Ranking Every WWE NXT Commentator From Worst To Best

How will Nigel McGuinness fare against NXT's other booth occupants?

By Graham Matthews /

Every bit as important as the tremendously talented roster of wrestlers who have made NXT what it is today are the commentators who call the action, and in the five years the promotion has served as WWE's developmental system based out of Full Sail University, NXT has had a variety of voices behind the booth.

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Two weeks ago marked the official NXT TV debut of Nigel McGuinness, who replaced NXT original Corey Graves as the black-and-yellow brand's lead color commentator. Of course, he will have rather large shoes to fill in the absence of Graves, who has truly come into his own as an announcer over the past two years. But based off his work in Ring of Honor and in the United Kingdom Championship Tournament, it's safe to assume he will fare better than a number of those who came before him.

NXT has gone through the best of times as well as the worst of times in terms of its commentary teams, and in honor of McGuinness' arrival on Wednesday nights, let's look at every announcer to have had a stint down in developmental.

12. Brad Maddox

Brad Maddox wore many hats in WWE. From when he debuted on the main roster in late 2012 to when he was released in late 2015, he worked as a referee, a wrestler, and as an on-air authority figure. But what some might not remember was that he also had a stint as an NXT commentator from November 2012 to July 2013.

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As the general manager of Raw, he showed some personality and his promos were typically hit or miss. However, even the greatest talkers don't make the best commentators, and that was evident with Maddox. He wasn't an amazing promo to begin with, but you get my point.

Not only was he worthless, he also took away from the in-ring action just so he could get himself over. Although that's par for the course with some heel commentators, Maddox was simply flat out annoying. Perhaps the most shocking aspect of his NXT tenure was that he lasted as long as he did behind the booth. He was later booted in favor of Alex Riley in August 2013 after becoming Raw GM.

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