WWE NXT Rankings & Evaluation
By George Chiverton, PWTorch NXT specialist

We’re back and we have some rankings that went unexplained last week. Let’s get to that. Here are the rankings and movements we established last week (yes ‘we,’ this is a tyranny):

Latest Network Era NXT Rankings

(1a) Sami Zayn
(1b) Charlotte (NXT Women’s champion) (+1)
(3) Adrian Neville (NXT champion)
(4) The Ascension (+2)
(5) Tyler Breeze (-1)
(6) Bayley (+3)
(7) Tyson Kidd (-2)
(8) Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady (+2)
(9) The Vaudevillians (-2)
(10) Lucha Dragons (NXT Tag champions) (-2)
(11) Sasha Banks (+1)
(12) Becky Lynch
(13) The Legionnaires (+3)
(14) Alexa Bliss (-3)
(15) Bull Dempsey
(16) CJ Parker
(17) Mojo Rawley

If you want details on my numbers 1 to 8 then check out my article from last week here. We got all the links here at PWTorch. Oh by the way, make sure you go VIP. Brilliant stuff there.

The Vaudevillians have fallen to ninth after very promising early signs as semi-comical faces who could go in the ring. Now, though, they are miscast, confused, and just a bit broken. NXT has always done well at deciding when wrestlers should turn, with a slow burn paying off for Bo Dallas and about to pay off big time for Adrian Neville. Here, it is painfully apparent that Creative felt they needed some heels for the tag division and having broken up the Legionnaires turned to essentially their only option. Heel music does not make the heel wrestlers. Simon Gotch will be a face star one day and at the moment they are simply frustrating.

Lucha Dragons fell a slightly harsh two places. The Vaudevillians have slightly more promise and when cast correctly will be a force to be reckoned with. The Lucha Dragons, although fantastic in the ring, are suffering slightly from Uso syndrome and NXT has some big personalities. As a result they seem to be fading into the background a little bit. A big match for the titles against The Vaudevillians will be very telling.

Sasha Banks is in her groove at the moment and finally winning enough matches to be considered a contender. Well, against most she would, but against Charlotte she will have to come up with something clever to credibly beat her. And, I just think she might. Watch this space as the ‘Bawss’ with the title? Interesting concept.

Becky Lynch is a goofy gal with a punk rock persona. Like a snowy day at Gatwick Airport, it’s hard making the connections. I’ve talked a lot about her in recent weeks and as a heel I can’t see it working any better.

The Legionnaires have a big jump after actually being on television, although soon I think I may morph this just to Marcus Louis. For now, what we know is that: Louis shows promise as an orc, Sylvester Lefort is probably better suited as a manager who can take a bump, and being named after a disease has yet to hold them back.

Alexa Bliss hasn’t been about as of late and after a few slightly botchy moments she may have been placed on the backburner. An athlete like her has a future, it may not be starting just yet is all.

Bull Dempsey isn’t Kevin Steen and that’s why he is 15th. C.J. Parker needs to work stiffer and on his character as he is completely failing to get over. Mojo Rawley is green as the line under most of this article and my grammar good isn’t.

So that rounds it out, I guess. There are fluctuations still to occur and debutants on the waiting list but, for now, this looks to me as a pretty comprehensive list of the best assets to WWE available at NXT. Let’s have a look at last week's episode which was a big’un.

11/6 NXT Episode Analysis

- NXT came out swinging with Tyler Breeze vs. Sami Zayn for the de facto number one contendership to Adrian Neville’s title. I do wish that NXT GM William Regal had come out and explicitly made that the case. It would have added to the atmosphere and reinforced Regal’s authority, which up to now has been disappointingly lacking.

Reactions on the way to the ring were as you’d expect with Sami really connecting as per every week. They started slow and technical going through the pinning motions with Breeze indicating with his fingers that he was *that* close to pinning Zayn. After this happened three times Zayn simply indicated Breeze was in fact indicating the length of his Benjamin Rodsworth, if you know what I mean (which I doubt).

Zayn’s matches always have these little bursts of story which keep every part of the match entertaining. He is utterly fantastic. Years being under a mask as El Generico meant he had to entertain using only his eyes and his gestures. Combining that experience with the fact he can now use his facial expressions and talk properly (man the Generico character was awesome though) means you have one hell of an engaging wrestler. Gush gush gush.

They exchanged wristlocks before Breeze whipped Sami into the ropes. Sami spring-boarded off the second rope over an oncoming Breeze before hitting, in my opinion, the most beautiful move in wrestling today; Sami Zayn’s arm drag. They are precise but fluent but equally so filled with character. Ricky Steamboat number one? Hmm… (Further gushing)

Tyler rolled onto the apron, but Zayn went to meet him. Unfortunately he got hung up on the ropes and Breeze took some control. He finished this with a chinlock which drew a brief comeback from Zayn. Breeze cut this off though hitting an innovative bulldog into the second turnbuckle in the style of The Miz’s corner clothesline. A two count later, Breeze was back into a reverse chinlock while Byron Saxton heeled it up on commentary in regard to Zayn’s road to redemption. He is an excellent colour commentator, managing to get himself over as the obvious bad guy, but also setting up credible obstacles for faces to overcome: e.g. continually pointing out Sami doesn’t win the big one. It's another asset both main shows could do with.

After some sustained offence from Breeze, Sami suddenly exploded with a clothesline and fired up. More big strikes followed, but when he went for the Blue Thunder Bomb, Breeze reversed into a nasty sit-out neckbreaker for a two count. Sami rolled to the apron and managed to fend off Tyler and get to the top rope. Breeze then tried to meet him, but got punched down. Sami tried to hit a big cross-body, but flew straight into a massive dropkick from Breeze. This was a very close two count again and both men needed a moment to recover. Breeze brought Sami to his feet with some bombs, but then Sami grabbed him and hit a full-shot DDT into an attempted Kojima clutch. Breeze had it scouted, though, and wriggled out the back. He then tried a supermodel kick (brilliant) and this was countered and then the counter was countered and then another counter and counter and counter and then Sami ran into a massive superkick, which seemed good for three. It was very, very close but Sami stayed alive.

Breeze backed into a corner looking to set up his spinning heel kick finisher. But, Sami slowly got to his feet before falling back into the turnbuckle. Breeze readjusted and charged in only to get caught by Zayn, who utterly destroyed Breeze with an exploder suplex into the turnbuckle before the helluva kick nailed him the victory. Hot dog we have a wiener.

Yeah, that was fantastic. I don’t need to say any more than that. Just really brilliant stuff from both men.

- Backstage, Renee Young was with Adrian Neville, who said he now considers Sami the number one contender. He also said that he is ready for the match any time, any place, before signing off with the ‘can’t win the big one’ tag line. Yup.

- Hey, it’s time for a singles debut for one Mr. Dash Wilder. He would be losing to Tyson Kidd. That’s a guess, but if that is the case, what does that achieve? He gets nothing for beating a guy at the bottom of the card after his high-profile recent losses, which for Kidd were completely without a cathartic conclusion to give him a little credibility. Kidd needs a real opponent if they want him to be a player at NXT.

Wilder, who is ironically built a lot like David Hart Smith, used his size to win the opening exchanges. Kidd looked as if to say 'okay, now I get it,' before beating Dash with strikes into the corner. Kidd then slingshotted the debutant while he was under the bottom turnbuckle, absolutely smashing his face. That was brutal. Kidd then settled into and cranked on a chinlock. Wilder fought to his feet and got in his offence, including catching a leap-frogging Tyson Kidd into a scoop powerslam. Paging one Mr. Hart Smith, your identity has been stolen. I jest, but their ring styles are very similar. Kidd hit a Fisherman's neckbuster a second later before a Sharpshooter rounded off his victory. It was perfectly good for what it was, but it did feel a little pointless. NXT has so many great stories that these sorts of encounters always feel a bit stranded.

- Backstage, Marcus Louis was Kane-ing it up going crazy over people making fun of him. This could be fun and Marcus is clearly all in.

- Renee interviewed Sami Zayn, who explained he was ready for his shot at Neville next week on NXT. Renee then said she would set that up with Regal. REALLY? NOW THE INTERVIEWER IS SETTING UP THE MATCHES? Sigh.

- Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte and Bayley was up next. Becky Lynch came out super heel punk; by comparison, Bayley looked well placed while Charlotte looked perfect. I say it every week - she is the complete champion. Becky Lynch and Bayley started the match, and Bayley came out the gates aggressive. This stayed on when Banks got tagged in. Bayley beat her down before taking her to the corner on Charlotte’s request. Banks bailed on the chance to face Charlotte and hence Lynch got womanhandled by Charlotte for, well, a while I guess?

Charlotte took Lynch into Banks’s corner and screamed at Sasha to tag in, but she refused. After some antics, Banks managed to catch Charlotte from behind. She tagged in and went big on some strikes, before cowardly tagging out to leave Lynch to take the blame. Charlotte was immediately up and started destroying Lynch once again. For lack of a better term she looked pissed and it was it was badass. She eventually got done smashing her opponent and tagged in Bayley, who lightened the mood. Lynch managed to get Bayley to her corner and soon Banks was in and bullying Bayley.

Banks taunted Charlotte the whole time before tagging in Lynch. Lynch did some wrestling and then in came Banks once again. Bayley reversed out of some offence into a T-Bone suplex. She went for the tag, but Lynch was there to attempt to make the same. Although she missed and went tumbling to the outside, it gave Banks enough time to blast Charlotte. Bayley couldn’t reach the tag. As a result and by the time she could, Lynch was distracting Charlotte on the outside. Banks seized on this and blindsided Charlotte on the apron with a clothesline. Bayley tried to take advantage and roll up the distracted Banks for the win, but Banks rolled through though and one, two, three we have an upset!

This was a really great match that did a huge amount to put Charlotte over as an absolute beast. She looked totally dominant and seemed potentially able to beat both women on her own. But, ingeniously the heels still came off with the win. Having built no hype at all, Banks vs. Charlotte has suddenly heated up. I wanna see Banks get beat!

- William Regal was in his office when Renee came in. Regal said he doesn’t care what the talent wants, he has to do what’s right for business. But, he went on to say that Zayn has beaten the people he has, and he should be the number one contender, so it’s okay. Neville vs. Zayn was set for next week. Me thinks that will be fantastic, but not THE match, if you know what I mean.

- So, here is a question. How do you main event this show? The Ascension, apparently. The former tag champs called out Hideo Itami after being distracted in the tag battle royal (amongst other things). Their entrance is utterly great.

Viktor got on the mic and said Hideo isn’t getting the message before Konnor invited Hideo out. Hideo made his way slowly onto the stage, before his tag partner was revealed. Finn Balor! Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaah. The former Prince Devitt made his way slowly out looking like a genetically engineered person. His body fat percentage must be about 1.0 percent. I swear, that is ridiculous. He had simple black trunks on, saving his indie-famous body paint for a bigger match down the line. Smart.

Itami and Balor charged the ring and the fight was on. Hideo and Balor beat The Ascension into opposing corners before charging back and forth to hit hesitation dropkicks a-plenty. Konnor rolled to the outside and Finn hit a vicious double foot stomp from the apron. He then glided into the ring and hit at Pele Kick while Full Sail chanted ‘Dream team, Dream team.’

Konnor foolishly crawled back into the ring, where Hideo taunted while Finn climbed to the top. Konnor began to get to his feet but then Booooom! A disgusting double foot stomp which had me going mental. That is a debut to remember and re-watch and a fitting close to a very strong NXT. I think NXT's next special in December will be the best show this year.

I’ll see you next week for a title match, more Balor and extra servings of mediocrity. I’ll see you then.

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