It looks like Paige VanZant is set to become WWE’s next big superstar. Jim Ross who is the former head of WWE talent relations, and a Hall of Famer believes “12 Gauge” will be the next big WWE star, seeing her as a cross between

Ronda Rousey and WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus. Ross has recruited and signed many of WWE’s top stars including Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Brock Lesnar and John Cena. He spoke to ESPN on Saturday following VanZant’s loss, revealing his plans for the 22 year old and why she has such a bright future within the organisation.

“Paige has the uncoachable ‘it’ factor, it’s the same as I saw in Dwayne Johnson, John Cena and Brock Lesnar. She even has marketable initials: PVZ. Based on what I’ve seen, I’d consider Paige a blue-chipper when she’s ready.

“If her skill set would match up with her hype and rep, I’d book her making some sort of water cooler talk impact in a perfect TV storm. Wearing gloves wouldn’t limit her sex appeal, and it fits who the public knows her to be. I’d intro her with huge fanfare, cover her contract signing, training and document her entire journey. Build a long arching anticipation for her debut, which would be at an important destination. There are lots of right ways to introduce a potential star within the sports-entertainment genre,” he tells ESPN.

WWE stars aren’t just wrestlers anymore, they are worldwide superstars. “The Rock” and John Cena are two of the hottest names in Hollywood right now.

A partnership between the UFC and WWE would benefit both promotions. Lesnar’s blockbuster pay-per-view numbers and the fact that Punk attracted about 450,000 pay-per-view buys for his first professional MMA fight shows what cross-promotion can do for the companies. “I’d assume she could do both, but I’m not sure how successful she’d be at either while splitting her focus,” Ross said. “The skills required to be a successful, pro grappler are varied and need months of diligent training under the watchful eye of top coaches. WWE has that covered. I’d suggest that she fulfill her UFC commitments and try and live her MMA dreams before committing to WWE, unless it was for a one-off, high-profile cameo at a major event like WrestleMania.”

VanZant says she’s more than capable of doing more than one thing at a time and said she wasn’t exactly sure when she would fight again, saying it could be a couple months or six months or even longer. In the meantime, she will pursue all those opportunities she has in front of her. “I took a break to do ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ and I came back and I knocked somebody out,” VanZant said. “I’m very good at balancing my outside factors. I know how to balance my schedule. I have the best team in the world. I’m very smart. I could have done anything I wanted to, and I chose to fight, and I’m going to continue to balance my schedule … I have a lot of passions in the world, and I’m not going to limit myself to one thing.”

It’s no secret the WWE has been after VanZant ever since her appearance on Dancing with the Stars. She revealed earlier in the week that she has every intention of joining the WWE once her UFC run is up. It appears we’ll be seeing her debut for the company sooner rather than later.

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