The NXT Day: Championship Week Edition!

It was Championship Week on NXT, despite only 2 of their titles being up for grabs.  Still, a solid NXT from top to bottom, though as with WWE, I always seem to enjoy the undercard more than the main event.

On with the show!

Walk Away On Top: What has to happen with Charlotte

There is no question that Charlotte is the best women’s wrestler in NXT, and in my mind, very little question that she’s actually the best in the entire WWE.  Every week, I see something I’ve never seen before - this week it was the Figure 4 that she then bridged - I had a ‘mark out’ moments the likes of which I haven’t seen since I was 10 or 11.

In fact, every time I watch a match of hers, I can’t help thinking 2 things, the latter being much more scandalous than the former.

1. Charlotte could very well be the best women’s wrestler in history by the time she’s done.
2. Charlotte might be the best wrestler with the last name of Flair in history.

NXT Top Ten: Edition 4

Welcome to the NXT Top Ten, edition 4.  It’s been a little while since our last rankings, and a whole lot has happened.  We had arguably the event of the year, Takeover: Fatal 4 Way.  We’ve had some debuts, both of new NXT talents and of some top tier developmental guys on RAW.  Actually, that has required some tweaking, since at the onset of this rankings, I said I wouldn’t include any NXT guys with WWE experience.  Since that would mean getting rid of three rankings stalwarts, we’ll now adjust that to say I won’t include any NXT talent who has had a significant WWE run.

Which brings us to Tyson Kidd.  I haven’t been including him in my rankings as of yet, and I haven’t had a big problem with that up until now.  He wasn’t getting anything resembling a decent push, I thought, so why bother?  Well, now he had arguably the strongest showing of the men involved in the Fatal 4 Way, and this whole “fact” thing seems like it is taking off.  Should I start ranking him?  Help me, #WWEFamily, you’re my only hope!  If you want him ranked, then rank him I shall.  

(Note: If you’re curious, he’d likely be in the top 5 somewhere this week.)

OK, let’s do some rankings.

Number 10: Hid. . . Nope, I won’t do it.   His name is Kenta!

NXT Top Ten Rankings: Edition 3

Welcome to our third edition of the NXT Top Ten.  The last two weeks of WWE’s developmental “brand” proved, at least in my mind, that the best wrestling going on in the company today happens at Full Sail University, both in quality and quantity.  For a one-hour show, NXT always has 3-5 matches per episode and almost every one would fit in beautifully on RAW or Smackdown.

If you’ve missed the discussion @NewAgeInsiders and the #WWEFamily have had regarding NXT, you’re missing out.  Basically, there is a growing belief that NXT should replace Smackdown as WWE’s second nationally televised program.  Break out to 2 hours weekly, move down some of the lesser WWE talent to give them some room to grow and really push it hard.  We’d love to have you join the conversation; as NAI says, be heard!

OK, time for our Top Ten.  As usual, I’ve taken in-ring ability, current character, verbal skills and “It” factor into account.  However, I’ve realized I need to add a fifth criteria, which is “NXT presence / push”.   For example, over the last 2 weeks, The Ascension wasn’t on NXT, which causes them to slip from the top spot.  I’m still as high on them as ever, but I can’t keep them on top in good conscience while others are on WWE Network.

Honorable Mentions

The Teacher's Lounge: Best Women's Division Ever?

I just watched an old-school type match.  The two competitors traded offense in the beginning, then the obviously more polished one began to dominate.  They isolated a body part and worked it over, shades of Arn Anderson or the British Bulldog.  The younger talent made a valiant but fleeting attempt at a comeback, but it was firmly swatted down, ending with a quick finishing maneuver.  This was the type of match you saw all the time on TV in the 90’s, and it was excellent to see it today.

Who were the competitors in this excellent event?  NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte and Becky “Thank God they don’t make me Irish step dance anymore” Lynch.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a little iffy on women’s wrestling.  Maybe I watched too many botched moves by Trish Stratus back in the day, or maybe I still have nightmares of Bull Nakano (talented, but terrifying), but when a women’s match is on, I usually reach for the fast forward button.   It’s not that I don’t think they are supremely athletic and talented; many of them are.  It’s just usually not my cup of tea.

However, even a not-even-fairweather fan has to admit:

There has never been a better women’s division than there is in WWE right now.

The Teacher's Lounge: The Top Ten Talents of NXT

I’m the first to admit, I’ve been very lax with my NXT watching.  With the sheer enormity of content on the WWE Network, the developmental territory kept getting pushed back in my priorities.  However, now that Doc Manson and I are the Number Two Contenders, I had to step my game up.  So, for the last few days, I’ve caught up with NXT, beginning with the show post-Takeover to last week’s episode.

Based on this ‘extensive’ viewing, I now present my NXT Top 10.  Some quick disclaimers before we begin -  I did not consider any talent that had extensive WWE experience; so my apologies to Tyson Kidd, Justin Gabriel and Adam Rose.  This is also based on an admittedly small sample size.


I took the following factors into consideration when compiling my list:
-  In-Ring Talent
-  Current character / gimmick
-  Verbal skills / mic talent
-  “It” factor, the je ne sais quoi that draws attention to a superstar.

I’ll also make two comparisons for each talent, a “floor” of what they could be if they’re just an average talent and a “ceiling” if they win the lottery that is WWE superstardom.

These three came close, but didn’t crack my top 10, so Honorable Mentions go to CJ Parker, Kalisto and Sasha Banks

And here.  We.  Go.