{"id":218070,"date":"2026-06-17T16:42:34","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T21:42:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=218070"},"modified":"2026-06-17T16:42:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T21:42:34","slug":"wwe-rising-stars-fading-stars-oba-rules-cargill-loses-her-wig-knext-level-knight-trip-williams-stumbles-zaria-in-the-zone-nonexistent-nakamura","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2026\/06\/17\/wwe-rising-stars-fading-stars-oba-rules-cargill-loses-her-wig-knext-level-knight-trip-williams-stumbles-zaria-in-the-zone-nonexistent-nakamura\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE RISING STARS &#038; FADING STARS: Oba Rules, Cargill Loses Her Wig, Knext-Level Knight, Trip Williams Stumbles, Zaria in the Zone, Nonexistent Nakamura"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-703171369\" 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>It\u2019s an exciting time to be a WWE fan. The mixed bag that was WrestleMania is firmly in the rear-view mirror. Recent call-ups have shaken up the status quo considerably, and the King and Queen of the Ring tournaments have been unpredictable, leading to a great deal of speculation on the ultimate winners and future direction of the world championships.<\/p>\n<p>Who\u2019s using this chaos as a ladder to success?<\/p>\n<p>One choice is clear&#8230;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Rising Star of the Week: Oba Femi<\/h3>\n<p>I believe history will remember this season primarily for the rise of Oba Femi. His elevation from NXT debut to top babyface in the company has been lightning fast and nearly flawless in execution. His dismantling of Dominick Mysterio and JD McDonagh was another successful chapter.<\/p>\n<p>The Ruler is the most exciting new star since the return of Cody Rhodes, and Femi\u2019s youth, size, athleticism, and build make his upside even greater. Comparisons to Hulk Hogan may not be exaggerated.<\/p>\n<p>He seems destined for a championship showdown with Roman Reigns, although whether that will be rushed for SummerSlam or saved for WrestleMania remains unclear.<\/p>\n<p>Now, about that strut\u2026<\/p>\n<h3>Runner-up: LA Knight<\/h3>\n<p>Since his return in May, Knight has been nothing short of fantastic on the mic. Knight has played the role of truth-teller, the lone voice warning the Bloodline would return to their bullying tactics and confronting Seth Rollins with the hard truth that he has no friends left in the locker room, having burned all his bridges.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-4087395653\" 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<p>Knight has come across as a true alpha, chastising Adam Pearce for kowtowing to Reigns\u2019s demands, and even more so for standing up to the Bloodline all on his own shows. We can all see the Bloodline\u2019s descent into corruption playing out on screen, but only Knight seems to have the courage to call them out.<\/p>\n<p>Knight flubs more than his share of lines. However, his recovery from these mistakes is so immediate that it minimizes their impact. There\u2019s no awkward pause, no look of panic; Knight just picks up where he left off and clarifies his point.<\/p>\n<p>Right now, Knight is significantly outperforming his push. He\u2019s a vital part of pushing the Bloodline story forward and is getting some of the biggest babyface responses in the company.<\/p>\n<p>Is LA Knight due for a main event run?<\/p>\n<p>Yeah!<\/p>\n<h3>Second Runner up: Zaria<\/h3>\n<p>Perennial bridesmaid Zaria is finally having her moment. A fierce powerhouse with a move-set to match, only her relatively average size belies her intimidating appearance.<\/p>\n<p>Zaria has been entrusted with the vaunted spear and the F5 as the finishing moves, which says something about the company\u2019s faith in her.<\/p>\n<p>For a year and a half following her NXT debut, Zaria stalled on the undercard, cast as Sol Ruca\u2019s underachieving sidekick and losing a majority of matches, likely a consequence of the division\u2019s incredible depth at the time.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-2240903772\" 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>With a number of top NXT women being called up to the main roster in recent weeks, Zaria finally has the room to spread her wings.<\/p>\n<p>Her statement win over Tatum Paxley last week sent a clear message:<\/p>\n<p>Zaria has arrived.<\/p>\n<p><em>ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW&#8230;<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Check out the latest episode of &#8220;Worse or Better&#8221; with Stephanie Chase and Josh White, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/episode\/worse-or-better-episode-10-commentary-commentary-steph-josh-compare-the-commentary-and-commentators-over-the-last-few-decades--72540225\">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\" title=\"Worse or Better (Episode 10 - Commentary Commentary) - Steph &amp; Josh compare the commentary and commentators over the last few decades\" src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?episode_id=72540225&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>Fading Star of the Week: Jade Cargill<\/h3>\n<p>Steve Austin once claimed he could wrestle with one arm tied behind his back. Jade tends to struggle even with both. Although Jade has shown significant improvement in recent months, last Friday\u2019s Smackdown was a disaster. Her wig came loose during her clunky four-way Queen of the Ring Qualifier match against Charlotte Flair, Lyra Valkyria, and Sol Ruca.<\/p>\n<p>The unfortunate Jade was faced with an impossible choice: save her vanity or competently finish the match. She chose the former. Jade proceeded to wrestle the final sequence including giving and receiving finishing maneuvers with one hand firmly planted on her head. The result looked just as awkward and inauthentic as you might imagine.<\/p>\n<p>Coming off a couple of good matches against Rhea Ripley, Jade had finally seemed to shake her reputation as an incompetent worker.<\/p>\n<p>This week was a significant setback in that regard.<\/p>\n<h3>First Runner-Up: Trick Williams<\/h3>\n<p>William\u2019s push is losing steam \u2014 and fast.<\/p>\n<p>A few short weeks ago he was as hot as Femi, but his underwhelming presentation has cooled his act considerably.<br \/>\nHis recent confrontations with Carmelo Hayes and Ricky Saints have failed to inspire, even as they set the stage for what should be an excellent payoff match. Trick is disinterested in granting a United States Title match to either man, coming across as anything but the fighting champion that fans want him to be.<\/p>\n<p>Trick would be better off paired against established stars to play off of. His act needs to pivot if he is to recapture fan excitement, which is fading fast.<\/p>\n<h3>Second Runner-Up: Shinsuke Nakamura<\/h3>\n<p>What happened to Shinsuke?<\/p>\n<p>Since returning to SmackDown as a babyface in January, Nakamura has competed in seven matches and failed to win a single one. He hasn\u2019t been seen since losing to Talla Tonga last month. Once the brand\u2019s top star, it\u2019s hard to imagine SmackDown creative has nothing meaningful planned for the King of Strong Style.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Wade Keller Post-show (6\/12) - WWE Smackdown w\/Keller &amp; Machado\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Okj_njuBGQ4?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-2335210281\"><div id=\"pwtor-2056826022\"><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>It\u2019s an exciting time to be a WWE fan. The mixed bag that was WrestleMania is firmly in the rear-view mirror. Recent call-ups have shaken up the status quo considerably, and the King and Queen <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2026\/06\/17\/wwe-rising-stars-fading-stars-oba-rules-cargill-loses-her-wig-knext-level-knight-trip-williams-stumbles-zaria-in-the-zone-nonexistent-nakamura\/\" title=\"WWE RISING STARS &#038; FADING STARS: Oba Rules, Cargill Loses Her Wig, Knext-Level Knight, Trip Williams Stumbles, Zaria in the Zone, Nonexistent Nakamura\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":216772,"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_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,4309,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-218070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opnionandanalysis","category-rising-star-fading-star","category-specialists"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-20-at-11.43.34-AM.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218070","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=218070"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218070\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":218071,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218070\/revisions\/218071"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}