NXT Year-End Awards

[Jack-Hammer]

It's been announced that NXT will have its own year end awards celebration that will air on the January 13th episode of NXT with voting set to begin at WWE.com at 10 am EST tomorrow morning. There will be six awards given out in the following categories:

Overall Competitor of the Year
Male Competitor of the Year
Female Competitor of the Year
Tag Team of the Year
Match of the Year
TakeOver of the Year

As with so many other aspects of its format, NXT looks to be going for more streamlined, straight forward wrestling awards rather than the sports entertainment dogpile that make up the Slammy Awards. I also like the way "competitor" is used/applied to men and women equally as, again, it just fits with NXT.

 

[TJ Matics]

I started watching NXT, regularly, during the latter half of this year. I missed all of Zayn and only caught the end of Owens. So my voting capabilities are limited, to say the least. Based off what I've seen though:

Overall Competitor of the Year: Balor

Based solely off what I've seen my only other options were Banks, Bayley, or Breeze. I don't think Samoa Joe has done enough on NXT to win this. I'll choose Balor because I was a bit worried about his ability to carry NXT (though it's clearly not a one man show) with Owens moving up and Zayn missing in action. I missed all of Zayn in NXT, but people talked him and Owens up so much I though it impossible for someone else to fill in their shoes. Balor created his own path in NXT though and people, myself included, loved it. I know the entrance is nothing to ignore but outside of that he never really losses the crowd. I was worried about him on the mic, and no he's no Kevin Owens, but he gets the job done.

Male Competitor of the Year: Balor (see above).

Breeze is a close second. You really need a guy like him around, and as much as he's done with the gimmick it's still limited him a lot.

Female Competitor of the Year: The Boss.

Bayley's a close second but Banks takes the cake for me, a good deal of that is due to social media. Bayley basically just seems like an extension of herself, Sasha on the other hand seems completely humble and down to earth, much like Bayley. Then she comes out and puts on one hell of a show with her character, not to mention what she's capable of in the ring. Though if I were to mention it she's still edges Bayley out.

Tag Team of the Year: Enzo & Cass.

It took me awhile to get into them, I thought they were just corny at first but they grew on me. I'd like to say Vaudevillians as I originally enjoyed them much more but Enzo puts them over.

Match of the Year:

Maybe I'm still caught up in the spectacle of the crowd but I'll say Beast in the East, Owens vs Balor. You saw the result coming a mile away but Owens was such a d!ck the entire match you still rooted for Balor as if there was a chance he might not win.

TakeOver of the Year: Brooklyn.

London sounded like a great show but I've yet to see it.

 

[Bodust117]

Overall Competitor of the Year: Balor
Male Competitor of the Year: I would like to see this go to baron Corbin I think he has payed his dues in nxt and it over due for a title reign
Female Competitor of the Year: Bayley

 

[Messiah]

Winners should be easy to determine for some of these category's.

Overall/Male Competitor of the year: Finn Balor (Can't stand the guy, but can't think of anyone else who should win.

Female Competitor of the year: Bayley (Same as Balor, can't stand her, but nobody else comes close to Bayley, she dominated the woman's division in NXT in 2015)

Tag Team of the year: Blake and Murphy (These guys were the best tag team in all of WWE/NXT, they have a bright future on the main roster.

Match of the year: Owens vs. Balor Ladder match (This is my personal opinion, loved the match from start to finish)

Takeover of the year: Takeover: Rival

 

[Dagger Dias]

Overall Competitor of the Year
Don't really see why this category is needed when they have male and female competitor categories already. Is it meant to pick your top competitor regardless of gender? It comes down to Finn Balor and Bayley then. It's Finn Balor for me. He's been one of THE top wrestlers in NXT almost all year long. Most of that is due to Zayn being out for most of the year with his bad injury though.

Male Competitor of the Year
Finn Balor. He's been great as NXT Champion and consistently among the top guys all year long.

Female Competitor of the Year
Bayley. We saw her overcome the odds, get her big title win, and become the undisputed top girl of the brand after the other three Horsewomen got promoted. That's without even touching on the high quality of her matches.

Tag Team of the Year
Enzo and Cass. Tremendously popular team that has done everything they can possibly do, other than win the NXT Tag Team Championship. Disregarding that, if you want to find the most consistent team on the brand in 2015, look no further.

Match of the Year
Bayley VS Sasha at NXT Respect. The first female Iron Man Match! It was historical and excellent. The most memorable match of the year for me and one that will be looked on for many years to come.

TakeOver of the Year
Brooklyn. This was the biggest show in NXT history and it delivered, in front of a massive crowd. This show proved once and for all that there's more to NXT than a developmental show. It also had great matches for the NXT Championship and NXT Women's Championship.

 

[Black Anaconda Vise]

Overall Competitor of the Year

I'd go with Balor. I prefer Zayn over Balor, but Zayn was injured for over half the year and Balor was the top guy in the brand for a majority of the year. The guy is solid in the ring and had some good to great matches with Neville, Breeze, Owens, Crews, and Joe, plus the demon persona is pretty cool and different.

Male Competitor of the Year

Balor again and for the same reasons. Breeze is also a good option too as he always puts on solid matches, and he plays his character very well. His mannerisms in and out of the ring are really great and he's just a well rounded wrestler. Corbin is improving but isn't there yet, and Crews and Joe have done good things with their side feuds and title shots, but nothing big enough yet.

Female Competitor of the Year

I'm stuck between Bayley and Sasha. I love Bayley and the way she connects with the audience and she's just naturally likable. Her matches with Sasha in Brooklyn and at Respect were really good, with her win at Brooklyn being one the biggest moments of the year. Plus both she and Sasha were the first women to main-event a major WWE event with their Iron-Woman match at Respect. Sasha on the other hand improved a lot, and she also plays her role well, and a previous poster mentioned this so I won't repeat it. She's a great heel. I'm giving it to Bayley, but it's more personal preference.

Tag Team of the Year

Enzo and Cass. The guys always get a great reaction and they had a pretty good match with the Mechanics in London. They're probably the most popular team on the NXT Roster with Gable and Jordan in second. Even though they lost their match at London, they're still crowd favorites.

Match of the Year

This is also just personal preference, but I'm going with Zayn vs Owens at NXT Takeover: Rival. The build was awesome, with Owens attacking Sami the night of his debut being a surprise (considering he went from killing CJ Parker to #1 contender). The match ending by stoppage was a new finish as Owens looked like a monster while Sami never gave up, and overall it was a really entertaining match considering their past together.

TakeOver of the Year

I'm stuck between two.

NXT Takeover: Brooklyn was really good. You had Breeze opening the show with freaking Jushin Thunder Liger, Vaudevillains beating the Dubstep Cowboys, Crews debuting, Joe and Corbin beating the fuck out of each other, Bayley and Sasha in an amazing match, and a pretty brutal ladder match between Balor and Owens.

I loved Brooklyn, but I think I liked London more. Asuka vs Emma was a really good opener, with all the false finishers having me think Asuka was actually gong to lose. Same with the tag match between Enzo and Cass/The Mechanics, the end actually had me believing that Enzo and Cass would win until the awesome save by Dawson and the pretty cool super Shatter Machine. Corbin/Crews was a fine match with a nice finish and Corbin got a pretty important win. Bayley/Jax was really good and the guillotine was a fresh finish and the story was told well. And finally was Balor and Joe. The two beat the hell out of each other, and it was a really good match with a really good build.

For me, it's London. Brooklyn is no doubt the bigger show of the two, and I can definitely see why it can be considered the show of the year, but I just personally prefer London.

 

[ShinChan]

Overall Competitor of the Year-Finn Balor
Male Competitor of the Year-Finn Balor
Female Competitor of the Year-Bayley
Tag Team of the Year-Gable & Jordan + Enzo & Cass
Match of the Year-Sasha VS Bayley, Brooklyn
TakeOver of the Year-Brooklyn

 

[Splergio]

Overall: I have to go KO, I know he got the call up halfway thru the year but when I thought NXT this year Owens is the first name that popped into my mind. Destroying Zayn in 2 title matches. Constantly being the best heel in the business and even beating Cena while still holding the brands title. Gimme Owens all the way.

Male:Owens

Female: Sasha, again she didn't spend the full year there but my goodness did she deliver in a huge way. Her matches with Bayley have been praised immensely and deserve to be. Shame her match with Becky at "unstoppable" isn't looked in the same light as those with Bayley. It was every bit as good if not better than the 2 with the hugster. If that match took place in Brooklyn and had that sold out crowd to add to the atmosphere it would be MOTY. Also can't forget when she main evented in another amazing match with Charlotte which they cried and embraced at the end of.
Bayley will be the popular pick, but The Boss gets my vote all the way.

Tag Team: Enzo and Cass, consistently the most over act in NXT.

MOTY: I'm a little bias because I was there live but Sasha vs Bayley in Brooklyn is MOTY without a doubt. Stole the show, crowd was electric, storytelling, brutality, athleticism. This match had it all.

Takeover: Again a little bias since I was in attendance, but Brooklyn no doubt. Sold out crowd, pressure to deliver was on an all time high and the whole show delivered and then some. Which included my MOTY.

 

[Maimed]

Overall Competitor of the Year
Kevin Owens - He brought NXT's brand awareness to light by being on RAW as the Champ and also took down John Cena in his first WWE match.

Male Competitor of the Year
Redundant. Please see above.

Female Competitor of the Year
Sasha Banks has helped put NXT women's wrestling on the map during 2015. Her matches with Becky Lynch and Bayley are definitely a great impression on the future of women's wrestling.

Tag Team of the Year
Enzo and Cass, although if Jason Jordan and Chad Gable would take the prize if there were a team throughout all of 2015.

Match of the Year
Sasha Banks (c) vs Bayley at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn

TakeOver of the Year
NXT Takeover: Brooklyn featured a legend such as Jushin Thunder Liger, the amazing women's match, a very hot crowd that added color to the matches, and overall solid card.

 

[Uncle Sam]

If the criteria for best competitor is a) how many abs you have visible or b) how many nights a year you've had underwhelming matches, then Finn Balor would win hands down, no competition. As it is, perhaps an award for "most improved" should be hastily taped together - it wasn't until the very last NXT event of the year that he cashed in the cheque that his hype wrote.

It seems that, although this could just as likely not be the case, the reason we have best competitor and best competitor for both genders is so that we can have a woman win without the men feeling ignored (i.e. how the women normally are).

When it comes to best competitor, the obvious - and correct - answer is either Bayley or Sasha Banks. More likely Bayley because it was her story that was the highlight of the year, in which Sasha Banks was merely an albeit important player. Plus Bayley had that great match with Nia Jax in London. Plus she's the reigning women's champion.

There's no real issue in giving the men's award to Balor, though Owens is also a good shout, and it could be used to get Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn sharing the same screen again for a final showdown. Definitely wishful thinking. Sami obviously isn't in the running, despite being fantastic for the brief parts of the year in which his shoulder was in its socket.

The real oddity will be when best overall competitor doesn't also win the prize for best man/woman.

Enzo and Cass would be in with a shout for best tag team if one didn't get the feeling that these awards will be heavily story-based, and Enzo and Cass, despite being absolutely wonderful, have won maybe a total of two matches all year. Dash and Dawson or, more likely, Jordan and Gable - with Dash and Dawson subsequently calling bullshit.

The TakeOver of the year was comfortably Brooklyn but the WWE propaganda machine could say it was London and not be too obviously wrong. If London hadn't ultimately been pretty much inconsequential, it might have seriously had a shot at a legitimate win.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

The nominees for the NXT Year-End Awards have been announced.

Overall Competitor of the Year:
Finn Balor
Bayley
Kevin Owens
Sasha Banks
Charlotte
Samoa Joe
Sami Zayn
Tyler Breeze
Becky Lynch
Asuka

Male Competitor of the Year:
Finn Balor
Sami Zayn
Samoa Joe
Kevin Owens
Tyler Breeze

Female Competitor of the Year:
Bayley
Sasha Banks
Charlotte
Becky Lynch
Asuka

Tag Team of the Year:
Blake & Murphy
The Vaudevillains
Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady
Dash & Dawson
The Lucha Dragons

TakeOver of the Year:
Rival
Brooklyn
Respect
London

Match of the Year:
NXT Women's Championship - Sasha Banks vs. Bayley: Respect
NXT Championship - Kevin Owens vs. Finn Balor: The Beast in the East special
NXT Women's Championship - Charlotte vs. Bayley vs. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch: Rival
NXT Championship - Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe: London
NXT Championship - Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens: Rival
NXT Women's Championship - Sasha Banks vs. Bayley: Respect
NXT Women's Championship - Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch: Unstoppable
NXT Women's Championship - Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte: WWE NXT 7-15-15
No.1 Contender's Tournament Final - Finn Balor vs. Neville: Rival
NXT Championship - Kevin Owens vs. Finn Balor: WWE NXT 3-25-15

For the Overall Competitor of the Year, I'd say it'll go to Finn Balor and the same for Male Competitor of the Year.

For Female Competitor of the Year, I think it goes to Bayley.

Tag Team of the Year is pretty wide open. If the awards are fan voted, there's a strong change that Enzo and Cassady pull out the win. Otherwise, I think it goes to either Blake & Murphy or Dash & Dawson.

TakeOver of the Year, for me, is probably Brooklyn.

Match of the Year is a tough call as there were tons of great matches. For me, I'm torn between Banks vs. Bayley at Brooklyn and Respect. Both were fantastic matches with tremendous build, storytelling and action; one could argue that the Iron Woman Match takes the edge due to the additional time to tell a story but, at the same time, all the various falls within the 30 minute stretch could be a slight negative. Had they stuck with a single fall for the match, as we saw with HBK vs. Bret Hart at WrestleMania XXII, I think it would've had a more epic feel.

 

[TJ Matics]

NXT Women's Championship - Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch: Unstoppable

Glad to see this match nominated. It won't win but it sold me on Banks and started me following NXT regularly, along with an interest in Balor. The crowd's standing ovation and singing Becky's song to her at the end was a really nice moment.

 

[MCMG]

Male Competitor of the year is difficult. Owens was only around for half the year but it was a tremendous run. Both the promos and the matches were fantastic. I loved how simplistic his character was in the feud with Zayn and then how much of a prick he was in the feud with Balor. Most notably when he put Full Sail in their place before the Brooklyn.

Balor, however, was around for the full year. I loved the match with Neville and he had two superb matches with Owens. There were some good matches in the tag-team tournament and with Apollo/Joe. I remember absolutely loving the match with Neville and I want to say it was the second best of the year. Sure, his promos aren't anything special but his entrances and character make up for that.

I'd have to say Owens edges it.

Female/Overall is also difficult for similar reasons. Bayley was around for the full year but Sasha was simply better. The feud between the two of them was superb and the two matches are going to be era-defining. I personally think Sasha had a better year. I find her more entertaining (particularly in promos) and her matches with Charlotte and Becky were also of high quality.

The best tag-team is a weird one. There have been many good/entertaining teams but not one that absolutely stands out. Enzo and Big Cass will probably win, which is fine, but both Blake and Murphy and Dash and Dawson have had good years too. Even Jordan and Gable have ended the year strongly and, quite frankly, out of all the teams put on the best matches.

Female/Overall - Sasha
Male - Owens
Match - Sasha v Bayley Brooklyn
Tag-team - Enzo and Big Cass
TakeOver - Brooklyn

 

[Dagger Dias]

The results were announced on this week's edition of NXT.


Overall Competitor of the Year - Finn Balor


Male Competitor of the Year - Finn Balor


Female Competitor of the Year - Bayley


Tag Team of the Year - Enzo Amore and Big Cass


NXT Takeover Event of the Year - NXT Takeover Brooklyn


Match of the Year - Bayley VS Sasha Banks at NXT Takeover Brooklyn


I am in agreement on nearly every single award for this. An argument could be made for the Iron Man match between Bayley and Sasha for the match of the year, although their Brooklyn match was fantastic as well so both matches would have been fine choices for the award. Unlike the Slammy Awards which come off as a colossal waste of time, this came off so much more genuine. I'm not surprised by this either as NXT blows Raw and Smackdown out of the water in quality so often these days. Congratulations to the winners of these awards and I look forward to what 2016 brings for each of them.