Vince McMahon Is A Big Fan Of A Rising WWE Star

WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon has a new pet project.

According to a report from Alex McCarthy of talkSPORT, McMahon has taken a liking to Monday Night Raw newcomer Angel Garza and has even compared him to one of the greatest WWE superstars of all-time: “Angel Garza is the latest star to become a favorite of the WWE chairman and sources tell talkSPORT McMahon has even referred to him as ‘a young Eddie Guerrero’.”

Ironically enough, it was recently reported that McMahon knew almost nothing about Garza when he was called up from NXT earlier this year. The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer (h/t Wrestling-Edge) noted that “McMahon didn’t have much knowledge about who Garza was prior to his Raw debut. McMahon apparently only knew that Garza was Humberto Carrillo’s cousin.” Carrillo is one of many WWE stars who McMahon has reportedly “given up” on in recent months, and yet, his real-life cousin Garza has been making waves on the red brand.

Garza was surprisingly promoted to Raw back in February following a brief stint in NXT. At the time, he appeared simply to be a temporary replacement for the then-injured Andrade, but in less than six months on the main roster, the talented 27-year-old has established himself as a future cornerstone of the company. As a Latino superstar with undeniable charisma and fantastic in-ring skills, Garza has been drawing comparisons to Guerrero essentially since day one, and though it will be tough for Garza to live up to the lofty expectations of being compared to one of the most well-rounded performers in WWE history, he has the tools to get there eventually.

The real question, of course, is whether WWE will really stick with Garza’s push.

McMahon is notorious for souring on superstars he was once a big fan of, particularly those who are smaller in stature. Just over the past several months, McMahon has quickly halted the pushes of stars like Carrillo, Cedric Alexander and Ricochet, among others, and with Bruce Prichard taking over for Paul Heyman as the new creative head on Raw, that doesn’t bode well for anyone who isn’t an established star as Prichard is well-known as someone who likes pushing stars who have already been there, done that.

In an ideal world, Garza would be the exact type of star WWE would build its future around: He is an elite level in-ring performer, oozes charisma, has the superstar “look” and appeals to a specific audience in WWE’s Latino fan base. There have been signs that WWE is committing to Garza as a top star, too, most notably by having him prominently featured on the Raw banner on WWE.com alongside the likes of Randy Orton, Charlotte Flair and Seth Rollins. Truth be told, however, WWE has been all over the place with the booking of Garza, who has lost far more matches than he’s won and has often been made to look weak during segments with stars like Drew McIntyre.

WWE has this frustrating habit of utilizing midcard heels to make main event babyfaces look better, and Garza has been plagued by that mindset. Even though he’s still young, Garza is currently at a crossroads in his career, which can go one of two ways: Either WWE can commit to his push before it’s too late, or he can become the latest star with a world full of potential to fizzle out because WWE waited to long to push him. Perception is reality, and the perception of Garza as someone who consistently loses matches could be a tough one to shake the longer he goes without winning significant matches.

At least for now, the Guerrero comparisons are just fun to make, but until Garza truly gets the backing of the creative team, they won’t amount to anything.