FULL SAIL UNIVERSITY, USA—Okay, so we finally learned what “The End” in NXT Takeover: The End means. Brace yourself, it’s a doozy.
It really means that it’s the end… of the beginning… of NXT. Triple H is apparently classifying the last 4 years of NXT, from the era of Seth Rollins, to the heyday of Kassius Ohno and Cesaro, to the rise of the NXT Five, to the reign of Finn Balor as the “beginning.” That’s a long-ass beginning, but I can see where he’s coming from. Since then, NXT has become a true force to be reckoned with in the world of wrestling, all because of Triple H’s insane—and, at the same time, intelligent—maneuvering.
We all thought what is now NXT’s beginning was its prime, but now it’s clear (if it wasn’t already) that it can be a lot bigger. If the future of NXT is that it’s truly no longer just a developmental territory, that it’s firmly an alternative brand of WWE wrestling (that hopefully can be an equal to the main roster), that it will be spearheaded by guys like Samoa Joe, Shinsuke Nakamura, Austin Aries, and their peers, then I’m all for it. One day they’ll be a part of the main roster too, but right now they’re gods of a different—but the same—universe.
Let’s take a look at the NXT landscape after Takeover.
Samoa Joe has finally opened himself up to brand-new matchups
Now that the year-long program with Finn Balor is finally over, the NXT Championship scene is a dreamland with Samoa Joe now able to work with just about any of the top NXT names.
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While we’re waiting for Balor to finally get the inevitable call to the main roster, Joe is open to guys like Austin Aries and Shinsuke Nakamura, the top two contenders on the list (not in order). If the recent set of post-Takeover tapings are teasing Nakamura/Balor for possibly Takeover: Brooklyn, then that should mean Aries gets some sort of shot against Joe for the title. Or it’s a red herring, and we’re getting an equally monumental, hard-hitting matchup in Nakamura/Joe. It doesn’t all make sense yet, but the possibilities are exciting, for sure.
We’re probably going back into Asuka/Bayley
Now that Nia Jax has been rebuffed the second time in her pursuit of the NXT Women’s Championship, it finally leaves the women’s division open for the inevitable Asuka/Bayley rematch.
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It seems as though Bayley is due for the main roster soon thanks to the impending brand split, so that’s one more capable hand being taken away from NXT. They’re going to have a great match at Takeover and she’s going to lose to keep Asuka strong, and with the quicker pace of call-ups among the ladies, there is a huge need to cultivate the NXT women’s division faster than they’ve been doing so.
Nia Jax has been doing fine, so long as she faces more capable hands in the ring, but they’ll also need to build girls like Alexa Bliss and Carmella up—and they’re also going to need to step up sooner than later. There are other ladies waiting in the wings, and they’re going to need more ring time in order to improve.
The tag team division is alive and well
Just when you thought the division was going to be all Revival and American Alpha because Enzo and Cass were promoted and Blake and Murphy are sidelined, they pull a fast one on us and debut a brand new tag team—just the tag team NXT needed, it seems.
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Those two hosses are the Authors of Pain, Sunny Dhimsa (a Canadian-Indian amateur wrestler) and Gzim Selmani (an Albanian MMA fighter who once fought in MMA promotion Bellator), managed by WWE Hall of Famer, legendary Legion of Doom manager Paul Ellering. NXT hasn’t had a true hoss team since the Ascension (who were only half a hoss team) and it seems as though the Authors have quite the pedigree to be a better team than the Ascension ever was. If they’re the new age Road Warriors, that’s gonna be big shoes to fill.
And on American Alpha losing the titles: like many faces, they’re better off in the chase. We already know they’re good, this loss isn’t a knock on them.
New kids on the block
For the newer guys, it’s not going to be hard to get some time in the ring. Guys like Andrade “Cien” Almas (the former La Sombra, as I showed you last week), Tye Dillinger, former TNA wrestlers Eric Young (if he’s staying) and Bobby Roode (when they finally sign him), and No Way Jose are already solid additions to the midcard.
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I really just want a midcard championship in NXT (maybe bring back the old FCW 15, or at least some sort of title that can be a true stepping-stone for a shot at the NXT Championship) as a catalyst for midcard feuds on the brand. As it stands there are only 5 main slots for stories at most—the championship feuds, a big midcard feud that may or may not have NXT Championship ramifications, and an opening match feud for a newcomer. NXT needs to have more airtime, and with that airtime comes a lot of better opportunities for storytelling.
On the main roster
I know I haven’t been commenting much on the main shows lately—it’s mostly because for all the energy we should have, with Seth Rollins being back and facing Roman Reigns, and a pretty-stacked Money in the Bank ladder match, RAW has been on cruise control, and not the good kind. I’ll be giving my MITB predictions next week!
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