NXT

Who'd have thought that NXT would come this far? From being that kinda daft rookie competition, that's thrown out some top main roster superstars since, such as Daniel Bryan, Wade Barrett and Ryback, to being reshuffled and made the new developmental territory for WWE. Taking over from Florida Championship Wrestling, which was great in itself, NXT has been of phenomenal use to the main show. Originally the WWE home of the likes of Cesaro, Paige, The Shield and The Wyatt Family, it has garnered an immense support as a show in it's own right, and put on some amazing programs in the past year or so. At the moment, we're only a few weeks away from the second NXT Takeover show, and it already looks to be a cracker, with a few matches already set in stone for the big night.

It gets kind of annoying when you realize that NXT only gets one hour, with plenty of talent on the show sometimes not getting a chance to show what they can do, but RAW can barely fill up a three hour show every Monday, using a load of filler segments, VTs, and ad breaks... a lot of fucking ad breaks. The great thing about NXT though, is that in that 50-60 minutes of TV/Network time these guys get, they make the most of it. They know they're working under a tight schedule and under a bit more pressure, but manage to pull it off every single week. The past two special events put on by NXT, the first being NXT ArRIVAL in February, and the second being the first NXT Takeover in May, delivered on all levels, and no doubt set a high standard to reach come September 11th. Possibly the match that sets the bar as high as it could be in terms of these special events was the modern day classic between Cesaro and Sami Zayn at ArRIVAL. Being given the largest time slot on the card for their match, not to mention they were opening the show, the pressure on these two to put on the match of the night was huge. Instead, they gave us the match of the year, with Cesaro picking up a well deserved win.

Outside of the ring, the big news coming from WWE over the past few months is that Kenta Kobayashi, Fergal Devitt and Kevin Steen have all been signed to the company and have reported to the Performance Center. They will be making their NXT debuts in good time, maybe even at Takeover 2... This is just further boosting the huge reputation of NXT, given that all three of these new signings are widely considered to be among the very best in the world at the moment, especially Devitt, who has won championships all over the world, and was considered upon leaving New Japan Pro Wrestling to be the most sought after free agent in the world of professional wrestling. Kenta has built his reputation by plying his trade at Pro Wrestling NOAH, and Kevin Steen has been one of the major spearheads in the Ring of Honor roster for a long time. All three men have huge reputations to uphold and NXT is the place to solidify their right to be on the main roster in WWE. Triple H personally signed these guys and that alone should tell you just how much faith he has in NXT as being the place for potential megastars to begin their WWE journey.

Another big announcement came on this week's episode, when it was revealed that the new General Manager of NXT was none other than the legend that is William Regal. He's not new to NXT however, as he's spent almost it's entire existence as a trainer to the NXT roster and serving as part of the announce team. He seems to be really passionate about the entire program and will no doubt be a huge success in his new role. Kicking off his reign, Mr. Regal announced, with the encouragement of all parties involved, that the main event of Takeover 2 will be Adrian Neville defending his NXT Championship against, Tyson Kidd, Tyler Breeze and Sami Zayn in a fatal 4-way match, which alone has me sold on the whole show, which also includes Bayley getting a shot at Charlotte's Women's Championship and The Ascension defending their tag team championships against either Sin Cara & Kallisto or the Vaudevillains.

There is a whole roster of young talent trying to one up each other and make it to the gloried heights of the WWE. Everyone has something to prove and no one wants to be left behind. NXT has provided a gateway for many champions on the main roster so far, a list that includes 2 United States Champions, 2 Tag Team Champions and a Divas Champion, and with the mountain of superstars compiling who are on the verge of making that leap up the ladder, I'm sure it's safe to say that many more champions will follow. With these new signings coming in, the time will be coming soon that a select few will be making that jump. Perhaps it will be Adrian Neville, who has been a worthy NXT Champion and would be following in the footsteps of former champions Seth Rollins and Bo Dallas by making the switch. Maybe Sami Zayn, who is already the real deal, and perhaps one of the most complete superstars in WWE today (but stay long enough to have a match or 10 with Steen, pls). The Ascension, who have dominated all there is to be dominated in NXT, may want to hunt further afield and rise (get it?) onto the main roster. The women in NXT also never fail to impress, with the likes of Charlotte, Bayley, Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks all worthy of a call up. If I had to choose one person/team to go up though, it'd be Enzo Amore and Colin Cassidy, who may have some rough edges to sand down in terms of their ring work, but are probably the most entertaining team on NXT, and perhaps WWE. Imagine a tag match between them and Slater Gator. That's a Wrestlemania pre show match waiting to happen... It'd be cracking stuff.

So aye, NXT has went through a great transition, and has found itself firmly being the place to be in wrestling just now. All the talent in the world and there's still more to come, and if ye don't believe that, go and watch it. Right now. Watch as much of it as ye can and then think to yourself "Jesus, Triple H is right...

... THE FUTURE IS NOW."

Highlights of Zayn vs Cesaro from ArRIVAL. Belter.