacular at the T-Mobile Arena? Eh, probably not, as that special left fans on a cliffhanger and Triple H advertised his appearance on SmackDown for hours heading into the show. Still, it's also convenient that WWE has been getting really hot at the right time, as they now don't have to worry about competing with the NFL for the occasional Friday night game, which is good news leading into the “Showcase of the Immortals.”