What’s Next for Justin Gabriel?

By Nick Rackley

As you may know, it was reported earlier this week that Canadian high-flyer Tyson Kidd suffered a torn ACL, and is expected to be out from anywhere from eight months to one year. As a fan of Tyson Kidd, I personally am upset that something unfortunate like this happened. It felt as though International Airstrike was starting to get more momentum in the brought back form the dead tag-team division. It’s not like they were number one contenders, so this injury isn’t totally devastating to any current storylines.

With Kidd out for quite a while, the question has to be asked: What’s next for Justin Gabriel?

I can only see a few plausible paths the career of Justin Gabriel could take. The most likely one for the South-African is fading into obscurity. Without Kidd, he has no direction and will fall down to JTG-like status. I personally don’t want this to happen. Gabriel has impressed me since he debuted on NXT. Another option (although a very pessimistic one) would be Gabriel handed his pink slip. I don’t want that to happen, either. But there is a possibility, albeit slim, that it could happen.  

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On the lighter side, I could see him being a perennial challenger for the mid-card titles, which isn’t totally a bad thing (just ask Kofi Kingston). Speaking of Kofi, I could easily see Kingston being paired with Gabriel in the tag team division. I thought Kingston and Gabriel would’ve been a logical pairing at the time Air Boom was broken up, but instead R-Truth was pegged to take Bourne’s place at Kingston’s side. 

A very unlikely but entertaining option, however, would be for Gabriel to trash Kidd’s reputation while Kidd is sidelined with an injury. Remember when Edge went down with an injury (torn Achilles) in 2009, and while he was sidelined, his former partner Chris Jericho kept trashing him? That’s what I’m thinking about. The mic work wouldn’t be close to Y2J and Edge, but their matches have the potential to. 

I sincerely hope for the best for Gabriel. He has the look (exception: his awful hair), the ability to put on good matches, and a damn cool finisher, the 450 splash. 


What do you think will happen to Justin Gabriel in the future? This is my first article, and I am always looking for ways to improve. Please comment your feedback, it is much appreciated. 

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