NXT Year End Awards

[Jack-Hammer]

Tonight's episode of NXT featured the announcement that the winners of the end of year awards for the brand will be announced on January 27th at TakeOver: Philadelphia and can be voted on via social media. The categories and nominees are:

NXT Male Competitor of the Year:
* Bobby Roode
* Roderick Strong
* Drew McIntyre
* Andrade "Cien" Almas
* Aleister Black

NXT Female Competitor of the Year:
* Asuka
* Ember Moon
* Nikki Cross
* Ruby Riott
* Iconic Duo AKA Peyton Royce & Billie Kay

Overall competitor of the Year:
* Drew McIntyre
* Bobby Roode
* Andrade "Cien" Almas
* Aleister Black
* Roderick Strong
* Asuka
* Ember Moon
* Nikki Cross
* Ruby Riott
* Iconic Duo

NXT TakeOver of the Year:
* San Antonio
* Orlando
* Chicago
* Brooklyn III
* WarGames

NXT Tag Team of the Year:
* The Authors of Pain
* SAnitY
* DIY
* The Revival
* Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish

NXT Breakout Star of the Year:
* Aleister Black
* Velveteen Dream
* Lars Sullivan
* Andrade "Cien" Almas & Zelina Vega
* Sonya Deville
* Ruby Riott
* Undisputed Era

NXT Future Star of the Year:
* Street Profits
* Heavy Machinery
* Kairi Sane
* Bianca Belair
* Shayna Baszler
* Fabian Aichner
* Cezar Bononi
* Lio Rush
* Lacey Evans

NXT Match of the Year:
* Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade "Cien" Almas (TakeOver: Brooklyn III)
* Asuka vs. Ember Moon (TakeOver: Brooklyn III)
* The Authors of Pain vs. DIY vs. The Revival (TakeOver: Orlando)
* Drew McIntyre vs. Andrade "Cien" Almas (TakeOver: WarGames)
* Tyler Bate vs. Pete Dunne (TakeOver: Chicago)
* The Authors of Pain & Roderick Strong vs. SAnitY & The Undisputed Era (TakeOver: WarGames)
* Asuka vs. Nikki Cross (NXT TV Show 6/28/17)
* The Authors of Pain vs. DIY (TakeOver: Chicago)
* Bobby Roode vs. Roderick Strong (NXT TV Show 7/5/17)
* NXT Women's Championship Qualifying Battle Royal (NXT TV 10/25/17)
* Aleister Black vs. Velveteen Dream (TakeOver: WarGames)
* Johnny Gargano vs. Kassius Ohno (NXT TV 12/6/17)

NXT Rivalry of the Year:
* Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bobby Roode
* Asuka vs. Ember Moon
* Tyler Bate vs. Pete Dunne
* SAnitY vs. The Undisputed Era
* Aleister Black vs. Velveteen Dream
* Kassius Ohno vs. Hideo Itami
* The Authors of Pain vs. DIY

The award for top male is pretty open, though Bobby Roode being NXT Champion for most of the year might give him some additional weight. Drew McIntyre has been a great babyface while Aleister Black has the whole cool outsider thing going for him.

The female award goes to Asuka, nobody else should be even close.

Overall competitor of the year is a toss up, but I won't be surprised to see Asuka get it.

TakeOver of the Year will go to either Chicago or WarGames.

Tag Team of the Year I can see going to Fish & O'Reilly because they're so fresh & new in everyone's minds, and of course they're the current tag champs.

Breakout Star of the Year will probably go to Black.

Future Star of the Year is probably either the Street Profits or Kairi Sane.

Match of the Year will probably be Bate vs. Dunne

Rivalry of the year might also go to Bate vs. Dunne.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

I’m kind of upset at Future Star of the Year. You have a few names, Evans and Belair who have done absolutely nothing and aren’t good. You have Baszler who hasn’t even officially debuted yet. Then you don’t include undefeated monster Lars Sullivan.

And yeah, the MYC included all three of those women, but only Baszler did anything of note. Unless you count Belair hitting people with her hair.

 

[vet712]

These are actually tough to pick. I'm not sure if it's because NXT TakeOver's are only a few a year, because honestly, that's where we base our choices from, or what. I just vote with what I initially feel when I read the award and the nominees, then stick with it.

TakeOver - WarGames - It had all the hype and the best matches of an entire TakeOver card, however, none of them were MOTY to me. It was just all around a great event.
Female - Asuka - No contest.
Male - Drew McIntyre - I see it as a no contest. He was the best comeback story NXT has seen and has completely rebranded himself.
Overall - Asuka - Again, no contest.
Tag Team - SAnitY - Best gimmick in NXT and strike me as a true future stable in WWE.
Breakout Star - Aleister Black - There's something about him. Legit superstar.
Future Star - Street Profits - Montez is awesome and they are entertaining. Angelo needs to work on at least making his promos understandable. Only choice to me.
MOTY - Bate vs Dunne - A simple one on one for the UK title, that is so under-rated and under-valued, delivered and blew everyone's expectations out of the water. To me, those are all the qualities for a MOTY.
Rivalry of the year - Aleister Black vs Velveteen Dream - The only rivalry this year in NXT that told an interesting story and resulted in an amazing match. This would have been MOTY, had Bate vs Dunne been any less surprising than it was.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

Looking at the list, it's kinda hard to pick anybody and will i won't waste my time in voting on twitter for these, here's who i would have chosen

NXT Male Competitor of the Year:
* Bobby Roode
* Roderick Strong
* Drew McIntyre
* Andrade "Cien" Almas
* Aleister Black

My pick for this category would be Aleister Black mostly because he's the only one that had a strong full year in NXT. Roode after summerslam, Mcintyre got hurt soon after his come back and Almas and Strong didn't have a really strong year overall


NXT Female Competitor of the Year:
* Asuka
* Ember Moon
* Nikki Cross
* Ruby Riott
* Iconic Duo AKA Peyton Royce & Billie Kay

My pick would be Ember moon mostly because Asuka left mid year. As for the other three, they didn't really did anything great to deserve winning this


Overall competitor of the Year:
* Drew McIntyre
* Bobby Roode
* Andrade "Cien" Almas
* Aleister Black
* Roderick Strong
* Asuka
* Ember Moon
* Nikki Cross
* Ruby Riott
* Iconic Duo

Again same as the superstar of the year, Some of them didn'T last a full year and the rest didn't really do anything strong to win this. It was between Aleister and Ember but in the end the fact that Aleister went undefeated for most of the year make him my pick

NXT TakeOver of the Year:
* San Antonio
* Orlando
* Chicago
* Brooklyn III
* WarGames

Random pick on my part because for me those special all look alike

NXT Tag Team of the Year:
* The Authors of Pain
* SAnitY
* DIY
* The Revival
* Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish

My favorite team out of those five plus they dominated the tag team scene for a while. DIY didn't last long in 2017, Sanity is Sanity, The revival left NXT early in 2017 and because of injury didn'T have an impact on the main roster and O'reilly & Fish just got there.


NXT Breakout Star of the Year:
* Aleister Black
* Velveteen Dream
* Lars Sullivan
* Andrade "Cien" Almas & Zelina Vega
* Sonya Deville
* Ruby Riott
* Undisputed Era

Again out of that list, I feel like Aleister had a breakout year plus i feel out of that whole list, he the only one that probably got a bright future after NXT.

NXT Future Star of the Year:
* Street Profits
* Heavy Machinery
* Kairi Sane
* Bianca Belair
* Shayna Baszler
* Fabian Aichner
* Cezar Bononi
* Lio Rush
* Lacey Evans

I love the Street profits even if i feel like they are just a paste and copy version of Crymetime, yet it's still a entertaining gimmick and at less they are winning and getting tv time compare to most of the rest on that list.

NXT Match of the Year:
* Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade "Cien" Almas (TakeOver: Brooklyn III)
* Asuka vs. Ember Moon (TakeOver: Brooklyn III)
* The Authors of Pain vs. DIY vs. The Revival (TakeOver: Orlando)
* Drew McIntyre vs. Andrade "Cien" Almas (TakeOver: WarGames)
* Tyler Bate vs. Pete Dunne (TakeOver: Chicago)
* The Authors of Pain & Roderick Strong vs. SAnitY & The Undisputed Era (TakeOver: WarGames)
* Asuka vs. Nikki Cross (NXT TV Show 6/28/17)
* The Authors of Pain vs. DIY (TakeOver: Chicago)
* Bobby Roode vs. Roderick Strong (NXT TV Show 7/5/17)
* NXT Women's Championship Qualifying Battle Royal (NXT TV 10/25/17)
* Aleister Black vs. Velveteen Dream (TakeOver: WarGames)
* Johnny Gargano vs. Kassius Ohno (NXT TV 12/6/17)

Out of these matches listed, the ladder match was the one of the only one that didn'T put me to sleep and i got invested in it from beginning to end plus the great angle at the end of the match made it even more memorable. Honorable mention for the Ember Moon vs asuka and Asuka vs nikki cross matches which we're also really great and i truly enjoyed.

NXT Rivalry of the Year:
* Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bobby Roode
* Asuka vs. Ember Moon
* Tyler Bate vs. Pete Dunne
* SAnitY vs. The Undisputed Era
* Aleister Black vs. Velveteen Dream
* Kassius Ohno vs. Hideo Itami
* The Authors of Pain vs. DIY

Asuka vs Ember moon was a awesome rivalry, sad that they we'rent able to tell the full story before asuka left and have ember be the first one to beat asuka but still a great feud. As for the rest, i didn'T get invested in any of those rivalry mention and i felt they we're really just paint by the number rivalry to fill time on the NXT specials.

 

[NxtBigThing]

NXT Male Competitor of the Year:
* Bobby Roode
Bobby held the title from January until August and I think only lost two matches in his entire NxT singles run. His title reign of 7-8 months with the only two losses coming from Drew and Roderick isn't anything to lose sleep over. Name anyone else with a better record vs some top names and title run that lasted over half a year.

NXT Female Competitor of the Year:
* Asuka
See above but even better

Overall competitor of the Year:
* Asuka
Name anyone with a better record and title run not only this year but in Nxt history.

NXT TakeOver of the Year:
* WarGames
All NXT events range from good to great but War Games every match was solid with Black vs Dream as a psychological masterpiece and the return of a War Games match that did not disappoint.

NXT Tag Team of the Year:
* The Authors of Pain
This one was a toss up between AOP and SAnitY. I went with AoP for their destruction, solid matches/feuds, their record with only one loss to SAnitY and coming up short in a solid War Games match.

NXT Breakout Star of the Year:
* Aleister Black
This was another toss up between Aleister Black and Lars Sullivan. Going to give it to Black because while both were dominant Black sticks out more due to his entrance and look. I think both have potential to be stars.

NXT Future Star of the Year:
* Shayna Baszler
The only two names that stuck out to me was Sane and Baszler. Kairi is much more attractive and won Mae Young Classic but not sure the pirate thing will work on the big stage. Baszler with her MMA background if she can piece together it to pro wrestling she'll be a bigger star not to mention is part of Rhonda Rousey's 4 Horseswomen. If Rhonda ever signs you'll see more of Baszler than of Sane.

NXT Match of the Year:
* The Authors of Pain & Roderick Strong vs. SAnitY & The Undisputed Era (TakeOver: WarGames)
It was the first War Games match in almost two decades and the match was solid. While it may not have been as great as a few other matches it stuck out the most and a match I've seen more than once.

NXT Rivalry of the Year:
* Aleister Black vs. Velveteen Dream
It was a short feud but was so simple it was perfect. For weeks Dream just wanted to be recognized by Black and have him say his name. Their match and ending was just fantastic. To me this feud stuck out the most with the storytelling and a match that did it justice.

 

[#hamler]

NXT Male Competitor of the Year:

While an argument could be made for nearly everyone nominated in this category, Bobby Roode was the only one who carried the title longer than a few months. He outshined the rest of the male roster during 2017.

NXT Female Competitor of the Year:

It's not even a contest here. NXT was built around Asuka for the better part of two years and I defy any of you to name a female that has done that for any wrestling brand. Her reign as NXT Women's Champion was dominance personified accompanied by memorable matches. There's not much else you can ask for in a competitor.

Overall competitor of the Year:

Have to go with Asuka once again. See above.

NXT TakeOver of the Year:

Takeover: WarGames and Takeover: Chicago are two of my personal favorite shows of the year and it's especially hard for me to choose between the two. Chicago featured one of my favorite bouts in Bate/Dunne while WarGames also featured one of my favorite bouts in Black/Dream. With that, ill give the slight edge to Takeover: WarGames because the main event was something we haven't seen in quite a while. WarGames could've been absolutely watered down but it wasnt, it was as great as ever.

NXT Tag Team of the Year:

This is a hard pick for me but I'm going with The Authors of Pain because they're incredibly green, but managed to pull off some pretty great matches throughout the year. Their dominance rivaled The Ascension in their earlier years and that style is somewhat missed in NXT.

NXT Breakout Star of the Year:

This one isn't even close. Aleister Black wins this because he's had phenomenal matches with just about everyone he's faced in 2017. Add that with his outta nowhere Black Mass finisher and you've got Raw or Smackdown's next breakout star in 2018.

NXT Future Star of the Year:

Kairi Sane is the only one here really worth mentioning so far as she's the only one nominated that has held any sort of accomplishment. With the exception of Shayna, she probably has the brightest future ahead of her...at least in NXT.

NXT Match of the Year:

* Tyler Bate vs. Pete Dunne (TakeOver: Chicago)
* Aleister Black vs. Velveteen Dream (TakeOver: WarGames)

This is way to hard for me to choose so I'm choosing both. Bate/Dunne have the best chemistry going between two wrestlers with in all of the WWE. Their match at Takeover: Chicago was extremely special because you had these two relatively unknown guys working the crowd like so few young guys can do.

Same could really be said for Velveteen Dream. He's so young in his wrestling career but displayed some of the best wrestling psychology I've seen from anyone in years. The Black/Dream feud is what storytelling should be like in professional wrestling. It's way too close to call for me.

NXT Rivalry of the Year:

See above. Tyler Bate vs. Pete Dunne take this one. Their trilogy of matches proved that there are still young wrestlers out there who are just naturals at professional wrestling.