10 Best NXT Matches Of 2016
These were awesome.
It's been another big year for NXT. They've toured around the world, signed some of the biggest names in wrestling, and continued to put on some absolutely incredible matches.
Tag team wrestling underwent yet another revival (pun definitely intended), while the likes of Shinsuke Nakamura, Austin Aries, Bobby Roode and Eric Young all made an impact in Full Sail. And, yet again, despite ostensibly being the company's developmental promotion, NXT had a habit of showing up the main WWE roster in its TakeOver specials.
Although 2016 in NXT perhaps hasn't been as consistently strong as previous years, narrowing this list down to just 10 matches was still a bit of a struggle. The likes of Tye Dillinger vs Bobby Roode, Asuka vs Mickie James, Samoa Joe vs Eric Young, and Tye Dillinger vs Oney Lorcan couldn't make the cut.
So here's our pick for the 10 best bouts we've seen in NXT this year.
10. Shinsuke Nakamura Vs Austin Aries (NXT TakeOver: The End)
Two of the biggest debutants in NXT this year were 'The Greatest Man That Ever Lived' Austin Aries and 'The King of Strong Style' Shinsuke Nakamura; two men we never thought we'd see in a WWE ring.
Nakamura hit the ground running from his first match (more on that later) while Aries took a little bit longer to bed into NXT. Unsurprisingly though, when the two talented wrestlers finally faced off in June, they delivered a great match which lived up to the hype.
A dream match for fans who have been following wrestling for the last decade or more, Aries vs Nakamura built slowly from the beginning as both men traded holds and went back-and-forth to show how evenly matched they are. The match built smartly with counters aplenty and reached an epic conclusion when Aries dramatically missed his Heat Seeking Missile dive to the outside and clattered into the guardrail, giving Nakamura the opening to deliver the match winning Kinshasa. This one was everything we hoped it would be.