10 Best WWE NXT Wrestlers Of 2017
7. The Authors Of Pain
Once correctly perceived as dangerous and wholly undeserving of their telegraphed monster push, Akam and Rezar have improved massively in 2017, thanks in no small part to the atlas stylings of Johnny Gargano and Tomasso Ciampa - but at some point, we should probably drop that faint-praise, cold-take narrative altogether. Gradually, and with little fanfare, the Authors Of Pain have evolved from sentient baggage into an excellent tag team.
You simply do not enter convoluted performances like the brutal TakeOver: Chicago ladder war and the modernised masterclass that was WarGames, with all of their intricate moving parts, if you are entirely reliant upon your opponents to carry you through it all. Stripped of herculean opponents and flattering shortcut gimmicks, the Authors penned a fabulous no-frills chapter of their ascension at TakeOver: Brooklyn III in what was an unexpected triumph of a whirlwind war with SAnitY.
Akam and Rezar have deftly fused the classic power team philosophy of old, with its pop-generating brutality, and the content-stuffed mode perfected in 2017. A true Performance Center success story, the Authors have done so much to alter the NXT-as-glorified-Indy narrative.