Monthly Archives: January 2019

The 2018 NXT Year-End Awards, Part Two

Hello again, and welcome back to the 2018 NXT Year-End Awards Prognostications and Picks Party. I hope you enjoyed the short break, but the wrestling business never sleeps, and so we must continue on with the remaining four categories before we get to NXT Match of the Year. But before we do that, let’s review the four awards I covered in the last blog and my personal votes for each:
NXT TakeOver of the Year – Chicago II
NXT Tag Team of the Year – The Undisputed Era
NXT Breakout Star of the Year – Lacey Evans
NXT Future Star of the Year – Candice LeRae

Okay. Now, on with the show…

NXT Rivalry of the Year

#GarganoCiampa (Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa)
#SaneBaszler (Kairi Sane vs. Shayna Baszler)
#AleisterAttack (Aleister Black/Johnny Gargano/Tommaso Ciampa/Nikki Cross)
#GarganoAlmas (Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas)
#ERAMoustache (Moustache Mountain vs. Undisputed ERA)
#MoonBaszler (Ember Moon vs. Shayna Baszler)
#RicochetDream (Ricochet vs. Velveteen Dream)

This might be the easiest award for me to pick in the entire list. A couple of these nominees are unimportant, so let’s eliminate Moon/Baszler and ERA/Moustache right off the hop. They were both too short and didn’t build into anything that lasted too long in 2018.

Sane/Baszler had a decent run, but aside from a brief title reign for Kairi, Baszler dominated for most of their program. Ricochet/Dream was a fun build and led up to a great match between two fabulous competitors, but afterwards, it didn’t really grow into anything more. Mostly because you can’t have two faces (wrestling lingo for “good guys”) have too long of a rivalry.

A look at the remaining options says it all, as they all involve Johnny Gargano. But as it goes, where there’s Gargano, there’s Tommaso Ciampa.

Remember in my Match of the Year blog from last year, when I basically said Gargano was one of the best NXT had to offer? This held true through the entirety of 2018. After the betrayal by Ciampa at TakeOver: Chicago 2017, Gargano went on a mission to win the NXT title. He battled Andrade “Cien” Almas four times for the championship, but on the final attempt, Ciampa made his inevitable return from injury and cost Gargano both the title and his NXT career. This rekindled the fire between the two that continues now into 2019. Gargano was reinstated after beating Ciampa in an Unsanctioned Match at TakeOver: New Orleans, but then was beaten by Ciampa in a brutal Chicago Street Fight. That was only the first half of the year for these two.

Gargano was out for a spell afterwards and Ciampa got an eventual shot at the NXT title against Aleister Black. Johnny Wrestling came back and tried to interfere to cost Ciampa the win, but he ended up hitting Black with the title on accident. Ciampa took advantage by knocking Gargano out of the ring and getting the cover for the victory. Gargano’s obsession with vengeance resulted in the worst possible outcome. Ciampa was now atop the NXT ladder.

Eventually, Black would be attacked outside the NXT Arena and an investigation would occur that revealed Johnny as the attacker, setting up a quick rivalry between the two. Of course, Ciampa couldn’t stay out of Johnny’s business and poked at his pride, getting him to agree to things like having a cage match vs. Black.

My point is this: All roads lead to Gargano and Ciampa, no matter what happens. Their deep history carries NXT to new heights every week, and no other storyline or rivalry in recent years has held a candle to the genius of their saga.

Boots’ pick for NXT Rivalry of the Year: Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa

NXT Male Competitor of the Year

#Ciampa
#Gargano
#Ricochet
#Aleister
#Velveteen
#Andrade
#AdamCole
#PeteDunne

Any one of these wrestleboys would be worthy of this award, but alas, we can only vote for one to win. But enough dilly-dallying, let’s get to it.

Andrade “Cien” Almas started 2018 as the NXT Champion and looked stronger as time went on, but he moved on to bigger things in the WWE just after Wrestlemania.

The Velveteen Dream is a 23-year-old prodigy and it shows. He hasn’t lost any momentum since his start and even current champ Tommaso Ciampa has given him high praise at recent live shows. Unfortunately, The Dream came up short in a number of his marquee matches, but he’s on this list for a reason, and will most certainly have a great 2019.

Ricochet and Adam Cole both held the newly-minted North American for a spell and had some great successes. Pete Dunne has been on a tear as the WWE United Kingdom champion and shows no signs of slowing down. Aleister Black, Gargano, and Ciampa were all involved in the NXT Title picture in a major way.

There is absolutely no wrong pick for this award, but for me, the honor goes to a man who beat 5 other men for his first North American Title, led his friends to glory in the Tag division, took part in the hellacious War Games match, and made a promise that there would be gold for his entire faction in 2019. Argue if you like, but Cole spent 2018 at or near a top-level, and there’s no disputing the man’s influence in NXT.

Boom

Boots’ pick for NXT Male Competitor of the Year: Adam Cole (Bay Bay)

NXT Female Competitor of the Year

#NikkiCross
#ShaynaBaszler
#KairiSane
#EmberMoon
#BiancaBelair

There’s no mistake that all of these women had a great 2018, but the Women’s division definitely was left needing a refresh, this past year. Ember Moon was their version of Andrade Almas with her own run as the NXT Women’s Champion, however brief it may have been. She then went up to the big leagues after Wrestlemania. Belair rose to prominence and is shining brightly, but she looks to have a much stronger 2019.

Cross and Sane both had shots at the Women’s Title, but Cross just couldn’t reach the top of the mountain in NXT. Still, her hard work paid off and earned her a WWE spot. Sane had a short two-month reign as the champion in the Fall, but lost it in her first major defense at WWE Evolution.

These four grapplers had good years, but none of them compare to the domination that Shayna Baszler inflicted in 2018. She beat Ember Moon at TakeOver; New Orleans and held it till August where she lost to Kairi Sane, but won it back 9 weeks later and hasn’t let go ever since. She battled the best competition that they could throw at her, including Lacey Evans, Dakota Kai, Moon, Sane, Cross, and whoever else decided to step up. Not only that, but her fellow Horsewomen of MMA – Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir – have recently joined her side and the trio are currently keeping the rest of the Women’s division down with brute force.

You might get your shot and you might get your licks in, but once Baszler locks in that Kirafuda Clutch, she’ll give you no other choice than to tap, nap, or snap.

Boots’ pick for Female Competitor of the Year: Shayna Baszler
Editor’s Note: You should watch WWE Evolution if you have the means to do so. The ladies crushed it at that event and it should be held in the highest regard, especially as the first-ever event of its kind for the WWE.

Now, before I move on to the final award of Overall Competitor of the Year, I’d like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the NXT Superstars that are MIA since making the jump to the WWE. A number of them left NXT with a ton of momentum, only to see them squandered and left in limbo under Grandpa Vinny’s rule. It’s a tragedy, and I want to honor the legacies of these NXT greats before the wrestling world writes them off:
Tye Dillinger

10

Dana Brooke

Playtime is over

Tyler Breeze

Everyone loves this gorgeous face

Peyton Royce & Billie Kay, The IIconics

They are the future, and the future is IIconic

SAnitY

There is only chaos

Sasha Banks, but when she was “The Boss” and the audience gave a shit and she wasn’t trying to be “Bayley II: Bayley’s BFF.”

Any other version just isn’t a “Legit Boss”

And finally, here we go…
NXT Overall Competitor of the Year

#Ciampa
#NikkiCross
#Gargano
#Ricochet
#ShaynaBaszler
#Aleister
#KairiSane
#Velveteen
#Andrade
#EmberMoon
#AdamCole
#PeteDunne
#BiancaBelair

I’ve already covered these Superstars in their respective Male and Female lists, so I won’t get too deep into that nonsense on this one. Of course, the natural way to go on this would be to pit the Male and Female winners against each other and select the one that made a bigger impact. Bingo-bango, yadda yadda yadda, Bob’s your uncle.

But I’m not going to do that.

First off, as much as I’m a HUGE fan of the Women’s division, I can’t give this award to their candidates. As I said before, they were in a rebuilding stage for most of the year and just didn’t have the same “oomph” as their predecessors, but there’s hope with stars like Bianca Belair, Candice LeRae, Mia Yim, and many others. They’re on the verge of another big surge for 2019 and I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do.
Editor’s Note: Vince, if you waste Lacey Evans’ potential, I will never forgive you.

So it comes down to the boys, and while I gave the Male award to a great competitor in Adam Cole for his accomplishments and growth in 2018, I don’t think that earns him enough to give him the Overall honors. You gotta have something more. You’ve gotta build a legacy. You’ve gotta take the fans on a journey that is above and beyond, and make them believe in what you do. You have to take the NXT brand, strap it to your back and tell the roster “I’ve got this,” and bring them to new heights. In the past, it’s been superstars like Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, the NXT Horsewomen (Bayley/Lynch/Banks/Charlotte), and a few others.

This year, one man came out, claimed that he only needed one shot to accomplish his goals, and did the thing he promised to do, and it was all very much to the ire of the NXT fanbase. His biggest rival stepped up to face him and had the NXT Universe’s support, but aside from one match, he just couldn’t get the job done on multiple occasions. Time after time, chance after chance, rival after rival, and this man still remains the brand’s top guy.

His saga in NXT began years ago, and the fans have been enraptured with him every step of the way. Through tag team struggles and victories, through injuries, through defining moments and major successes and outright betrayals, we’ve all given him every ounce of our attention because he IS the top guy, and this IS his NXT, and when he says he is the greatest sports-entertainer of all-time, you can’t help but consider it as a possible fact, even if only for a moment.

He has the skills, the will, the attitude, and all the heart you could ask for… even if it is the blackest heart in NXT.

Boots’ pick for NXT Overall Competitor of the Year: Tomasso Ciampa

—————

There you have it, folks. That’s my roundup for eight of the nine NXT Year-End Awards for 2018. Next up will be my deep dive into the Match of the Year nominees and my final rankings for that list of fifte… FIFTEEN?!?! Jesus fuck, that’s gonna take a while. I’d better get to it, then.

Thanks for reading, everyone. Hope you enjoy my BS about wrestling and whatever else you might stumble across on this blog o’ mine. Maybe check out some of my other stuff like:
The Top Ten Games of the Xbox 360/PlayStation 3/Wii Console Generation
My 2017 NXT Match of the Year Final Rankings

…or perhaps a couple of my individual blogs about my Top Ten Video Games of All-Time:

Follow me on Twitter at @Boots_33 and you can be a dingus at me or be my friend. You get to choose which!

Have a lovely day/night. Keep it chill, everybody.

The 2018 NXT Year-End Awards, Part One

Another year has come and gone, and with it comes an urge to reminisce and reflect on what the past 365 days have brought us. Some would say that 2018 was a bit of a garbage year. I suppose it could have been depending on your persepctive, but not everything was the worst, so let’s take a look back at the year’s best and brightest in the world of professional wrestling. And by “world of professional wrestling,” I mean the NXT brand, because I don’t have time to watch everything outside of the WWE umbrella and NXT is consistently great and easily accessible via the WWE Network.

Recently, the brand released their nominees for the 2018 NXT Year-End Awards. This past year had some great moments and created a lot to build for the future, but I also felt they missed some opportunities. It seemed like 2018 was a bit of a rebuilding year for the brand. That’s not to say they didn’t have great talent or entertaining matches, but I’ll get more into that in a future blog where I’ll focus specifically on the Match of the Year candidates.

But I digress. As I said, NXT is guaranteed to satisfy week-to-week so I thought it’d be fun to take a look at the categories and make my personal picks. You might agree with me or you might think I’m higher than a giraffe’s ass but either way, we’re all watching some great wrasslin’, and that’s what matters.

Anyway, let’s stop marching around the ring and step through the ropes as we take a look at the 2018 nominees!

Remember, if you wish to vote for any of the candidates via Twitter, Please include the hashtags for the category and the nominee in your post, which will be listed below in their respective sections.
Editor’s Note: Match of the Year will be featured in its own blog post, which will follow in the weeks ahead.

NXT TakeOver of the Year


#Philly
#NewOrleans
#ChicagoII
#BrooklynIV
#WarGames

I love every TakeOver that NXT puts on, so picking a winner for this category is like a parent trying to choose their favorite child. It was a tough process cuz I legit loved every minute of these events, this year. In the end, I ended up weighing overall card strength versus my expectations versus how the results came out for each individual event.

Brooklyn IV and War Games were at the bottom of my list. Don’t get me wrong, I loved these events, but I expected more from Brooklyn as it’s been the brand’s linchpin event in the past and this year’s seemed a bit lesser than its prior chapters. Also, both involved only four matches, which is just shy of what I’d like to see.

The other three were fantastic shows, as well. TakeOver: Philly might have had a couple of the better matches this year, but as a whole, I pushed it to 3rd place because New Orleans and Chicago had a bit more intensity.

So it comes down to the Big Easy and the Windy City. These events impressed the hell out of me and I was on the edge of my seat for every match. Not only that, but I’ll be goddamned if every bit of the Gargano/Ciampa Saga isn’t the best stuff of the night, and these shows both featured MAJOR moments in their story.

But I have to pick a winner, and in my mind, TakeOver: Chicago edges out as the victor. The crowd in that town always shows up ready, and the wrestlers respond in kind. The first match alone is worth the price of admission and then some. This show also featured some different blood in the TakeOver card such as Nikki Cross, Lars Sullivan, and the team of Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan, not to mention a great bout between Ricochet and Velveteen Dream. Of course, where this event pulls ahead for me is the spectacular street fight between Ciampa and Gargano, an instant classic and a clinic in wrestling storytelling.

Even the Dream can fly

Boots’ pick for 2018 TakeOver of the Year: Chicago II

NXT Tag Team of the Year


#UndisputedERA
#WarRaiders
#StreetProfits
#HeavyMachinery
#LorcanBurch (Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch)
#MoustacheMountain

All six of these teams are a whole lot of fun to watch, and thankfully, NXT isn’t shy about giving their tag teams the spotlight. It’s a nice thing to see considering that the Main Roster’s idea of a tag team is just throwing any two people in the building together. Instead, NXT features actual teams with ACTUAL chemistry.

The War Raiders – or War Machine, if you prefer – debuted in April and haven’t lost any shred of momentum, since. They’re likely to hold the titles in the near future, if you ask me. Moustache Mountain had a brief taste of an NXT Championship reign, but injuries hampered their British Invasion throughout the year. The Street Profits suffered a similar fate early in 2018, but showed signs of a strong return in the fall. Lorcan and Burch did a number on each other throughout 2017 and decided to pair up in 2018, leading to some of their best work.

Heavy Machinery surprised me a ton, this year (haha, a “ton”) and really grew as a team. Their philosophy of “Steaks and Weights” has carried them to a number of big matches and, as of this writing, a call-up to the big-time. Let’s hope that Grampa Vincenzo doesn’t put them into relative obscurity and actually uses them to strengthen those tag divisions.

But one team stood above the rest of the NXT Tag division for the entirety of the year. Aside from a brief 2-day slip against Moustache Mountain – or 3 weeks in kayfabe time – Kyle O’Reilly, Bobby Fish, Adam Cole, and Roderick Strong held the championships for the whole of 2018. They entered the year as champs, defended against any and all comers, took home the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic trophy, and participated in their 2nd straight War Games, which was just as violent and sadistic as the last one. 2018 was just their year. Nobody else even came close.

…and that’s not only a fact, my friends.

That’s undisputed.


Boots’ pick for NXT Tag Team of the Year: The Undisputed Era

NXT Breakout Star of the Year


#BiancaBelair
#LaceyEvans
#RheaRipley
#DakotaKai
#LarsSullivan
#Ricochet
#WarRaiders
#EC3

At first glance, I had this list narrowed down to three picks. Now, as I begin this analysis, I see six that could be worthy of 2018’s Breakout Star. Like I said in the intro, this year felt like a rebuilding year for NXT, but the talent that stepped in did a great job carrying the brand. That said, a winner must be found, so let’s begin the whittling process.

EC3 entered NXT with much fanfare and was touted as one of Impact Wrestling’s brightest spots before his WWE signing, but he didn’t really do a whole lot in the grand scheme of things. I think he did good work when he got the chance, though. Dakota Kai had a good showing in the inaugural Mae Young Classic and did some good undercard work on NXT TV, but I have yet to see her really shine. Unfortunately for her, other choices for this award are just better suited to win.

I wanted to see more Rhea Ripley after the 2018 Mae Young Classic, but she was never featured on NXT TV. She’s currently the NXT UK Women’s champion, but I haven’t kept current on that program. Ricochet and the War Raiders came in hot, and they’ve lived up to expectations, but that doesn’t spell “Breakout Star,” to me. They were already over (wrestling lingo for “famous” or “well respected”) to begin with.

So it boils down to the three I started with: Bianca Belair, Lacey Evans, and Lars Sullivan.

Sullivan is a menacing presence who really came into his own, this year. His moveset is very much based in power, as his size dictates, but he often does things in the ring that you wouldn’t expect. His most underrated skill is perhaps his most powerful when he shows it, and that’s his on-mic work. For a big guy with a VERY slight speech impediment, his vocabulary and pacing is phenomenal. He’s got all the tools, and it earned him a WWE call-up.

Bianca Belair is sassy, spunky, and downright cocky, and she can back it up. She’s got power, quickness, and knows how to get things done. Not only that, but she is currently on a strong undefeated streak, has an upcoming title shot at the NXT Women’s title, and that hair whip of hers is always a great equalizer. No matter what, it’s tough to ignore the E-S-T of NXT.

Lacey Evans did the unexpected and turned her “classy pin-up” character into a total heel (wrestling lingo for “villain”), and IT PAID DIVIDENDS. Not only did it give her a character she could work with, but it gave the fans – including myself – a reason to pay attention, and that’s the most important part of a wrestler’s career. I wish she would have had better opportunities on NXT TV, but she must have done something right cuz she’s also on her way to the Big Dance of the WWE.

Again, either of those last three are solid picks, but I have to roll with the one that I think has the biggest right to win.

A woman’s right.


Boots’ pick for NXT Breakout Star of the Year: Lacey Evans

NXT Future Star of the Year


#MattRiddle
#KeithLee
#MiaYim
#ForgottenSons (Jaxson Ryker, Steve Cutler, & Wesley Blake)
#DominikDijakovic
#IoShirai
#CandiceLeRae
#DukeShafir (Jessamyn Duke & Marina Shafir)
#KonaReeves

I’m not quite sure how to go about picking this one. Do I choose who I prefer to improve and become a big star, or do I go with who I think has looked the best to-date in their NXT careers? I don’t like judging on the prospect of “potential” cuz you never know who’s going to rise to the top until they do. But I gotta make a pick, so here goes nothing.

Right off the bat, I’m ruling out The Forgotten Sons, and purely because of Wesley Blake. He once tagged with current WWE Cruiserweight champion Buddy Murphy and they held the NXT Tag titles for over 200 days. That was three years ago. I will say, however, that Jaxson Ryker looks like a guy who’ll be really good as time goes on.

I’m sure the WWE Management really want Duke and Shafir to grow so they can run that Horsewomen vs. Horsewomen angle that everyone seems to be pining for. I saw Duke wrestle live at the end of November and she looked better than I expected, and Shafir was outside the ring working the crowd in expert fashion.

Keith Lee seems like a solid competitor. That’s all I got on him.

Mia Yim participated in both Mae Young Classic tournaments and was promoted pretty well, each time. Now that she’s an official NXT signee, she seems poised to make a decent run.

Dominik Dijakovic recently had vignettes running prior to his NXT TV “debut.” I’ve seen him wrestle before and he seems fine. Obviously, he’s good enough to get production money spent on him.

Io Shirai finished 2nd in the 2018 Mae Young Classic and has been teaming with Kairi Sane on NXT’s road trips. If they end up grouping together for a while, that could give Shirai a good boost.

Candice LeRae looks tiny, but she’s a tough SOB. I think she’s got a shot at being a strong contender in the NXT Women’s division. Especially if she goes with a more aggressive personality.

Matt Riddle arrived with a lot of fanfare and so far he’s produced great results. He knows what he’s doing, and he’s only going to get better.

Kona Reeves has a gimmick that gives him genuine heat from the crowd. He could be a little better in the ring, but he hasn’t looked terrible or unsafe, and that means he can improve.

It’s really hard to make this pick with very little to base it on, so I’m gonna pick based on who I want to have a good year.


Boots’ pick for NXT Future Star of the Year: Candice LeRae

Four categories down, four more to go in the coming days, and then on to the big Match of the Year blog. Stay tuned and see what my picks are for Rivalry, Male, Female, and Overall Competitor of the Year, as well as a tribute to NXT greats of the past.

Feel free to argue with me on Twitter at @Boots_33 if you disagree with me and I’ll contemplate whether I should block or merely mute you for it. Otherwise, be nice and we can be Twitter buds.

Thanks for reading. Keep it chill, everybody.