{"id":195904,"date":"2025-04-10T12:39:23","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T17:39:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=195904"},"modified":"2025-04-12T11:53:22","modified_gmt":"2025-04-12T16:53:22","slug":"wwe-rising-stars-fading-stars-new-feature-charlotte-brawn-strowman-seth-rollins-jada-parker-lyra-valkyria-trick-williams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2025\/04\/10\/wwe-rising-stars-fading-stars-new-feature-charlotte-brawn-strowman-seth-rollins-jada-parker-lyra-valkyria-trick-williams\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE RISING STARS &#038; FADING STARS (New Feature): Charlotte, Brawn Strowman, Seth Rollins, Jada Parker, Lyra Valkyria, Trick Williams"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-1629610500\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p>With WrestleMania fast approaching, WWE kicks into high gear.\u00a0 Talent are upping their game in an attempt to impress fans and management.\u00a0 Who\u2019s killing it, and who\u2019s falling flat in WWE including Raw, Smackdown, and NXT?\u00a0 Let\u2019s take a look.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Rising Star of the Week: Lyra Valkyria<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Lacking a powerful ring presence, a standout look, or exceptional microphone skills, Lyra initially failed to make a significant impact following her debut on Monday Night Raw in May of last year.\u00a0 However, she has been given adequate time to wrestle competitive and technically sound matches against a variety of face and heel opponents, week after week.<\/p>\n<p>Her matches have been good, and crowds are slowly taking notice.\u00a0 This week\u2019s match against the veteran Bayley was the best so far, and the audience was right there with them, rewarding the duo with a \u201cThis is awesome!\u201d chant.<\/p>\n<p>I cannot recall another female wrestler who has gotten over primarily on the basis of ringwork in the manner Lyra is doing right now.\u00a0 It remains to be seen whether Lyra will make the WrestleMania card, but tagging with Bayley to go after the tag teach champions seems to be a good bet.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>1st runner up: Seth Rollins <\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>In the ongoing build for his triple threat match against Roman Reigns and C.M. Punk, Seth has been practically a fifth wheel. Unlike Punk and Reigns, Seth has not been a true main eventer since he lost the World Heavyweight Title at last year&#8217;s WrestleMania and he seems the least likely winner.<\/p>\n<p>His bizarre fashion sense, off-putting laugh, frequent losses, and uneven character have kept him from clicking fully in any real capacity, in spite of his peerless ring skill, top-notch conditioning, and an entrance theme that crowds can&#8217;t get enough of.<\/p>\n<p>During last Friday&#8217;s contract signing on Smackdown, his presence seemed entirely superfluous amid the engaging drama between Reigns, Punk, and Paul Heyman.\u00a0 Just when Seth seemed almost entirely irrelevant, he delivered the goods on Monday Night Raw, questioning Heyman&#8217;s loyalties before tormenting him to lure Punk to come to his rescue.<\/p>\n<p>Rollins&#8217;s outfit was unusually tasteful and his tone unusually serious, which helped make this one of his best promos of the year.\u00a0 Punk initially got the better of Rollins, but Seth craftily turned the tables to KO his rival, coming across as a legitimate threat in the processes.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Where has this version of Seth Rollins been?<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-2555824814\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<h3><strong>2nd runner up: Jada Parker<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>As regular NXT viewers know, Jada has improved in leaps and bounds in recent months, both on the mic and in the ring.\u00a0 Despite her relative inexperience, she has more than earned her spot in Stand &amp; Deliver&#8217;s Fatal Four-way Match against phenomenal veterans Stephanie Vauer, Giulia, and Jordynne Grace.\u00a0 Her matches are hard-hitting, her offense is credible, her selling believable, and she holds herself like a big deal and a legitimate badass.\u00a0 The sky&#8217;s the limit for Ms. Parker.<\/p>\n<p><em>ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW&#8230;<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Check out the latest episode of &#8220;PWT Talks NXT&#8221; with Kelly Wells and Nate Lindberg, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/episode\/pwt-talks-nxt-wells-cattani-talk-darkstate-s-first-big-win-and-next-feud-many-suitors-for-ricky-saints-two-significant-botches-more--65449421\">CLICK HERE<\/a> to stream (or search \u201cpwtorch\u201d on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?episode_id=65449421&amp;theme=light&amp;playlist=false&amp;playlist-continuous=false&amp;chapters-image=true&amp;episode_image_position=right&amp;hide-logo=false&amp;hide-likes=false&amp;hide-comments=false&amp;hide-sharing=false&amp;hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"200px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Fading Star of the Week: Charlotte Flair <\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>No one in WWE had a tougher week than Charlotte. Destined for the Hall of Fame, Charlotte is an undeniable talent. She carries herself like a true star, knows her character, takes herself seriously, regularly updates her look, and consistently ups her ring work to deliver great matches when it counts the most.<\/p>\n<p>However, this week\u2019s debate with Tiffany Stratton revealed her greatest weakness: Charlotte the performer cannot accept rejection by the crowd even as she plays a heel character. She appears desperate for affirmation from the audience in contrast with her role.<\/p>\n<p>In their interview Charlotte started off making heel comments: belittling Tiffany as desperate and describing their WrestleMania match as &#8220;charity work.&#8221;\u00a0 When the crowd predictable disapproved, Charlotte shifted inexplicably to acting like a babyface, referring to the Chicago audience as the &#8220;smartest wrestling fans in the world.&#8221;\u00a0 It didn&#8217;t work.<\/p>\n<p>Subsequent comments were drown out by a torrent of boos which clearly rattled Charlotte, who was repeatedly unwilling or unable to talk over the audience to continue the promo.\u00a0 This tremendous heel heat was enough to make Dominick Mysterio jealous, but rather than work with it, Charlotte seemed stunned, mortified, and speechless. She ultimately gave up and simply threw to Tiffany to close the uncomfortable, ineffective segment.<\/p>\n<p>Charlotte must learn not to take audience rejection personally, but embrace it just as her father and every successful heel wrestler has done.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>1st Runner up: Braun Strowman<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>In the years leading up to the pandemic, Braun was a main event act, regularly challenging for world championships and featured in extensive storylines.\u00a0 In recent years his role has progressively diminished.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-470120776\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Braun maintains much of his appeal with the fans, his ring work has improved, but he continues to slip down the card to the role of gatekeeper.\u00a0 His clean loss to Jacob Fatu in their Last Man Standing Match on Smackdown was undoubtedly the right call, but it leaves Strowman solidly out of the WrestleMania card.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019ll likely relegated to the Andre of the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, which he seems unlikely to win.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>2nd Runner up: Trick Williams<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Only a few short months ago, Trick Williams was the centerpiece act of NXT.\u00a0 His undeniable charisma, unwavering crowd support, and excellent ring work made him the ideal NXT Champion for the start of the CW era and much of 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Since losing the title in January, Trick seems increasingly directionless, ineffective, and irrelevant.\u00a0 His character has transformed from an enormously popular babyface to a muddled tweener for unclear reasons, with a resultant dwindling of fan reaction.<\/p>\n<p>Even as he prepares to challenge Oba Femi and Je&#8217;Von Evans for the NXT Championship at Stand &amp; Deliver, Trick is the odd man out in their feud.\u00a0 He is neither the exciting up-and-comer represented by Evans nor the conquering standard bearer which Femi represents.<\/p>\n<p>Like Roxanne Perez, Trick is likely spinning his wheels and preparing to &#8220;do the favors&#8221; of putting over other talent as he exits NXT for the main roster following WrestleMania.\u00a0 If so, his fortunes should change dramatically.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"PWTorch NXT Post Show - NXT on CW w\/ Wells &amp; Cattani\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/A_2aYAX3WTQ?start=329&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-1260988065\"><div id=\"pwtor-3137986352\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>With WrestleMania fast approaching, WWE kicks into high gear.\u00a0 Talent are upping their game in an attempt to impress fans and management.\u00a0 Who\u2019s killing it, and who\u2019s falling flat in WWE including Raw, Smackdown, and <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2025\/04\/10\/wwe-rising-stars-fading-stars-new-feature-charlotte-brawn-strowman-seth-rollins-jada-parker-lyra-valkyria-trick-williams\/\" title=\"WWE RISING STARS &#038; FADING STARS (New Feature): Charlotte, Brawn Strowman, Seth Rollins, Jada Parker, Lyra Valkyria, Trick Williams\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52291,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,52,4309,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-195904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spotlightarticles","category-opnionandanalysis","category-rising-star-fading-star","category-specialists"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2017\/12\/Charlotte_TeschJoel_3x2_600.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195904"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195904\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":195905,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195904\/revisions\/195905"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}