The Next Generation (Part II: NXT Invasion)

You all should be able to tell by now that I'm a huge NXT fan, in fact before I started writing this today I just finished watching last nights episode, and I have to say the new Bray Wyatt/Adrian Neville, Oliver Grey, Bo Dallas angle is coming along nicely. I'm not big on Bray Wyatt at all, I think he seems like he can cut a good promo, but that's about it, I've only seen him in the ring one of two times, and what I seen of him was rather underwhelming. Luckily his brother Bo Dallas (both are the sons of the original WWE taxman I.R.S) has some very good ring talent, he's one of the budding young stars fighting to get out of NXT. Right about now NXT doesn't seem like a place for young stars to hone their craft, but rather a place to stick hyped up talent, and mid-carders who they can't fit on the show and creative are too afraid that these young kids could get way over, just like they are down in NXT, and eclipse the boring older talent on the main shows. 

We got a glimpse of Bo Dallas on Raw and SmackDown and in the Royal Rumble match a few weeks/months back, and he caused quite a stir among the fans and some Internet bloggers like myself. He wasn't well known to most people in the audience who never watched NXT but people like myself who watch NXT every week had watched him grow and start to become the main focus of the show on NXT, then what do you know, he shows up in the Royal Rumble match after winning the NXT tournament and then the next night on Raw. It didn't come as a shock to some people that Bo was the one to come up rather than other top NXT stars like Bray Wyatt and Leo Kruger. He was literally the main focus on NXT for a good couple of months or so, he was doing very well, then they called him up to the main roster for two/three matches and BAM! He's back down to NXT...but this time he wasn't the main focus. It seems like the call-up killed a bit of his momentum, despite him beating Intercontinental champion Wade Barrett, cleanly as well might I add. I was hoping for a feud and maybe an IC title match between Bo and Barrett but the storyline kind of just washed up after the one or two matches and he was back in NXT doing basically nothing until recently. The feud with his brother is interesting but I would much rather see him getting up on the main roster, if not challenging for the NXT title (which doesn't seem to be getting any airtime lately). It would p**s me off a little bit but the guy they built up instead of him was really engaging.

Adrian Neville is the guy I'm talking about, Neville is a young lad from Newcastle, England (just like myself) and is definitely the most popular wrestler they have in NXT. He's now one half of the NXT tag team champions and is killing it every week in the ring, he really is that damn good (sorry Triple H). I think finally with Neville, WWE are realising that they have a huge talent on their hands, and even though he's still in NXT, he is a tag champion, he'd only been in the company for a few weeks when they handed him the belts which shows WWE's commitment to him by naming him the inaugural NXT Tag Team champion. I think it might be a good long while before Neville shows up on Raw or SmackDown because I know you American fans aren't too hot on us English being top drawers on WWE, William Regal never got there, you all flipped out at the possibility of Wade Barrett potentially becoming WWE champion, but I think if you watch Neville he may be the one to swerve your opinion on us English. The only problem you might have with him is understanding his promos, being a Geordie most of you will probably think he's Irish or Scottish, but I'm just hoping that one day I get to hear "Wey Aye Man!" on Raw or Smackdown...please, one day.

As far as the NXT Divas go though, there is no one else you can discuss other than Paige. Some people will make arguments for Sasha Banks or Summer Rae or Charlotte Flair (yes, that's Naitch's daughter) but Paige is the main draw on NXT, possibly out of everyone! Not just the Divas, even the Superstars, she gets the loudest pops out of everyone, every time she appears. And giving the current state of the WWE Divas division (see my post on Diva Destruction) WWE need Paige and could really use her on the main show right about now, I really do hope they realise what they have in her, but as I said in my Divas post that's less likely. She really is that good, she has a really unique look and is definitely one of the best female wrestlers I've ever seen, she could give an in-form in-prime Trish Stratus a run for her money. With reports coming in over the past number of weeks that WWE are looking to bring back former Divas, we've already seen the return of The Bella Twins which is great (I love Team Rhodes Scholars and The Bellas make it just that little bit more interesting) and reports of potential returns from Maryse, Kharma, Beth Phoenix and Kelly Kelly could be around the corner just makes her main show debut look increasingly unlikely (follow Beautiful Wrestling Divas on Facebook for news updates on Divas, some great pics on there too). But personally I think the sooner the better for Paige's debut, WWE really need her and she's definitely NXT's very top drawer at the moment, WWE really need to realise that.

Don't forget to follow my twitter on @SLWrestling and also on Glipho on @amjobling,
Thanks for reading, see you next time,
Andrew.