Predicting Next 6 NXT Champions

by John Bills

1. Matt Riddle

Matt Riddle
Oli Sander / The Ringside Perspective

2016 was the year that Matt Riddle arrived. The last 16 months have seen Riddle grow from an inexperienced performer with heaps of potential into one of the hottest entities in all of pro wrestling. The former UFC fighter has taken to the squared circle like a duck to water, and much like Cole his arrival in WWE is a matter of 'when' as opposed to 'if'.

It is no stretch to say that in just a few years time, Riddle could be one of the biggest names in all of professional wrestling. His progress over the last 12 months has been nothing short of remarkable, and his history as a professional MMA fighter is the sort of thing that WWE truly fawns over. A legit fighter with a seemingly endless capacity for learning professional wrestling? Riddle is a can't miss prospect.

The best thing that 'the Bro' can do is continue to ply his trade on the independent circuit, but eventually the lure of WWE may well be too strong. Riddle would be the perfect individual to come in and put a stop to the Dylan Miley juggernaut - an average big man should beat a good small man, but a great small man can overcome all.

All of this might turn out to be piffle of course. Hideo Itami may well defeat Bobby Roode at NXT TakeOver: Chicago, before dropping the belt to Eric Young who in turn drops it to a debuting Fred Yehi. The future of NXT is difficult to predict, but if these six men represent the future of the NXT Championship there will be little in the way of complaints.

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Contributor
Contributor

Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.