NXT Rankings & Evaluation
By George Chiverton, PWTorch NXT specialist

It’s been a big week for NXT with vignettes and debuts left, right, and centre. I’ll get to all of these after reviewing this past week’s NXT. Firstly, though, I would like to express my deep sadness following the Ultimate Warrior's death. His explosive energy and enthusiasm will never be replicated and I’m exceptionally glad he got the recognition he deserved before he died. Rest in peace Warrior.

- Let’s start off with some rankings before we get to the huge Raw from Monday. And we have an addition to make.

Network Era Rankings #5

(1) Sami Zayn
(2) Corey Graves
(3) Adrian Neville
(4) Paige
(5) Bo Dallas
(6) Emma
(7) Tyler Breeze
(8) Charlotte
(9) The Ascension
(10) Mojo Rawley
(11) Sasha Banks (debut)
(12) Colin Cassidy
(13) Aiden English
(14) C.J. Parker

- I’ve chosen to put Banks at 11th. Although she is undoubtedly a talented wrestler (more so than the majority of the cast of Total Divas), she can’t keep losing and get over. Admittedly, her losses serve to protect the hugely talented Charlotte. However, could she not face a jobber or two? The other reason she’s not higher is NXT talent just keeps getting better and better. You look at Graves vs. Zayn this past week and there’s a very real chance that a re-match will be taking place for a top title one day. Here’s to hoping at least.

- Let’s talk about the main roster, shall we? And I think the biggest piece of news to address is Paige now being the Divas champion. Oh man, I popped like a balloon filled with dynamite when her music hit and seeing the girl from Norwich, England win the big one on her first Raw appearance had me dancing. She absolutely deserves it and is 100 percent the total package.

As I’ve always said, she could be a one-woman revolution, and having her debut with no hype in front of hardcore Mania fans (many of whom would have been Brits) was a genius move. It gave her that edge of unpredictability and freshness and now a feud with A.J. will have about everyone super-excited. In short, full approval from me and well done to Paige. I bet her mum’s well proud.

- Bo Dallas’s vignettes had me laughing out loud. The imagery of children and eagles and blue skies was absolutely spot-on for his smarmy well-wisher persona and I think elevating him now is about right. At NXT, there’s not a lot left for him, and his character seems to have reached its full potential. Hence the time is right to translate and he is now main roster worthy for sure. Whether he has the skill and talent to maintain main show longevity is another question. However, if he’s ever going to do it, that time is now.

- Adam Rose debuting this soon into new character has me concerned. Unless he has been getting both time and massive support at house shows, this character is still too new and unproven to be gambling on the main roster. Don’t get me wrong, the gimmick is great. However, although the initial signs were good, there were still issues. Yes, these were issues which were being addressed, but why not wait six months, let him get the character down, and then send him up? To me it makes no sense.

My only answer is that perhaps they see Rose as someone to stick in the mid-card and not a lot more with. Hence taking a gamble on a quick burst of popularity doesn’t really mean they’re wasting a potential future mega-star like, for instance, Zayn. Rose/Kruger has been around WWE for a long time and perhaps now it’s a case of make or break. Best of luck to him, and if he manages any degree of longevity and success with the one-dimensional character we’ve seen he will have succeeded where many else have failed. Just ask Fandango or Clay.

- Finally, Rusev’s debut was exactly what I expected from the big man. He’ll be fine.

***

4/3 NXT Evaluation

- NXT started with Emma vs. Sasha Banks, who was accompanied to ringside by Charlotte and stick Summer Rae. Emma had the better of the early exchanges with some great comedic wrestling. This involved a spot where she hit the ropes and Sasha dropped to the mat assuming Emma would hop over her and continue running. Emma, though, jumped Sasha before also hitting the mat so the two divas were lying next to each other, looking like two girls at a ‘slumber party.' This left ‘The Boss’ very confused and Full Sail giggling.

After a period of control, Emma was sent face-first into the second turnbuckle, allowing Ms. Banks to take control. The NXT Universe chanted ‘Sasha’s ratchet,’ which fortunately for me and fellow Englishman William Regal was explained in full by Renee (apparently it’s not very nice). Emma got the tarantula and the splash in the corner, which led to an attempted intervention by Charlotte. It back-fired, though, and Sasha was sent right into her BFF. The Emma Lock was then good for the win. Yet another loss for Banks while Emma stays at the top end of NXT.

- There was a video package on Mojo Rawley promoting an appearance next week. His star is rising.

- WrestleMania package on The Undertaker. Poor deadman.

- The Ascension were out next looking awesome as awesome. Tom Phillips on commentary went with, ‘The bulldozers are here,’ before highlighting their very long reign as champions. These two have really come a long way. They were against jobbers called Jack Hurley and John Vandle. The spelling there is probably wrong, but they weren’t given name plates so I wouldn’t know. Konnor bodyslammed Vandle - the smaller of the two - onto the ropes, meaning his head slammed onto the mat. That is a dangerous move that I wouldn’t mind not seeing again. Anyway, Fall of Man and the win, blah blah blah. You know the drill by now.

- The crowd was notified that Tyler Breeze had entered the building before Xavier Woods made his entrance in preparation for facing Brodus Clay. Brodus had new music and a lot of anger about him. Xavier came out hot with big kicks, but then got caught with a great suplex. I love a good suplexer like Tazz and Brodus certainly has that capacity.

Xavier fought out of a nervehold with some silence-shattering chops and kicks, but Brodus came out the corner with a headbutt. A standing powerbomb and a splash from the second rope then sealed the deal. He got on the microphone and explained WWE took everything from him: his music, his girls, and his tag team partner. Now, though, he was doing the taking and he was starting with the NXT Title.

The Brodus that should have beaten Johnny Curtis in Season 4 of NXT is back and that has me very excited. The guy has a legitimate chip on his shoulder and building a character on that is smart. However, the booking issue here is that he left his feet a couple of times in the match, and that’s not exactly Wrestling 101 in building a monster; especially against a smaller dude like Xavier. Still, I’m excited to get on this journey and let’s see where it takes him.

- Backstage, Adrian Neville rebuffed Brodus by saying you can’t just walk down to NXT and take the title. He went on to say NXT is just as good as Raw and Smackdown and that you have to earn your opportunities. If Brodus earned his chance, though, Neville was ready. This was a solid and serious promo where Adrian not only stood up for himself, but the whole of NXT. 10/10 would watch again.

- Yoshi Tatsu was in the ring awaiting Tyler Breeze, who made his entrance, pouts and all. Regal threw out some hilarious spiel about a humpback dwarf making Tyler’s outfit. Then, the match sort of just happened. It was a short match where Breeze didn’t mess about with his phone or anything. He wrestled, hit his finisher, and won the match. I’m all right with this.

- Backstage, Sami Zayn said he was ready for his match against Graves. Zayn looked chiseled in a way he never did on the indies. Someone also caught up to Graves, who said the underdog (Sami) had got lost in the forest.

- There was a video package on Paige where she looked badass and her ‘anti-diva’ message was well put across. Obviously more from her on the main roster going forward.

Paige was then shown backstage, where she cut a lovely, natural promo about how Charlotte ruined her moment at arrival, setting up the match between the two for the NXT Women’s Title.

- Main event time with 15-plus minutes still on the clock. Yay. Graves was out first looking like a guy who didn’t give a damn. As Regal put it, ‘he has an air of pure menace about him.' Zayn was out in his awesome flag tights, which were last seen at NXT Arrival. He was also accompanied by some huge cheers and chants.

Sami wanted to get going, but Graves just sat in the corner looking swag. I’m sorry I just did that. Graves continued to stall by ducking through the ropes whenever Zayn approached. Sami was getting frustrated and gave Graves a slap while being pulled away by the ref. Graves went outside the ring and began walking away from the ring. Great psychology.

Sami eventually took the bait but was ready for the attack outside the ring and delivered a clothesline to take control. Back in the ring, Zayn hit some great chops and a back body drop. He clotheslined Corey to the outside and Sami set off to hit a ridiculous somersault plancha over the top. Sami kept control until Graves hit a knee into the side of Zayn’s head. Given his recent concussion at the hands of Graves, this took all the energy out the Canadian.

They started to sell the idea that Sami was concussed and Graves kept going for the head. When he got to his feet, Sami swung wildly for Graves, missing with every shot. Regal started to get concerned while Graves pulled on chinlocks and really crisp strikes.

The ref took every chance to check on Zayn while Graves kept hammering down and locking on nasty headlocks. Of note, the ref really did a great job in this match at adding to the story. Zayn rolled out of one and began a comeback, which was cut off with a backdrop into a facebuster. Graves tried for a corner attack, but Zayn caught him with an exploder suplex into the corner for a two count. He managed a Blue Thunder Bomb, which was good for a two. Regal did a good job of pointing out Zayn’s eyes were everywhere indicating a concussion.

The two clashed heads following an attempted reversal, adding to the already significant concern. Sami tried to get to the top rope but didn’t have the balance leading to massive concern from Regal. It was uncomfortable in the best possible way for a wrestling match. A big right hand from Graves allowed him to lock in Lucky 13. Sami was out on the mat, so the ref called it. There was no tap out, though.

Great match for the sadistic Corey and a great set up for the pay-off match in future. Zayn was frustrated after the match, but the ref was portrayed as being in the right here. These two are both great and they put on a great match/angle to set up redemption for Sami. Really great stuff and fantastic storytelling.

- That’ll do for this week. I hope to see you ‘orrible lot next week where I’ll write more non-sense and you’ll read it with a rightful feeling of superiority. If you wanna leave me a comment, that’d be great but let’s not get too desperate about it (although if you do you’ll be my best friend and can come to my birthday party).

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