Top 5 NXT Superstars Of 2016
Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa
Kick starting this year's top five NXT Superstars of the year is a tag team.Now, I wasn't sure about this decision and I debated with myself for a long time about whether or not to include tag teams in this post but when I took a look back at the past twelve months there was no one more worthy of Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa taking the number five spot this year. Now, most people reading this would have been a big fan of these two way before they made their way to NXT. I personally have been watching them both quite some time now and so seeing them arrive in NXT really has been amazing to watch and they have been making a huge impact throughout the past year. They have become more of a staple piece of NXT throughout the past four months or so but their work has been strong enough for me to have no choice but to include them in this very special blog post. At the start of the year these two started out simply working random matches here in there both in singles and tag team competition but as the year progressed we saw them really break out in NXT and become one of the strongest tag teams on te roster. Now I know that many of you favor Gargano over the two men but I personally have always been a huge Tommaso Ciampa fan and this year he has been killing it both in and outside for the WWE. This year we saw him compete in a number of singles matches including a decent bout against Samoa Joe. We also saw both Gargano and Ciampa compete in the Cruiserweight classic where they provided us with one of the greatest wrestling matches of twenty sixteen. They went on to put on an even stronger match up against the Revival at NXT Takeover Brooklyn, a match that I noted as one of the best matches of the year and one of the best tag team matches I have ever seen. As these two continue to grow and become even more popular their chances at becoming huge stars in the WWE increase and I cannot wait to sit back and watch as they sure are set to have a brilliant two thousand and seventeen.
Asuka
When you take a look back at the past twelve months and the NXT Women's division it's clear that there has been one women who has stood out more than anyone. One woman who has taken complete control of the division. That woman being the current NXT Women's Champion, Asuka. I'll be honest, while I can accept that Asuka is a fantastic talent and I have been watching her for a few years now I haven't really jumped on the bandwagon as much as so many other fans, however, I cannot deny the simple fact that Asuka has been the most dominate women in NXT this year. No other female competitor has come anywhere near what she has done and no other women has earned their place on this list as much as her. She started the year on a high after defeating Emma at NXT Takeover London last December and slowly started to focus her attentions on the NXT Championship. Now, she may not have picked up any victories over the then champion Bayley, but general manager William Regal felt as though she had earned a title match and so headed into NXT Takeover Dallas the new number one contender to Bayley's championship. Her performance on the night saw her as dominate as ever before, in fact, she took complete control of the bout with Bayley getting barely any offense throughout the match. The bout didn't feel like one of the best matches of the year but that did fall heavily down to the fact that this took place right after Nakamura VS Zayn. Asuka, however, was able to put on a brilliant performance and walk out as champion after she left Bayley unable to compete further, an ending that resulted in Asuka looking like the most dominant women in the entire women's division. After being crowned champion Asuka continued he reign at the top. She went on to compete in several squash matches that only made her look like the huge star that she was and took on the likes of Nia Jax where she was forced to show more versatility and really up her game and change her game plan. She has had several successful title matches including her most recent where she competed in a brilliant singles match against Mickie James at NXT Takeover Toronto. She's also gone an entire year undefeated so why on earth wouldn't she be in this list!?
The Revival
Up next we have our second tag team entry, I don't know how you guys feel about tag teams being included in these posts but I just could not write this year's top five NXT Superstars of the year post without including The Revival. What an amazing year it has been for Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder. Now, you guys will probably remember that at the start of the year I was not the world's biggest fan of these two. I remember when they were first crowned as champs I went on one massive rant talking about how I didn't understand how they could be given the chance to be champions at that point in their career. I didn't know that much about them and I didn't like them holding those titles at all. As the months went by however I began to see myself become their biggest fan. While I still favored other teams every single week these two would deliver. Whenever they stepped into that ring they impressed and whenever they put them titles on the line Dash and Dawson would shine brighter than any other team. As the time passed it became more and more difficult not to fall in love with these two. Their in ring skills are like no other. While they push the idea of No Flips just Fists they manage to entertain every wrestling fan not by doing crazy spots but by providing us with truly fantastic wrestling and I honestly do believe them to be two of the greatest wrestlers in the company today. I will admit that I haven't been a big fan of their all round character and ability to tell a gripping and entertaining story, however, they sure know how to entertain when they step in that ring and throughout the year we have seen them compete in some of the greatest matches not only of the year or to come out of NXT but some of the best tag team matches I have seen in years! They have been one of the teams that really have brought tag team wrestling back to life and I have to say that they really have become one of my favourite tag teams in the world today. Two thousand and sixteen saw the Revival dominate the NXT tag team division. They became the first team to become two-time NXT Champions and have taken out every other rival team that have stood in their way. There was no chance in hell I was gonna avoid putting these two in this year's top five NXT Superstars of the year!
Shinsuke Nakamura
In at number two and just about missing out on the top spot this year and the chance to be named NXT Superstar of the year is the current NXT Champion, Shinsuke Nakamura. Now, I know that many of you reading this may have been expecting to see Nakamura take the number one spot in this post and trust me even I had him down in my notes as the NXT superstar of the year however when I took another look over the past twelve months there was one man who just about topped him and we will get into that in just a moment, for now, lets take a look back at the past year for Shinsuke Nakamura. Personally, I have been a huge fan of Shinsuke for many years. He was the first man that grabbed my attention when I first started watching work from the Japanese scene. His captivating and eccentric character has my attention right from the very start and his unbelievable talent in the ring had been wanting to know more about him every single week. Over the years his fanbase has grown massively and this year we were given the huge news that Shinsuke Nakamura had signed a contract with the WWE and would be joining the NXT roster. He's debut was set to take place at the NXT Takeover Dallas live special with opponent, Sami Zayn. I remember watching that episode of NXT that saw this announcement being made and even though I had heard the rumors I marked out like crazy! Here we had two of my favourite wrestlers in the world competing against one another at a huge event inside an NXT ring. The hype surrounding this match was huge and when the time finally rolled around for Nakamura to make his NXT debut he did not disappoint. Picking up a massive reaction from the live crowd Shinsuke was set to make a huge impact on his first night and that is exactly what he did. Now, over the next couple of weeks your going to see me talk a lot about this one on one match up between Nakamura and Zayn, noted as not only one of the greatest matches of twenty sixteen but a possible all time favourite this was a bout that got the entire world talking as Shinsuke Nakamura arrived in NXT. After defeating Zayn, Nakamura continued to make an impact picking up victories over every man that stepped in the ring with him including former NXT Champion, Finn Balor, another match noted as a one of the best of the year. Eventually, Nakamura earned a shot at the NXT Championship and of course Samoa Joe. As the pair headlined NXT Takeover Brooklyn they easily lived up to the expectations of the fans and provided us with a fantastic main event that in the end saw Nakamura finally win the NXT Championship. Now, he may have been in the WWE for less than a year but two thousand and sixteen saw Shinsuke Nakamura take over NXT. He has become one of the most popular stars in the world of pro wrestling and has featured in a handful of standout matches of the year. I can only predict an even bigger twenty seventeen.Samoa Joe
And finally, in at number one and the two thousand and sixteen NXT Superstar of the year is Samoa Joe. As I mentioned just seconds ago, I originally planned on naming Shinsuke Nakamura as my NXT Superstar of the year, however, upon taking a closer look at the past twelve months I realised that there is no man more suited for the top spot than former champion, Samoa Joe. No man has been more dominant and impressive both in the ring and as a character than Joe and so no man deserves the top spot more than him. Now, Joe ended twenty fifteen chasing after that NXT Championship and as the new year approached he did not take his eyes off the prize. He continued to feud with Finn Balor however after running out of chances he had to begin to earn another title opportunity and so the road to becoming the new number one contender kick started again. This time round Joe had to eliminate both Baron Corbin and Sami Zayn from the picture and while Corbin was an easy man to eliminate from the picture it was a far more difficult job defeating Sami Zayn. However, after several fantastic matches, the pair finally collided in a two out of three falls match that finally saw Samoa Joe earn the right to be named the new number one contender and he and Balor of the entire year. Joe then went on to have maybe not the longest reign but sure impressive one. Defending the title in the first ever NXT Steel cage match against the man he took the championship from, Finn Balor, Joe pulled out yet another brilliant performance and that's something we have seen develop more and more over the past year. Anyone that has been following the career of Samoa Joe for long enough will know all too well that he knows how to tell a brilliant story and this year he has been a part of some of NXT's biggest and best storylines. He has worked as a fantastic and easily the strongest/best heel on the roster. He's direct threats and attacks on General manager William Regal have been a brilliant part of building his character and storylines. His feuds with both Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura have been standouts of twenty sixteen and have shown Joe to be a true fantastic heel and all round performer. He had a brilliant run as champion and has continued to be one of NXT's biggest stars. He's performance this year and the sheer fact he has kept me most entertained has left him as this years NXT Superstar of the year.
And there we have it! My official top five NXT Superstars of the year. Two thousand and sixteen was a brilliant year for NXT that saw a huge change up for the roster and I'm happy with my final top five! As always you can have your say and tell me who you believe has been the number one NXT start of two thousand and sixteen by leaving a comment bellow or by dropping me a tweet over at @TezangiVictoria.
*As I'm just about to post this I realise Tye Dillinger 100% should have been included. I am planning on writing a whole post just on him.*
Recent Blog Posts:
Top 10 WWE Matches of 2016 Part One
WWE Smackdown LIVE Highlights
Top Five WWE Female Superstars of 2016
WWE Roadblock End of the Line Best and Worse Moments
Top Five NXT Matches of 2016
Most Improved WWE Superstars of 2016
Five Superstars WWE Screwed over in 2016
Comments
Post a Comment