NXT Superstar of the Year 2017

Hello everyone and welcome back to Talk Wrestling World, I hope you are all well and good and are have had a good week! So, as we approach the end of another week I thought it was time to finish things off before the weekend with one more of the year post. I know I have been bombarding you with these throughout the week but I really have had so much fun this time around writing these posts for you, taking a look back and then uploading them. I do have a few more to go and the season is likely to finish in two weeks time but for today we once again turn our attention to NXT and this time individual talents as I crown my two thousand and seventeen NXT Superstar of the year. If I'm being honest I don't feel as though NXT was as strong as it has been in the past this year. Sure shows were strong and NXT Takeover events always impressed but we did have to get used to what felt like a new NXT and it took time. However, we have had a bunch of standout stars I'm excited to talk about today! I've kept this list to a group of five standouts but I will include some honorable mentions at the very end! Just before we get started, I wanted to point out that I am going to try and live tweet throughout night of champions next week but I'm not sure how things are going to go next week due to personal situations. As always, any recent blog post will be linked bellow and you can let me know who your NXT superstar of the year has been by leaving a comment bellow or by tweeting me over at @TezangiVictoria.

Velveteen Dream

I understand that there may be a few people reading this who don't agree with the decision to include The Velveteen Dream in a list of the top NXT stars of the year but I really did just have to have him in this post. In my head the Velveteen Dream has been one of the biggest and best success stories of the year and he deserves every bit of recognition. When he first burst on the scene I won't lie there were doubts in my head. His character is so out there that I couldn't see this being a sucess up on the main roster in the long run however, he has joined the likes of Tye Dillinger, the Ascension and Tyler Breeze who have proven people wrong and delivered to a high standard proving that their character can work with NXT showing them off perfectly. Building momentum week after week Dream went out their played his character literally perfectly and he was impressing in the ring. However, things changed completely when his feud with Alesiter Black kick started. Their chemistry was simply fantastic and the unique story they were telling was completely captivating. At the last NXT Takeover event of the year Dream had an arena of thousands chanting his name and after competing in what is being considered to be one of the best matches of the year Velveteen Dream earned the respect of everyone in the Wrestling world and proved that big big things are to come for him. He is far more than a joke character and boy is he proving it!

Asuka

Okay, so if you read my female superstar of the year post last week you would have seen Asuka feature there at number three but I just had to include her in this post too. While I did want to focus this post on talent that are still currently apart of the NXT roster Asuka did spend most of the year as part of the roster only going up to Monday night RAW near the end of the year. Throughout two thousand and seventeen Asuka dominated the NXT Women's division running through every single woman that stood in her way. Defending her title in a triple threats, fatal four ways, stipulation and single matches, Asuka has proven herself to be an all time great so early into her WWE career. Matches against the likes of Nikki Cross, Ember Moon, the Iconic Duo and many many more have shown Asuka to be one heck of an in ring performer and athlete. She's broken every record there is to break and is the women to top right now in the WWE. She's raised bar and the NXT women's division now has plenty to live up to now she has made her way to the main roster with the question being; Can any superstar Male or female ever make the impact Asuka made in NXT?

Aleister Black

While he is yet to capture NXT gold there is no denying that Dutch star Aleister Black is one of the biggest names on the roster today and twenty seventeen has been one heck of a year for him. Making his first WWE appearance in January, Black competed under his previous ring name Tommy End at the UK tournament where he went one on one with Adrian Neville in a special match featured on the night. Months later End debuted his new in ring name Aleister Black at an NXT Takeover event and from there he has been killing it! Fans have taken to his different look that allows him to standout massively from everyone else and when you watch what he does in  the ring you're simply captivated on a whole new level. It's crazy to think Black has only been apart of the WWE for one year, it already feels as though he is such a big part of the company however, there is also the feeling of much bigger and better things to come and thats very exciting! Throughout the year Black has took part in a number of fantastic matches proving time and time again he is one of the most intense and dangerous performers on the roster today. He took part in one of the best matches of the year against the Velveteen Dream at NXT Takeover in what was one of the best storyline's of the year also. The fact he has already made such a huge impact and he didn't even speak a word until later this year goes to show just how over and big of a star Black is and twenty eighteen is sure to be huge for the dark soul of NXT.

Johnny Gargano

When discussing some of the best pro wrestlers in the world today I'm pretty sure a great deal of fans are going to include Johnny Gargano and throughout twenty seventeen he has proven exactly why. Starting the year still standing alongside Tommaso Ciampa dominating the tag team division as part of DIY. Last year these two were killing it competing in some of the best tag team matches I have ever personally seen changing the game completely and that continued into this year. Gargano and Ciampa were apart of more epic tag team matches include a historic ladder match for the NXT Tag team championships. Their split was a huge surprise and had fans in  complete shock. Done perfectly, I remember watching this and being full of all the emotions. With Gargano taking on the babyface role he has flourished. While he does appear to be one some kind of losing streak the fact is he is still taking part in some of the best matches to come out of NXT and the WWE as a whole. Throughout the year he has been apart of a number of brilliant matches against every kind of superstar from Andrade Cien Almas to Pete Dunne to Killian Dane and I honestly do believe that much bigger and more interesting things are to come for Johnny Wrestling heading into the new year.

Andrade Cien Almas

And finally, my two thousand and seventeen NXT Superstar of the year is... Andrade Cien Almas. Last week I asked on twitter who you guys considered to be the NXT Star of the year and pretty much everyone said and Andrade Cien Almas and when I saw the reaction  I honestly was over the moon. I knew a few weeks back that I wanted to have Almas at number one but I honestly worried now many would get behind that decisions and so I was delighted to be proven wrong. While we have seen so many top stars dominate this year including the likes of Bobby Roode and Drew McIntyre the fact is Andrade Cien Almas has had the biggest and most surprisingly excellent year. This is man that from day one has shown great potential delivering outstanding performances match after match yet struggled to be given the push he truly does deserve. This year, however, that changed. Finally, the WWE focused their attention on Andrade and it paid off. With Zelina Vega by his side things changed dramatically for lucha libre star. His booking was evidently much stronger, and matches against the likes of Johnny Gargano showed just how skilled he is as an in ring competitor. The more TV time he was given the more he was spoken about and he really did win everyone over with the more in depth character work and the standard he was performing at. Then things only got stronger and better when he challenged Drew McIntyre for the NXT Championship at the last Takeover event of the year and was able to not only have one of the best matches of the night but walk out the brand new NXT Champion. His win was a huge surprise much deserved. Finally, all his hard work paid off and everyone watching was very happy with the end result for Almas had proven he was more than worthy.

And there we have it! Those are my top five NXT stars of the year with Andrade Cien Almas taking the top spot. There is a different feel to this list with a bunch of stars a year ago I would not have predicted to have been listed. I want to mention that the likes of Sanity, the Undisputed Era, Bobby Roode, and Drew McIntyre were all considered to be featured. I of course would love to know what you guys think and who your NXT Star of the year so feel free to leave a comment bellow or tweet me over at @TezangiVictoria letting me know!

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