5 Wrestlers Who Could Be NXT's Unknown Insurgent
BoLieve in better.
NXT has become a clash of ages of late.
The 23rd September edition of the black-and-gold brand offered up Kyle O'Reilly and Candice LeRae as TakeOver challengers for the Men's and Women's Championships respectively, adding a distinctly traditional flavour to the 31st iteration of the fabled supercard. Not least with Finn Bálor and Io Shirai as their opponents.
While both matches promise the sort of thrilling in-ring quality that became part of the staple TakeOver diet several years ago, neither will ever face the public shaming absorbed by the slightly grabbier bookings of the empty Full Sail era.
Adam Cole and Keith Lee's double title match afforded the show a week for the secondary strap and another for all the marbles, but the whole thing had a distinct main roster flavour to it. As did the convoluted Iron Man match/rematch that reunited Bálor with his old belt. The less said about the qualification process for TakeOver: XXX's North American Title match, the better.
These are baby steps back in the right direction for the slightly troubled Wednesday night show. An Unknown Insurgent who might have already given the game away on his own Twitter is the total f*cking opposite. So let's address the pros and cons of that, as well as a few other potential possibilities...
5. Bo Dallas
Bo Dallas turned his Twitter into a value range version of his brothers recently, and Ryan Satin just happened to stop it from being a tree falling in Silicon Valley with nobody following to see it.
A not-that-cryptic selection of suggestions saw Dallas talk about "following your dreams" and being on a "life changing expedition" with #TheOriginalNXTChampion and #TheFutureWasAlwaysNow as accompanying hashtags. These all dropped before the vignette, which focused on somebody with an eye on the company's top title.
This suggested that it was a former titleholder, with Dallas' garbled mystery man stuff fitting the profile as well as any prior Champion that might want to make a return to the brand having gotten lost on the main roster.
The problem here is not one we the fans should have to worry about, but one any discerning NXT viewer almost certainly will. Dallas was a comedic figure by the time he was defeated by Neville on the first live Network special. A performer actively phased out as attention on the brand was phased up. Worse still, if this is serious and not total parody, he'll feel like a one-man RETRIBUTION trying to rattle a brand that outgrew when he was still on it.
At least that was over. This, as it is, could really really struggle.