Top 5 NXT Superstars Of The Year
5) Enzo and Big Cas
Kick starting my top five NXT superstars of the year is the only tag team to feature in this particular post. This is a tag team that have been extremely consistent throughout both the year of two thousand and fifteen and their entire NXT Career. Of course I'm talking about Enzo Amore and Big Cas. Now, while these two may not be the best wrestlers in the world they are without a doubt two of the biggest names in NXT and have been for the past two years or so. Together Enzo and Cas have become one of the most popular/over tag teams in NXT. Their full of character, the mic skills of Enzo in particular are very impressive, after all he does have an entire room full copying he's every single word week in and week out, and throughout the year they have shown some solid improvements in their wrestling ability. One of the best developments we saw from Enzo and Cas this yea was the addition of Carmella. It gave them that little something they were missing and made them so much stronger. Adding Carmella to the mix also meant that Storyline wise Enzo and Cas were busy throughout the year and were able to use her to generate even more attention. Mid way through the year Amore and Cas where put in a great feud with Buddy Murphy and Wesley Blake (with Alexa Bliss soon joining the mix) for the tag team championships. They may not have come up on top at the end of the feud but this one of the storyline's I was most invested in and entertained by. I will of course link a couple of blog post bellow where I speak a little more about this feud and a couple of the matches that we saw go down between the two teams. In my opinion it was this storyline/feud that allowed both Enzo and Cas to show how far they have come with their wrestling ability and they were pushed to their limits in the ring. They both of course sill have a long way to go with their wrestling but no one can deny the improvements they have made. What I have been impressed with this year has been their story telling ability. This has stood out for me more than anything with these two and they have left me very impressed. With every storyline they have took on their story telling has been pretty impressive and I had to mention it in today's blog post. Creating my top five NXT Superstars of the year was pretty difficult and to start off with this was just going to be a list counting down the best wrestlers of the year on the roster but no one can deny the fact that Enzo and Cas are two of the most entertaining superstars in all of the WWE and not having them in this top five was no an option this year.
4) Baron Corbin
Up next and in at number four is Baron Corbin. Now I have spent a lot of time talking about Corbin here on my blog throughout the past year so I promise I wont bore you and write another book long piece about him. I will of course link a couple of blog post bellow where I have spoken about him even more just in case you are new to blog. I know this may be a little bias considering how much of a big fan I am of Corbin but I honestly believe that he has been one of the top NXT superstars of two thousand and fifteen. I won't deny the fact that he still has a long way to go before he is of the standard of some like Finn Balor or Samoa Joe but he has come so so far in the past the year whether you love him or hate him you cannot deny that he has come a long long way from where he was this time last year. At the start of twenty fifteen it was a slow build up for Corbin. For months we saw him booked the same way we had seen him during he's debut months. It did get to the point where the squash matches were boring me and I just didn't really pay any attention to them but every single one of those matches did what they needed to do. They built him up and showed him to be a dominate character. A character we should all be watching out for and paying very very close attention to. To take him up to the next level and build he's momentum even more we saw Corbin feud with Bull Dempsey and Rhyno and on both occasions he came up on top defeating them both on several occasions. To be completely honest I wasn't the biggest fan of he's feud with Bull. Their matches for me were very disappointing and didn't deliver to the standard I was expecting them too. The feud with Rhyno was much better written and was far more entertaining in my opinion but it still didn't wow me as much as I was expecting it to. However, both those feuds were very key for Corbin this year, particularly he's feud with Rhyno, simply because it allowed even more matches and stories to take place later on in the year. It was this feud that allowed Corbin to slowly show more in the ring and he was impressive but he was missing something and we still needed to see a lot more from him. Turning Corbin heel during the early stages of the year was the right move to make. After building up a name for himself and a following creating such a dominate heel with the way he was being booked was always going to get people talking and it did just that. Baron Corbin, I hate to say it, but has almost the same effect on the fans as Roman Reigns does. You either love him or hate him. He's the guy that the WWE love and want to push but he still has a long long way to go before proving himself. The night that Corbin really did arrive in my opinion is without a doubt NXT Takeover Brooklyn when he took on Samoa Joe in a lengthy match that forced him to show everyone a whole new side to him. After that night he was never really the same and started wrestling longer matches and was much much more impressive. He's wrestling ability was stronger and we saw a lot lot more of him. We were finally able to see just how much potential he has. He was dominate in over the top battle royals, he's matches were very impressive and when up against top talents like Apollo Crews, Samoa Joe and even Finn Balor was an all-round stand out superstar. He of course still has a long way to go but with him a top star on Breaking ground, getting the huge push he is getting and the fact the WWE are so high up on him two thousand and fifteen is bound to be rather amazing for Baron Corbin and I'm predicting great things.
3) Samoa Joe
One of the biggest shocks of the year was without a doubt the NXT debut of Samoa Joe. Completely unexpected on the night, Samoa Joe, a man who has cemented himself as one of the best in the world, finally made he's way to the WWE and he was put in the best place in the business, NXT. Now, even though I initially wasn't sure what to think of him going to NXT instead of straight to the main roster I now know that the WWE could not have made a better decision. After all, NXT is the home of the very best in the world as it has proven all year round. Right? I remember that on the night he arrived I almost had a mini heart attack. There had been rumours for a while of Joe signing with NXT and even though I was expecting him to eventually arrive on the scene I was not expecting it to be on that night what so ever and I was left completely speechless. Well, I say speechless, my neighbours I'm sure will say otherwise. Focusing he's attention on Kevin Owens (the NXT champion at the time), Joe arrived and sent a huge message and made a huge impact. Everyone in the crowd went insane as did everyone at home. Samoa Joe was in NXT. Just when you thought things couldn't get any better. He's work with Owens and small alliance with Finn Balor allowed Joe to fit right into the roster and the main event picture. He throughout the year has been booked amazingly well by WWE taking on the best superstars NXT has to offer and competing in some of the best matches of the year. I will admit I was disappointed we didn't get more going on between him and Owens but it was great while it lasted and you know for a fact the two will collide once again at some point in the future. I very much enjoyed he's mini feud with Baron Corbin as well. I felt as though he really did bring out the best in Corbin back at NXT Takeover Brooklyn (my review for that entire show will be linked bellow at the end of the post). It was one of the most surprising matches of the year and I was left very very impressed. It has been refreshing seeing Joe take on multiple opponents at all different ends of the roster. We also saw him team up with Finn Balor to win the Dusty Rhodes tag team classic witch just added to the reason why he is at number three in my top five NXT Superstars of the year. Every match he competed in during the classic was strong and entertaining and he worked amazingly well with Balor creating great chemistry. Their alliance also meant that the recent heel turn had an even stronger effect and worked even more. This year we have already seen Joe take on the likes of Apollo Crews, Finn Balor, Rhyno, Kevin Owens, and Baron Corbin. We have seen him work as both a heel and baby face and cementing himself as the new face of NXT we can only expect two thousand and fourteen to be even stronger for Samoa Joe as he continues to make he's mark in the WWE and NXT.
2) Bayley
In at number two is the only diva to feature in my top five NXT Superstars of the year. She's the current NXT Women's Champion. I'm of course talking about the one and only, Bayley. To be completely honest, I wasn't sure whether or not to have Bayley in this blog post considering she was bound to be to in my top five divas of the year blog post but after I created the rule that only superstars who were currently on the NXT roster would be in my top five NXT superstars of the year post and due to the fact that Bayley has been such a vital talent in NXT I had to have her in the list. It just didn't feel right not to have her there. If you have been reading my blog from the start or even following me on twitter (my social media links will be listed bellow at the end of the post) then you will know that I actually didn't start off as a Bayley fan. This time last year I was one of her biggest critics and as I have mentioned before I just wasn't invested in or entertained by the character what so ever. However, this year, Bayley turnt my opinions around completely and I can now officially call my self a huge Bayley fan. Maybe not Izzy huge but you know what I mean. Her character is one that despite is aimed at the younger audience connects with the entire NXT universe. She manages to genuinely make you happy and that's something that is so so rare in wrestling today. She just put's a smile on my face and makes me feel like I'm a seven year old kid again. What I love even more about Bayley is the fact that she is so much more than a great character. Bayley is simply a phenomenal wrestler. We have always seen her compete to a strong standard in the ring whenever the camera is on her. She has great chemistry with so many of the women on the roster and works amazingly well with every single one of them but this year she was able to bring something very different and we saw Bayley perform to a level that I don't think anyone expected her to perform at. One of the biggest truing points of Bayley's career this year was her performance in the fatal four way match back in February for the NXT Women's Championship. Now she may not have been the winner of the match but she was such a solid stand out of the entire night and she upped her game to a whole new level! She moved around that ring with such ease and like a true veteran. Her place in the match was clear and she delivered spots that had me literally speechless! It was probably that night that my opinions on Bayley took a dramatic turn around. Now, throughout the year of twenty fifteen there has only been one thing on Bayley's mind and that's the NXT Women's Championship. That has been her main focus and her goal throughout her career but this year she changed her attitude and approach completely and after returning from an injury she took not long after that very fatal four way Bayley's road to becoming champion truly began. She had a decent feud with Emma witch added to her momentum and popularity. She then focused on proving herself even more and was able to defeat both Becky Lynch and former NXT Women's Champion Charlotte, who Bayley has amazing chemistry with. Putting on solid matches against all three divas things were looking really really strong for Bayley and the only way was up. But no one could have predicted just how high things would really get for her. Taking on Sasha Banks at NXT Takeover Brooklyn, the two divas fought in one of the greatest matches in NXT history and in the end Bayley finally won the big one when she pinned Banks to become the new NXT Women's Champion. A couple of months later they made history once again where Bayley went on to defeat Sasha Banks in the first ever women's Ironman match and became the first two divas to main event an NXT special. What more can I possibly say? Bayley this year has become a star. She has won over the NXT universe completely taking us all on an amazing journey to her becoming champion. She's made history time and time again and has battled every single diva who has stood in her way whether it be Sasha Banks, Alexa Bliss, Charlotte, Becky Lynch, Emma or anyone else. She's one of the biggest NXT stars and after such a phenomenal year things can only get better for Bayley and I had to have her in this blog post.
1) Finn Balor
Deciding on an NXT Superstar of the year if I'm being honest, wasn't very difficult at all and I kinda of knew who I was going to have at number one mid way through the year. When you look back at twenty fifteen there is no denying the simple fact that NXT really did take over as the product reached a whole new level thanks to more live shows, touring, and huge signs. One of the biggest signings we saw in the year of two thousand and fourteen came from Finn Balor previously known as Prince Devitt. When I found out about him finally joining the WWE and most importantly joining NXT I could not have been happier. I'm someone who has been following Fergal's career for a long time and he's someone who personally is a huge inspiration. I knew what he could and would be brining to NXT. He's signing made everyone realise that what was once only a developmental brand was now the home of some of the best wrestlers in the world. Just like the rest of the world, I much anticipated Balor's debut and spent weeks and weeks hopeing it finally be the night he made he's arrival and in November of last year Balor finally made he's NXT TV debut allying himself with Hideo Itami, another major major signing. During the early stages of twenty fifteen, Balor continued working with Hideo taking out the longest reigning NXT Tag team champions in history, The Ascension. The two international superstars were able to knock off the NXT veterans almost every single time they stepped in the ring with one another but there was always one stand out. Finn Balor. Whether if it was he's mind blowing demon entrance of simply he's phenomenal wrestling ability, Balor found himself the star of the show and became one to watch throughout the year the moment he stepped through the curtain. To be honest, the WWE did take a slower approach with him than I expected but it worked perfectly. Instead of rushing him into the championship picture, Finn was able to work he's way up to the top. Allying himself with Hideo to challenge the Ascension put him in the spotlight anyway but that gradual build up allowed those who were not aware of him to understand him/he's character and he's in ring ability. At the second Takeover show of the year we saw Balor go one on one in one of the best matches of the year when he went up against former NXT Champion, Adrian Neville. The two had great chemistry and together were able to put on one of the most memorable NXT matches of the year. It was around this time that Balor really did focus he's attentions on the NXT Championship. The WWE had spent a great deal of time working on building
Top 5 Diva Moments of the year
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