NXT Year End Awards

[Jack-Hammer]

Earlier today, Triple H announced that the NXT Year End Awards will presented during the kickoff show to NXT TakeOver: San Antonio. As with the first awards, the same categories are in play with the following nominees:

Male Competitor of the Year:
Shinsuke Nakamura
Finn Balor
Samoa Joe
Bobby Roode

Female Competitor of the Year:
Asuka
Bayley
Nia Jax

Superstar of the Year:
Shinsuke Nakamura
Asuka
Finn Balor
Bayley
Samoa Joe
Nia Jax
Bobby Roode

Tag Team of the Year:
American Alpha
The Revival
DIY
The Authors of Pain
TM-61

Breakout Star of the Year:
No Way Jose
Ember Moon
Andrade "Cien" Almas
Peyton Royse & Billie Kaye
Sanity

Match of the Year:
NXT Championship - Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Finn Balor - NXT 7-13-16
NXT Women's Championship - Asuka vs. Mickie James - NXT TakeOver: Toronto
NXT Tag Team Championship - American Alpha vs. The Revival - NXT TakeOver: The End
NXT Women's Championship - Bayley vs. Asuka - NXT TakeOver: Dallas
Singles Match - Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Sami Zayn - NXT TakeOver: Dallas
#1 Contenders 2 out of 3 Falls Match - Sami Zayn vs. Samoa Joe - NXT 2-17-16
NXT Championship Steel Cage Match - Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe - NXT TakeOver: The End
NXT Tag Team Championship 2 out of 3 Falls Match - The Revival vs. DIY - NXT TakeOver: Toronto
Singles Match - Bayley vs. Nia Jax - NXT 7-20-16
Singles Match - Tye Dillinger vs. Bobby Roode - NXT TakeOver: Toronto
NXT Championship - Finn Balor vs. Neville - NXT 3-2-16
NXT Championship - Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Samoa Joe - NXT TakeOver: Toronto
NXT Tag Team Championship 2 out of 3 Falls Match - The Revival vs. American Alpha - NXT 7-6-16

I think most of these are no brainers. For Male & Female Competitor of the Year, that easily should go to Nakamura and Asuka.

For the overall Superstar of the Year, that'll probably go to Nakamura.

For Tag Team of the Year, I'd say that DIY will come out with it though I'd personally vote for the Revival as they've just been flat out phenomenal with every time they've worked with.

For me personally, this could be pretty open. Almas is much better as a heel and he's coming along nicely. Sanity is growing on me, though I think that's due in large part to Nikki Cross' performance. Peyton Royce & Billie Kay are also starting to grow on me, though I think they still need a good deal of work. As of right now, Ember Moon is little more than a cool entrance and cool finisher. I'd say it'll go to No Way Jose as he's the fun babyface of the bunch.

As for Match of the Year....I think there are genuine arguments to be made for a good number of the nominees. I wouldn't be surprised if Zayn vs. Nakamura gets the nod here as people went crazy over it, understandably so as it was a helluva match. I'd probably vote for it if it wasn't ultimately an exhibition match with no real build up and the winner already guaranteed. Overall, I think I'm going with the Revival vs. DIY at the TakeOver event in Toronto as it was simply outstanding on every level. It featured fantastic action, storytelling, drama and delivered a most satisfying payoff; some have called it the greatest tag team match in all of WWE history I think it's most definitely in contention.

As for the TakeOver Event of the Year, I'd probably vote for Dallas. Nakamura vs. Zayn was crazy good, Asuka established her undisputed dominance among the women of NXT by beating Bayley and American Alpha finally captured the tag titles from the Revival.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

I agree with most of your take on who should win what. I really hope Jose takes Breakout Star.

I'm biased because I love goofy gimmicks, but Jose makes it work. Most of the time when you see a guy with a goofy gimmick, you expect them to lose a lot and fairly easily, but Jose puts on a damn fine show nearly each time out. He has taken a lot of bigger name guys to the limit, and looks competent when he does it. The guy is a star in the making as soon as they shift him to a gimmick people will take more seriously.

For match of the year, I hope it doesn't go to Sami vs. Nakamura. To me the match was a little overrated, mostly because it was Nakamura's first dance in WWE, and Sami's last in NXT. What I love about Sami is that he typically fights and overcomes great odds, but he never felt like a true underdog in that match. Because of that, I feel the match isn't as good as most people make it to be. Still a very solid match, but not MOTY. DIY vs. Revival 2/3 falls is my pick.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Male Competitor of the Year
Shinsuke Nakamura should win this. He had lots of great matches and has been one of the most popular male competitors ever since his debut. It was a great first year for him.


Female Competitor of the Year
Asuka is the only one who should even be considered. She was very dominant in her division for the entirety of 2016. It would be a shame for anyone else to win this.


Superstar of the Year
I don't care who wins this. It is redundant and silly for someone to win male/female competitor of the year but then also win this. It would be even stranger for whoever wins this to not also be picked the best male/female competitor. Shinsuke Nakamura is my pick if I had to pick someone.


Tag Team of the Year
The Revival should win this based off both match quality and success. I'd be fine with DIY winning it too though.


Breakout Star of the Year
This one is a little tougher to pick. I wouldn't really call Ember Moon a breakout star since she's been awesome since her debut. I can't for Sanity either. It is true that I hated Eric Young in TNA outside of his World Elite storyline, but this should be all about NXT. Young surprised me with his Sanity group, however like with Ember Moon they have been good since they first showed up. The rest of the nominations have seen improvement. Jose and Almas were awful and are now getting better. Royse and Kaye are slowly reaching the level needed in order to be the top female heels. Real tough call. I guess Jose.


Match of the Year
Lots of nominations, apparently. Only two should even be considered. The first being Sami Zayn VS Shinsuke Nakamura at NXT Takeover Dallas and DIY VS The Revival at NXT Takeover Toronto. Both were nearly flawless and have set the standard for big NXT matches in the near future. Either one of these two matches deserves to win. I liked Sami VS Nakamura just a little more, it was awesome to get to be there in person for such an amazing match. It's my pick.


NXT Takeover of the Year
Dallas was the best from top to bottom. Toronto had a match of the year candidate as well as also having a solid card overall. Brooklyn has emerged as NXT's biggest show of the year, I wouldn't put it as the BEST over Dallas or Toronto however. The End is a distant fourth, good in its own right, but it pales in comparison to the other three.

 

[ShinChan]

Male Competitor: Shinsuke Nakamura
Female Competitor: Asuka
Superstar of the year: Shinsuke Nakamura
Tag Team of the year: The Revival
Breakout of the year: Tye Dillinger
Match of the year: Bobby Roode Vs. Tye Dillinger at TakeOver Toronto
TakeOver of the year: Toronto

Asuka seriously had no competition so it had to be her as the female competitor of the year. Brand split affected this division badly in NxT. Shinsuke Nakamura and Samoa Joe are the male competitors for me. The Revival has done it all it could to become the tag team of the year. Match of the year is almost a tie between Roode/Dillinger and Revival/#DIY. Breakout star ought to be Tye Dillinger. He was nowhere near as over as he's now. Same with his skills. TakeOver Toronto because it had damn good matches.