WWE Stars Who Should Appear in HBO’s Watchmen TV Series

Considered by many to be one of the most influential comic book stories of all time, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ seminal 1986 miniseries Watchmen has been receiving plenty of attention as of late. Over on the comics front, there’s the newly released Watchmen: The Annotated Edition, which features a new foreword by Gibbons and annotations by Leslie S. Klinger, as well as the start of the Geoff Johns and Gary Frank’s Watchmen pseudo-sequel Doomsday Clock.

Meanwhile, in the ever-expanding world of comic book adaptations, there’s the excitement over the news that Damon Lindelof (Lost, The Leftovers) is helming a live-action Watchmen television series, with HBO ordering a pilot and commissioning additional scripts this past September. However, the bit that seems to have the Internet buzzing the most is the rumor that WWE’s most popular “Doctor,” John Cena (sorry, Isaac Yankem fans), might be trading in his degree in Thuganomics for one in Nuclear Physics by playing Doctor Manhattan in the upcoming HBO series.

The rumblings first started when CBR’s own Kieran Shiach noticed that Cena’s Instagram account, which is notorious for containing photos completely devoid of context, featured an image of The Comedian’s blood-stained smiley-face button and a piece of fan art seemingly depicting the WWE Superstar as Doctor Manhattan (the chin and ears definitely give it away). From there, the speculation began to spread like wildfire, with countless comic and entertainment-centric websites and podcasts weighing in on Cena’s ability (or lack thereof) to faithfully portray the stoic, God-like blue being.

Cena’s certainly proved that he has good acting chops, as evidenced by his roles in such comedy films as Trainwreck and Daddy’s Home 2. Meanwhile, Doug Liman’s 2017 war drama The Wall showed us the 16-time World Champion’s incredible range when it comes to putting on a serious performance (he’s definitely improved since The Marine). Would John Cena actually make a good Doctor Manhattan, though? And better yet, which other WWE Superstars, past or present, would be perfect to play the rest of the Watchmen characters?

Much like Watchmen itself, we’ll begin with Eddie Blake, aka The Comedian, whose big personality and large physique are tantamount to the quintessential WWE Superstar archetype. You definitely need someone who can pull off Blake’s amorality, abrasiveness, and practiced cynicism, which makes Jerry “The King” Lawler an excellent choice for an older, less-fit Comedian (i.e. the version we see at the start of the story and the one who breaks into Moloch’s house). For The Comedian in his prime, though, a man like Stone Cold Steve Austin could easily deliver Blake’s brand of brashness, brutality, and bravado (plus, he’s still in incredible shape).

Another interesting candidate for The Comedian is Charles Wright, whose stints as Kama Mustafa and The Godfather/The Goodfather share many qualities with the more bombastic and violent aspects of Blake’s persona. Likewise, a man such as Bray Wyatt would be a good fit in terms of the cynical outlook on life and the skewed sense of morality. However, there’s another Watchmen role that would make far better use of Wyatt’s talents: Rorschach.

Walter Kovacs is a man who’s extremely and irreparably damaged; a man who’s every bit as vicious as he is unpredictable. And yet, Rorschach is also a man who’s highly intelligent, and despite his broken speech pattern, he’s capable of delivering profound and truly memorable monologues by way of his journal entries.

From his promos to his gimmick, Bray Wyatt is the absolute epitome of each and every one of these qualities. Still, if you need any more convincing that he’d be a perfect Rorschach, just picture these words coming out of his mouth: “This city's afraid of me. I've seen its true face. The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood. And when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown. The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up around their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout ‘Save us!’... and I'll whisper ‘No.’” Pretty amazing, isn’t it?

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Speaking of amazing, that brings us to the athletically gifted, intellectually superior billionaire Adrian Veidt, aka Ozymandias. For him, you need someone who’s believable as a super-genius and who’s in excellent physical condition, but not overly muscular, which is pretty much the only thing that rules out Triple H as a prime candidate (well, that, along with the fact that he’s not much of a looker). With that in mind, someone like The Miz would be an ideal selection for the role, given his appearance, as well as his character’s exuberance, vanity, and flamboyance.

Similarly, Chris Jericho is a WWE Superstar who’s more than capable of bringing Veidt to life. A toned-down version of his Y2J persona covers the superficial aspects of the character, and the well-spoken, calculating suit-and-tie Jericho is an uncanny juxtaposition to the post-heel turn Ozymandias. (Honorable mention to Xavier Woods, as well, who boasts a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology).

In stark contrast to the charismatic Comedian and Ozymandias, Dan Dreiberg, aka Nite Owl, is much more of an introvert, which isn’t a quality one typically associates with WWE Superstars. However, he’s also a skilled fighter who’s both honest and affable, which brings to mind current SmackDown Live General Manager and former World Champion Daniel Bryan. Particularly in his early days (think post-Nexus, pre-“Yes!”), Bryan was a Superstar who, despite his impeccable in-ring abilities, didn’t have much of a personality, or even a distinct look.

Daniel Bryan was about as “vanilla” as they came, but nevertheless, he went on to become a fan-favorite, which is a nice parallel to Nite Owl’s journey from bland, retired vigilante to confident, re-inspired hero. Heck, Bryan even managed to get the girl many perceived to be out of his league (Brie Bella), and that makes this the perfect opportunity to segue over to our final core Watchmen character: Laurie Juspeczyk, aka Silk Spectre.

Laurie is the second woman to hold the Silk Spectre mantle, having been pushed into the “family business” of crime-fighting at an early age by her mother Sally (the first Silk Spectre). She spent her entire life training and became an extremely gifted athlete, but as a second-generation hero, she was still largely defined by her mother’s legacy until finally forging her own. For these reasons, it seems only natural to cast Charlotte Flair in the role.

The current SmackDown Live Women’s Champion has certainly proved that she’s far more than just Ric Flair’s daughter. Still, for all her talent and accomplishments, there are those who see the extravagant robes and the modified figure-four leglock, who hear the homage entrance music and the loud “Woooo”-ing, and understandably feel as though Charlotte is living in her father’s shadow. This is something Laurie was forced to cope with, as well, not just as the second Silk Spectre but as Doctor Manhattan’s girlfriend – something else that temporarily prevented her from establishing her own path in life. Given these parallels, Charlotte would have plenty of ammo in her arsenal to help channel her inner Laurie.

What about you? Which WWE Superstars would you want to see in the HBO Watchmen series? Share your picks in the comments section!