5 Wrestlers Who Could Be NXT's Unknown Insurgent

Sep 30, 2020 September 30th, 2020

1. Samoa Joe

If Finn Bálor as Champion represents an attempt to get back to basics on NXT, Samoa Joe also returning as a top contender would be a welcome reminder of when he turned the f*cking place upside down and inside out.

As an ex-NXT Champion, he fits the profile of all the clues dropped in the vignette, but what if Bo Dallas was the guy, only to be choked out by a much more dangerous guy just seconds later? In 2016, Joe featured in one of the great wrestling red herrings and could this - please - be the case again?

Back then, the show ran vignettes for the decidedly un-NXT musclebound monster Dan Matha. Before he even threw a forearm in anger, a raging 'Samoan Submission Machine' arrived on the scene and choked him out to throw petrol on an already-raging fire with Shinsuke Nakamura. Battering Bo Dallas in the same manner to advise Finn Bálor on who his real next threat was would be quite the way to make his return from the (relative) safety of the Raw commentary table.

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Michael Hamflett

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for nearly 10 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 65,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live.

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