NXT TRACKER – The Street Profits: Assessing and predicting the prospects of NXT wrestlers’ main roster future

Welcome once again to the NXT TRACKER, where I pick an NXT talent, assess their progression to this point, and make bold, sure-to-look-hilarious-in-retrospect predictions about their future. I haven’t done a tag team in a good while, so let’s cast our eyes upon the Street Profits.

The Talent

Angelo Dawkins has had a long NXT career that has seemingly never seen him get close to a callup to the main roster. His first televised match was in June of 2013, a loss against Sami Zayn, which started him down a long road of enhancement matches. He was paired with another rudderless act, Sawyer Fulton, and again was used as enhancement. Finally, last summer, Dawkins was presented as half the tag team that would finally see him be a winning act, the Street Profits, with Montez Ford.

Though Ford is the same age as Dawkins, he’s been in NXT a much shorter time, signing in 2015 and not reaching TV until his pairing with Dawkins. Ford is engaged to another promising NXT prospect, Bianca Belair.

http://www.wwe.com/videos/street-profits-celebrate-their-first-round-win-in-the-dusty-rhodes-tag-team-classic-wwecom

Signature Wins in NXT

Until their loss in a decently competitive match with the Authors of Pain for #1 contendership for the NXT tag titles, the Profits were undefeated, though this half-year of dominance was only in enhancement matches with the odd match thrown in against Tino Sabbatelli and Riddick Moss. These matches with Sabbatelli and Moss remained their biggest wins until recently, though they were also part of the storyline where Lars Sullivan was paired with enhancement talent, with the enhancement losing and being destroyed by Sullivan. They beat Heavy Machinery two weeks ago in the Dusty Classic quarterfinals in a match that surprised me with its brevity, so they’ll get another shot at the Authors in a match that has already been worked but not aired.

Live Reactions

Given how long Dawkins floundered in NXT, it warms the heart to see him in a successful act with main roster potential. On both my podcasts – the PWT Talks NXT cast here on the Torch as well as Wrestling Jabronis – we talked about how good a sign it is if you’re able to sell a $15-20 Solo cup just because your team logo is on it. Montez Ford is dynamite in the ring, and provides the right energy after a hot tag. I’ve mentioned it both here and on PWT Talks NXT, but I really thing Ford’s potential is huge.

The Booking

NXT is a well-run show through and through, but at the moment there are a lot of tag teams, and the majority of them are working babyface, leaving the Profits with nothing to do but fight Sabbatelli and Moss while high-priority acts get the title shots. In the meantime, NXT has done a reasonably good job of keeping this team hot with backstage vignettes and show-opening enhancement wins. While I expect them to lose their rematch with the Authors of Pain, this isn’t the kind of loss that particularly hurts a team. It could also be the match that launches the Street Profits in the case that they get a shocking roll-up victory, which wouldn’t upset me either.

The Future and Predictions

While I’d love to see Ford reach high potential as a singles star, I hope this day doesn’t come too soon, because Dawkins was never given a singles push and he could flounder horribly if this team splits imminently. With merch sales apparently being strong, though, I shouldn’t worry. This team seems to have a translatable act to the main roster, and would be a good addition to either show in short order, whether it’s decided they should have NXT success first or not. I think these two will go up together, and wouldn’t be surprised if this happens in 2018.

NOW CHECK OUT THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: NXT TRACKER – JOHNNY GARGANO: Assessing and predicting the prospects of an NXT wrestler’s main roster future