Top 10 NXT Superstars of 2018
Picking 10 of the best wrestlers on such a loaded roster was tough, but it had to be done. Here are NXT’s most valuable assets heading into the new year.
One of the most talented rosters in the world from top to bottom, NXT had yet another banner year in 2018. Every year seems to have departures that make us say “NXT may not be as good as it once was”, such as the main roster call ups of Asuka, The Revival, and Shinsuke Nakamura in 2017, but every year the remaining superstars prove us wrong.
NXT isn’t just simply about plucking the best talent from across the globe and throwing them together in one promotion. NXT’s brilliance shines in virtually every aspect of what you’d like to see in an ideal wrestling company. From eye popping in- ring performances to captivating stories to an atmosphere that is second to none, NXT is one of the hottest brands in pro wrestling today. That being said, it was hard to come up with just 10 of the best, so here are the honorable mentions:
Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch exploded onto the tag team scene in 2018. They may have never captured the tag titles, but they had some phenomenal encounters with the Undisputed Era for the titles, even having a classic tag match at a TakeOver show this year.
Moustache Mountain is another team that could have been featured more often on NXT TV, although the times they were shown, they made the most of it. Another team that had great matches with the Undisputed Era (noticing a pattern here?), the NXT UK duo captured the attention of the NXT crowd quickly. They did get one of the biggest pops of the year, defeating the Undisputed Era for the tag titles on home soil.
Pete Dunne was a hard wrestler to rank in terms of NXT performers. Though he falls under the NXT umbrella, I wasn’t sure whether or not I should include his NXT UK work or not, so I gave him an honorable mention. As the holder of the NXT UK title for the entire calendar year, it’s no secret that Pete Dunne is not only one of the most promising young guys of NXT, but the entire WWE.
10. Kairi Sane
If it hadn’t been for Kairi’s excellent run starting towards the final half of 2018, you’d find her name much farther along on this list. As it is, though, she only began to catch fire towards the middle of the year, when her rivalry with Shayna Baszler truly took off. Despite that, the Pirate Princess caught the eye of NXT fans rapidly, having a trio of spectacular NXT Women’s title matches with Shayna, even defeating her on one occasion to a raucous ovation. With the sour taste that is left in her mouth from her NXT Women’s title rematch loss, it seems it’s only up from here for Sane.
Her and Io Shirai are in a league of their own when it comes to in ring ability, and while the rise of the latter is only just beginning, Sane has proven on the big stages of NXT that she has what it takes to carry an NXT women’s division that is lacking a wide variety of stars at the moment. While the next era of female performers is being built up, I fully expect Kairi Sane to remain at the top of the totem pole for the women of NXT.
9. Andrade “Cien” Almas
It’s hard to believe sometimes that Andrade has not even been gone from NXT for an entire calendar year, as the brand has not skipped a beat without him. Make no mistake about it, though, when Almas was on, he was a no doubt star for Triple H. His 2018 run only lasted until WrestleMania weekend when he dropped the NXT title to Aleister Black, but that short stint still managed to be so awe inspiring that I felt compelled to make sure he had a place on this list.
Almas was no stranger to great matches before this year, but his match with Johnny Gargano at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia for the NXT Championship solidified himself as an elite wrestler in the company. The match even garnered WWE’s first 5 star match rating since John Cena and CM Punk had their 2011 meeting at Money in the Bank. The follow up match a few weeks later on NXT TV, where Johnny Gargano once again came up short, was an absolute masterclass performance as well. As mentioned earlier, he lost his title in New Orleans on WrestleMania weekend to a red hot Aleister Black, but his run in 2018 was too good to leave him off of this list.
8. Shayna Baszler
Much like the justification for putting Kairi Sane on the list, Shayna Baszler carried the majority of the load for the NXT Women’s division following the departure of Ember Moon early on in the year. She’s held the title for the majority of the year and being built up as an unstoppable force, much like her counterpart on the main roster, Ronda Rousey.
After her runner up performance in the 2017 Mae Young Classic, it seemed Shayna Baszler was going to be a tough project for Triple H and the NXT trainers to ease her into the WWE style of wrestling. Sure enough, that was the case, but she is still one of the most improved NXT superstars of this year.
Shayna received an almost immediate push upon her arrival in NXT, which seemed unwarranted at the time, but the Queen of Spades has shown a wonderful worth ethic and a natural grasp for the art that is pro wrestling. Though not the quickest or most agile, especially compared to the likes of Kairi Sane, who has been working at this for the majority of her life, Shayna has absolutely showed promise. She’s improved tremendously over the course of the year, from her painfully believable offense to her improvement on the mic. She’s certainly on the rise for 2019, and is also going to be one of the most intimidating heels WWE has for a long time, I think.
7. The Undisputed Era
I decided to do this write up of the Undisputed Era as if I’m only ranking Kyle O’Reilly, Bobby Fish, and Roderick Strong (we’ll get to Adam Cole later), as they were the three of the group that tagged Freebird- style for the majority of the year.
The Undisputed Era are the epitome of that smarmy, vile group of friends that you remember from high school that are always mean or rude to anyone they come across. They always get away with it, too! You hate them so much that you just want to see them get what’s coming to them. And when it happens, you don’t feel bad in the slightest.
Somehow, that’s exactly how the year went for these guys. The Undisputed Era remained tag team champions on and off for nearly the whole year, almost always winning in the cheapest ways possible. Whether it was Adam Cole interference or Roderick Strong turning on his own partner, it seemed like no one could outsmart these guys. Then, the odds finally caught up to them when they met their match against Pete Dunne, Ricochet, and War Raiders at War Games. Sometimes, a cleverly written old school storyline can be a lot of fun.
Don’t let their characters fool you about their talent, though. These are four of the most talented wrestlers on earth thrown together in one faction. A nail biter Undisputed Era tag team match became a staple of NXT TakeOvers this year. From monster tag teams like the Authors of Pain to teams from other brands like Mustache Mountain, to even the most bizarre pairing of NXT in Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch, The Undisputed Era just could not have a bad match. Whether or not they’re rewarded for their efforts in 2019 with even more of the same success is obviously yet to be seen, but the assumption has to be an easy yes.
6. The Velveteen Dream
A much different story from mostly everyone else on this list, The Velveteen Dream was not plucked from a top indy promotion. Velveteen Dream was first put on WWE’s radar under his real name, Patrick Clark, in the 2015 season of Tough Enough. Even then, Patrick was the clear star of that group who looked like, acted like, and was passionate enough to be a WWE superstar, which became a bit more apparent after learning his love for pro wrestling. He was eliminated much early than most were anticipating, but WWE never took their eye off of him after he left. Even Chris Jericho, a known huge critic of some of today’s wrestlers, let Clark know how good he thought he could be. Clearly those positive remarks, along with surely countless others, got through to him as he found his way to the WWE Performance Center, and later NXT, not long after.
In 2017 Velveteen Dream began catching eyes of the NXT fans. With hardcore fans such as the ones that NXT draws in, it was always going to be harder for someone who was not a well- traveled performer like his fellow employees. Nevertheless, as Velveteen Dream grew, his fandom and maturity grew with him.
If 2017 was the year he began to get people to turn their heads, 2018 was the year that Dream proved that some people are just born to be a professional wrestler. Dream’s talent looks like it knows no bounds, and the fact that he can hang with the ring veterans that NXT possesses at the age of 23 is unheard of. He is already one of the best in the ring that NXT has, and he has grown into a general on the mic. He can easily switch between playing a cocky heel and a flamboyant good guy, as he showed against Tommaso Ciampa at TakeOver: War Games. He didn’t capture the title on that night, but he captured the attention of everyone else and put the rest of the superstars on notice.
5. Ricochet
Breathtaking. In one word, that is my best description of watching Ricochet. He’s pro wrestling’s version of a human highlight reel. Ricochet signed with WWE as one of the world’s elite talents and he only proved it to be true ever since his arrival on NXT. With memorable stints in some of the top promotions around the world such as NJPW, PWG, and Lucha Underground, he’s one of the most decorated wrestlers on the roster.
He hasn’t been with NXT long, but man has he made himself known. With sensational performances with the likes of Velveteen Dream, Adam Cole, and the rest of the Undisputed Era, the “One and Only” has proven himself to be just that. His jaw- dropping and awe- inspiring spots leave even the longest tenured fans amazed. What makes it even more insane is how easy he makes it look. Check out this front flip out of the ring he does to end a promo against Velveteen Dream. It’s hard to look back and find another wrestler who is able to do these things as easily as Ricochet can do it.
4. Adam Cole
When you think of the term “over” in wrestling, Adam Cole should be the first guy you think of. Cole is only 29 and has plenty of years ahead of him, but he’s spent the majority of his career so far being the most popular wrestler on the card. The mastermind behind the Undisputed Era oozes charisma and backs up what he says on the mic when he steps in the ring. Adam Cole is a slimy, detestable heel who uses whatever means necessary to improve himself in NXT, and he is no doubt one of the most important characters on the roster.
Cole has also put together an extremely impressive string of great matches at TakeOver events, having performed double duty (albeit not seeing much action in a tag match) in New Orleans, followed by a show stealing match with Ricochet in Brooklyn. To cap off an exceptional year, Cole once again put on a show in the War Games match.
Perhaps Adam Cole’s greatest asset is maintaining his credibility even while constantly facing defeat. His success reached a peak at New Orleans, winning the North American Championship and being a part of the match where the Undisputed Era retained their tag titles. Following that, he suffered a loss against Ricochet where the two performed what may be the best spot of the year where Adam Cole superkicked a moonsaulting Ricochet out of mid air. Once again he found himself on the wrong side of the match decision, losing in the War Games match. Win or lose, one thing is always for sure when you’re in a match with Adam Cole — he will elevate you to another level.
3. Aleister Black
Had Aleister Black’s entire 2018 turned out like it did between January and June and there would be no doubt who NXT’s MVP of the year is. However, things did not pan out quite the way it was planned, but plan B turned out to be captivating anyway.
Black burst into 2018 with a barnburner of an extreme rules match with Adam Cole (in Philadelphia, no less) where Black came out the victor. He went on to dethrone Andrade “Cien” Almas for the NXT title in New Orleans the night before WrestleMania. He had a nice stint with the title even though his title matches never main evented a TakeOver. After losing the title to Tommaso Ciampa on a weekly episode of NXT, things looked to be far from over as Ciampa, Black, and Johnny Gargano were booked for a triple threat match in Brooklyn for the title. However, this is where Black’s plans were derailed as he was injured at a live event a couple weeks before the show and had to be pulled out for surgery.
The angle was changed and now it appeared to the viewing audience that Black was attacked in the parking lot by a mystery assailant. Well, that assailant turned out to be Johnny Gargano, who was dealt with by the Dutch Destroyer at NXT TakeOver: War Games. Their rematch in a steel cage on NXT TV saw a crazy twist that involved Gargano winning with the help of Tommaso Ciampa. One thing was for sure, and that is that Aleister Black was a must- watch performer this year, no matter what he was doing.
All the while, Aleister Black has never lost his mystique and never lost his popularity among the NXT fans. Black is one of the best badass characters WWE or NXT alike have had in a long time, and he’s been a great addition to the Gargano/Ciampa storyline that otherwise would have grown stale. The most interesting thing about Black’s run in the main event scene alongside the two former friends is that, while he was clearly being booked as a “third wheel” type guy in the story, he never really felt like one. Everything that Aleister Black does feels like a huge deal, which is a character trait he just so happens to share with the next guy on our list…
2. Tommaso Ciampa
Bad guys that consistently get heel heat are tough to find in wrestling today, especially with the level of interaction there is between fans and wrestlers now. Though some have tried, and periodically got it to work, over the past few years, nobody has been on the level of Tommaso Ciampa in terms of being the most hated heel in the industry.
After going through surgery for a torn ACL in 2017, his turn on Johnny Gargano was stalled from going any further for the time being. His long anticipated return came in January, when he cost Johnny his NXT title match. The trilogy of matches between them that followed at the next three TakeOvers were nothing short of spectacular. Even Triple H said their matches were “magical”.
In between and after, Ciampa has put on other classic matches as well, including defeating Aleister Black for the NXT title and consistently and successfully defending it, the latest against Velveteen Dream in a show stealing match.
Ciampa is currently moving through a reign of terror not seen in this form since Kevin Owens did it during his NXT run. Ciampa is an elite level heel that is in the middle of quite possibly the best run of his entire wrestling career. With all the praise and all the accolades Ciampa has rounded up in 2018, just think about how much my #1 has done this year.
1. Johnny Gargano
He didn’t pick up the nickname Johnny Takeover this year for nothing. There’s not much you can say about Gargano’s year that hasn’t already been pounded into the dirt. It was classic after classic for him, starting with WWE’s first five star match in over 6 years with Andrade “Cien” Almas. Afterwards was more of the same with more amazing bouts with Tommaso Ciampa that each easily have a case for match of the year.
It wasn’t just the technical prowess of Johnny Wrestling that earned him the #1 spot on this list. Gargano spent the entire year undergo a long- term character change. He began the year as the loveable underdog and evolved into the hero giving a villain his comeuppance. With his two losses to Ciampa in Chicago and Brooklyn, Johnny crept further and further towards the darkness that Ciampa had been dragging him towards until he became a full fledged heel after being revealed as Aleister Black’s mystery attacker. He is even still in the midst of his character arc, only recently defeating Black in a steel cage match thanks in large part to the assistance of former DIY tag partner… Tommaso Ciampa. At this point there are still a lot of questions to be asked of what is next for Gargano, but this has been a banner year for him, all told.
Embracing the hatred instilled in him over the course of the year has improved some of the little things about his character as well. He’s become an ever better storyteller in the ring, even getting the smallest of details pinpointed throughout his matches. All the while, he’s managed to have sensational matches with everyone he’s come across. He also set a record this year for the most NXT TakeOver matches ever, a record that he will likely continue to improve on in 2019.
This year was at one point expected to be a year of slight regression for the black and yellow brand, but Johnny Gargano was one of the biggest reasons that this was not so. Gargano is one of the most decorated and successful members of the NXT roster, entire career included, and he used his skills as a ring general and masterful storyteller to nudge his way to the top of the NXT food chain. It was no secret before how good he was, but trust me when I tell you, Johnny Gargano has only begun tapping into his potential of how good he can be in WWE.
