10 Best WWE NXT Wrestlers Of 2017
If only they were the future.
For such a limited roster, in terms of numbers, there are multiple honourable mentions - highlighting the strength of what remains a superb wrestling product.
Omitted for his relatively short tenure is former brand talisman Shinsuke Nakamura, who did incredibly well to soften his incompatible, full-blooded King Of Strong Style schtick. A cerebral couplet of TakeOver matches opposite Bobby Roode proved, definitively, that there is a WWE sports entertainer within the puro practitioner. If only the main roster agent regime didn't paint the Artist with such broad strokes.
The Revival wrestled just one standout bout on the yellow brand - but what a match it was. Their incredible, shared-enemy work with #DIY opposite the Authors of Pain, at TakeOver: Orlando was something very special; a fitting and insanely dramatic bow to their thread on the gorgeous patchwork quilt that is the NXT doubles division.
Lars Sullivan ended the year in some style, as a monster both entertaining and believable. Nikki Cross worked wonders as a weirdo - ditto Alexander Wolfe. SAnitY ringleader Eric Young, meanwhile, quietly restored his aura after a middling start. Hideo Itami actually wrestled - and very well, in a sorely underrated bout with Roode overshadowed by the moonlighting Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne. The Velveteen Dream wrestled one categorical classic this year; his CV is prohibitively thin elsewhere.
Most everybody who faced Kassius Ohno emerged in a loftier position - but he was a star-maker, not a star...
10. Adam Cole
Of all the talents in the seemingly inexhaustible resource that is the modern Independent circuit, Adam Cole was best equipped to succeed in the realm of sports entertainment. The second Vince McMahon sets eyes on the Shawn Michaels doppelgänger, he will remove the rocket from Roman Reigns' back and bow down at the feet of his Patronus.
Less facetiously, Cole, as evidenced in a sterling TakeOver: Philadelphia qualifying effort with Aleister Black, has transitioned brilliantly to the world of WWE, with its emphasis on body language and character work - at which he already excelled. His Best In The World 'ADAM COLE, BAY-BAY!' call-and-response bit has lost none of its potency. If anything, the sheer, hilarious narcissism lends it an escalatory, immortal power. Of course, Cole's status as one of the elite practitioners of the athletic "workrate" style is well documented.
Cole was one of two standout performers during the balls-to-the-wall barbarism of the awesome WarGames match - and by design, he barely did anything in it. Perfecting the narrow space between moves, Cole compelled you to wish harm upon him with his slimy escapist routine. That is the work of a psychological expert.
The other standout performer was one...