OVW is Ohio Valley Wrestling. It was the WWF/WWF’s primary talent factory from 2000 until 2008 and churned out many future WWE superstars. It had a mix of success giving us Matt Morgan, Charlie Haas, Shelton Benjamin and many more but by far the most successful period for OVW was without doubt the class of 2002. A legendary collection of future world champions and Wrestlemania main eventers worked their way through OVW and debuted within the same few months in 2002. It’s astonishing, and it’s worth taking a look at those four men now in the order they debuted.
Brock Lesnar - The Next Big Thing made his arrival on Raw the night after Wrestlemania X8 and was a main eventer from basically the word go. He received a huge, main event push and was WWE Champion less than six months after his first appearance. He was a freak athlete who was destined to main event Wrestlemania and singled out for exactly that from the moment he left amateur wrestling and moved to professional. This intense rocketship ride to the top of the card was ultimately also his undoing as Brock, burned out only two years later, left the WWE under a cloud and wouldn’t return until 2012. His second run was even more successful and as a part time attraction has main evented multiple Wrestlemanias and racked up even more World titles. He also found time to win the UFC Heavyweight Championship during his time away making him perhaps the most legitimately dangerous man to ever be WWE Champion.
Randy Orton - A 3rd Generation superstar, Randy had the highest expectations of any of the four. He spent some time as a bland smiling babyface before transitioning into a smug, cocky heel and working his way up to the main events. He had behaviour and substance abuse issues which delayed his accession to “the guy” in the WWE but by 2010 he’d become a mature, grown up and a reliable member of the roster. In 2025, he’s beloved and respected as a veteran in the locker room who wants to help and encourage all of the younger talents. He has had by far the most consistent career as other than the occasional injury or suspension, Randy has been a constant fixture in the WWE main events for over 20 years now.
Dave Batista - Batista, like Randy, took some time to find his feet but after putting him into the Evolution group, “The Animal” was an explosive and cool character who fans desperately wanted to see dethrone Triple H. He did and parlayed that into a lengthy main event career and several WWE and World titles. Batista left WWE for a career in Hollywood and has been even more successful there. He’s been in James Bond, Dune and most famously is an Avenger in the Guardians of the Galaxy. He also got to come back to WWE and retire properly in a final Wrestlemania showdown with former mentor Triple H.
John Cena - Cena was almost fired in 2002 but after entertaining the boys in the locker room with his comedy freestyle raps, he was allowed to do it on TV during a halloween episode of Smackdown and the rest is history. He grew in popularity until finally the company was forced to turn him babyface and move him up to the main event. To say that John Cena entered the stratosphere is an understatement and while he’s always been divisive with the fans often getting as many boos as cheers, John Cena has claim to legitimately being the Greatest of All Time. He was THE main eventer in WWE in 15 of the past 20 years and became a genuine pop culture icon with his acting appearances. John Cena won his 17th World title during his retirement year to finally surpass Ric Flair’s record of 16 and as I write this we are only months away from his final match.
These four men provided WWE with their next crop of main eventers and have to various degrees held WWE up on their shoulders for years and years at a time. They came along right at the point where the company desperately needed new stars and fresh faces and filled the void left by the previous generation’s departure. It is wild that they all showed up on WWE so close together and I couldn’t let this period of time pass without drawing attention to it.