5 Reasons To Be Excited About the New Era in NXT

Hello everyone and welcome back to Talk Wrestling World, I hope you are all well and good! Now, its been a while since I last spoke about NXT. Since I started blogging I have always enjoyed writing posts about and focusing on the developmental brand that is NXT.  Since it first began NXT has had everyone in the wrestling community talking for all the right reasons. The show designed to showcase up and coming talent, the stars of the future, and hold place as the land where superstars a made and grow. However, very very quickly NXT grew to become one of the best wrestling brands in the world with every hardcore fan admitting they  believed it was a far stronger show than anything else the WWE were presenting including its flagship show Monday night raw. The developmental territory went from a place for the up and comers to learn, grow and build a following so quickly became the biggest main attraction in wrestling with the roster growing they began to tour not only the US but all around the world including a UK tour which saw an NXT Takeover London special that I got to go to and trust me it was amazing! Over the past four years or so we have seen NXT Superstars such as Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, The Wyatt Family, Paige, Sasha Banks, Charlotte, and Finn Balor just to name a few all go on to become some of the biggest names in wrestling today and all hold major titles amongst them including Money in the bank winners. A series of NXT stars have gone on to become top faces of the WWE and have been apart of some of the best matches, storyline's produced by the WWE in recent years. Over the past twelve months however there has been a huge switch up in NXT thanks to the WWE Brand extension. In two thousand and fifteen Sasha Banks, Charlotte and Becky Lynch were all called up to the main roster on the same night joining the Women revolution. The three girls had been apart of a huge movement in women's wrestling and it was all thanks to NXT and the exposer it gave to its female talent. Their arrival on the main roster meant the women's division in NXT was lacking female talent and thats when it dawned on me; a year later a bunch of new NXT stars were called up, NXT originals and a change was happening. It was the dawn of a new era. For a while NXT had a rough patch but as it stands right now the yellow brand is bouncing back and we now have a new era to look forward to. In today's blog post I'm going to be listing seven reasons why you should be excited about the new era in NXT. As always any recent  blog post will be linked bellow and you can let me know what you thought of today's topic  by leaving a comment bellow or by tweeting me at @TezangiVictoria.

NXT has kick started its new era. With brand new championship designs, a new commentary team and brand new superstars taking their place in the spotlight hoping to follow the example of the previous names to grace the full sail arena. Lets take a look at the seven main reasons you should be excited about this brand new era in NXT.

A series of Returning Superstars

While NXT was originally built to create new stars, to help provide men and women of the future of the WWE grow as superstars both in the ring and as a character, opening doors for brand new talents in recent years we have seen NXT used to help rejuvenate main roster stars such as Cesaro and also more recently been the platform in which previous Superstars use to come back and give their WWE career a second go. At NXT Takeover Orlando the Wrestling community was left speechless when it was revealed that former WWE Intercontinental Champion Drew McIntyre would be returning to the WWE after three years away following his realse and would  be joining the NXT roster. The news was huge and as a big big fan of Drew I was someone who legit could have cried happy tears when I saw his face pop up on my screen earlier in the month. He really has spent a great deal of time changing the perception of him and has without shadow of a doubt become one of the biggest stars in Wrestling today. His arrival in NXT is a  big deal and he really has shaken things up. He brings star power and its something that the roster really has been missing with Nakamura, Samoa Joe and Finn Balor moving up to the main roster. I'll be speaking more about him later on in the post but if we are talking about epic returns we have to talk about the one and only Kassius Ohno. For long time NXT fans you will most certainly be aware of this man. An NXT/FCW original Ohno was apart of NXT when the likes of Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Cesaro, and Roman Reigns where also apart of the developmental territory which back then was known as FCW. Taking part in singles matches against the  names above he also stepped into the ring with former WWE Superstar CM Punk and worked a killer feud with the now NXT general manager, William Regal. However, he was released several years back and most of you will be aware of the reasons behind his release. Going back to the indie scene and working back under the name Chris Hero he too went out and proved himself and proved why the WWE messed up when it came to letting him go. Earlier this year Hero made his return to NXT and boy did that get everyone talking. Letting him go was one of the biggest makes the WWE made. He always has been a huge fan favourite and seeing how over he is now just proves that. He too has shaken up the roster and put NXT back on its pedestal upping the competition.

And the final superstar we're going to be talking about in this little category  is Hideo Itami. In my personal opinion the guy should head straight to the main roster and ditch having to go back to NXT. We all know he has the experience, the skill, and the following and with two series injuries taking him out for so long and so close it just doesn't feel like this second return will be as big. Move him up to Smackdown LIVE now and he might be better off. However, it is very very unlikely that will happen and Itami is more likely to return to NXT very very soon. He too will add to the competition and it'll be interesting seeing where he stands on what is becoming a very stacked roster.  It also raises the question how many other past superstars will make their way to NXT. This  new era is full of returning it stars. Leave a comment bellow letting me know who you would like to see make a return to NXT.

New Arrivals and Debuts

This next one is something I'm personally so excited and is a little link to the topic we just spoke about. We have already touched on the fact that the returns are huge right now in NXT and a  big part of the new era in NXT. They really have changed the overall feel of NXT. However, its not just old faces returning we need to  be excited about, its the new ones too and its this that really did inspire me to write this blog post in the first place. Back at NXT Takeover Orlando earlier in the month we saw Aliester Black make his NXT debut and what a debut he was. With a killer entrance he turned heads all around the world and got everyone talking. Personally, I have been a fan of his work for years and I've spoken about him a few times here on my blog and over on twitter. When I found out he signed with NXT I was over the moon. I honestly have not  been that excited for a signing since Nakamura and knowing how amazing he is you just have to  be excited about the future and what it holds for him. He had a fantastic performance on his debut night and what we have seen from him so far has been fantastic. He stands out for all the right reasons. He has a completely different look to everyone else, his in ring style is completely different, and his character is unlike anything we have seen in the WWE  before (well at least in a very very long time). He's someone that is bound to have a fantastic career and I don't doubt we will see him as champ at some point. Trust me when I say he is someone to be excited about during this new era.

Another name I want to mention and one of the main reasons I wanted to write this post was Dylan Miley. Making his debut this past Wednesday Miley got a lot of people talking and he most certainly got my attention. Competing in a tag team match with his partner Michael Blais the pair took on one of the hottest tag teams in the world today, DIY. Now, I'm just like everyone else, I freaking love DIY. Watching them compete is always a treat as the duo never fail to impress and deliver a killer match up but this week I had my eyes firmly on Dylan Miley. He's not usually the type of wrestler I take an interest in. His style isn't something that I usually take an interest but I was honestly so captivated by his work. He again has a different look, different to the usual typical "big guy" superstar we see. He had a very old school look and my friend pointed out that he reminded him of  Bruno Samartino  but he certainly does have a very old school look that I really do love. He has a fantastic performance on the night and his character which we got to see more of in a video uploaded to the WWE YouTube channel which you should defintley check out if you haven't done so already. It's rare now that people get excited ab out new talents coming to NXT. We have grown so used to seeing big names from the indie scene make their way to NXT and we have forgotten that the whole point of NXT is to create new stars for the future and this is what Dylan Miley is. He's what NXT is all about and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for him. He's a  very promising star and if they get his character right he could be a big name. This really has got me thinking about other new stars that will be looking to make an impact and that includes the tag team and and women's division. I really do want to see new faces make their way to the top and that means guys and girls who we don't recognize from the indie scene.

A Forever Growing Women's Division

As I mentioned in the intro a big part of NXT is the women's division. It is responsible for creating stars such as Sasha Banks, Paige, Bayley, Becky Lynch and four time RAW women's champion Charlotte. It was the place that gave women to shine and allow them to prove a point. To prove that women can hack it in the ring and own it. That women's wrestling matters. It's the birth place of the women's revolution. When all those women however were all called up to the main roster along with other women who paved the way such as Carmella, Alexa Bliss, and  Nia Jax the division felt rather empty with Asuka being the sole female competitor that really had the attention of the women's division and for quite some time the girls down in NXT really did suffer and I hate to say I lost a lot of interest in the division and that does have a lot to do with the fact that I'm not the worlds biggest fan of Asuka. We could see women like  Billie Kay, Peyton Royce, Live Morgan, and Aliyah all trying to make an impact and there were moments they really did do just that. Billie and Peyton in particular really worked on their characters and both were entertaining in the ring. Personally, I'm surprised they haven't done all that much with Aliyah, shes young, she has a good look and shes actually very very strong in the ring. She's someone I really do hope that we get to see more of her very very soon.  The women's division as a whole is something we should all be excited about during this new era in NXT. Women like the ones we just mentioned along with the likes of Nikki Cross, Ruby Riot, Ember Moon, Kimber Lee ( I cannot remember her new name for the sake of me) and so many other girls are huge talking points right now and are most certainly giving us a reasons to look forward to the future. This is first time since we lost all the original girls that I have actually  been really excited about the future of the NXT Women's division. I do believe that loads more women will shine and the interest will be a lot stronger once Asuka drops her title. I know everyone wants to see Ember Moon as champ and it does make the most sense is most fitting but I have to say I'm a huge Nikki Cross fan and I would love to see her as champ at some point. Storyline wise I just believe there is far more there. Regardless there really is a lot to look forward to here and I really do believe we have a lot of amazing things coming up in regards to women's wrestling and NXT. Not to mention the fact that we have the women's tournament coming up soon this year which is bound to see more new women from around the world make their way to NXT also. 

New Broadcast and Announce team

I know this next point may not be a popular choice amongst some of you but I am most certainly one of those people who gets excited over new broadcast and announce teams. Over the years we have seen a handful of commentators in particular really grab the hearts of the WWE universe. Personal favourite of mine is without a shadow of a doubt JR. More recently the WWE announce team has been a heavy talking point amongst fans due to the JBL bullying accusations and trust me I feel very very strongly about this and massively support Fire JBL. We have also seen the announce team highly criticized by fans. We know what we like to hear every week and unfortunately guys like Byron Saxton and David Otunga haven't become fan favourite. Well, if you know me you will know that I am a huge  Byron Saxton fan and probably the only Byron Saxton fan. I know he's not the best commentator in the world but he's a little different and I guess different can be difficult to get used to but personally I'm team Byron and I will fight you! David on the other hand is shit. A  big big pile of terrible commentary shit. More popular guys on the announce team are of course Corey Graves who really is fantastic, Mauro, and Tom Phillips. Two of those men coming from NXT it goes to show that NXT really are capable of creating the future announce teams also and with the commentators and broadcast team being so important nowadays's in wrestling creating the future there is so so important. At the moment I'm not the biggest fan of the NXT announce team. I don't really like Percy or Nigel  but I am getting used to them slowly over time. But thats also an are where we really are seeing that now is a new time in NXT. The new voices really do make it feel different. You guys know I was a huge fan of Corey and Tom. They were just the dream team and I honestly do miss their work in NXT. Tom is still such a key figure in NXT and I do believe the announce team at the current moment would be very very lost without him. But right now there is a lot to look forward to, new voices in the commentary section and of course the broadcast team. The WWE are forever adding new men and women to the broadcast teams and with the likes of Charlie and Renee Young raising the bar I'm certainly interested in seeing who will follow them.

An Unpredictable  Championship Picture

Over the years we have seen some big names grace the NXT stage all at the same time. The competition has always been high and strong there. We have had times were the likes of Adrian Neville, Finn Balor, Tyson Kidd, Sami Zayn and Tyler Breeze were all on the roster at the same time. An exciting period in NXT the competition was stiff and everyone was looking to  be the top man.

However, I believe the competition in NXT has never been as strong as it is right now and the championship picture most certainly has never ever looked this unpredictable. With so many big names now on the roster the potential new champion could be one of so many. Current champ  Bobby Roode really has got a long line of tough competitors and for the first time in a long time its almost impossible to pick out who will  be the next champion. The list includes the likes of Eric Young (I still want to see all members of Sanity as champion at the same time), Kassius Ohno, Aliester Black, and of course Drew McIntyre. I love that there is so much unpredictability when it comes to NXT at the moment and the championship picture. There's so much to be excited about and after that little rough match we can finally see NXT jumping back to the top and with the competition so stiff there is plenty to look forward to and seeing who is going to walk out as champion later on.

NXT is a  very exciting place right now. There is plenty to look forward to. We have seen NXT at its best and we most certainly have seen it at its worse but this is an interesting time and it really is on its way up. There has been a new feel to the show for a while now and the future looks very bright. I am going to try and start posting more reviews for NXT in the near future. If you would like more NXT themed post do let me know and as always you can let me know what you think of the new era in NXT by leaving a comment bellow or by tweeting me over at @TezangiVictoria.