On the July 17th 2014 edition of NXT, Bull Dempsey and Mojo Rawley defeated two jobbers in a throwaway tag team match. Two and a half years removed, Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder are the winningest champions in NXT history and continue to shine as the NXT Tag Team Champions. Their rise to the top surprised many but, when analysed, is proof of how truly amazing the NXT brand is and the incredible things Triple H has done in a relatively short time.
The fact that a couple of jobbers could become such a mainstay of an entire brand is alien to some. We are most likely never going to see any of the men Braun Strowman beat on his way to the place he is now and hell, apart from the Chin Master himself James Ellsworth, I can’t think of a notable jobber from the past 5 years. But Triple H saw the potential in the two men and pushed them fast. Their genuinely classic bouts with American Alpha have been some of the best tag matches in recent memory and their match at Brooklyn 2 against DIY has ranked in the top 10 matches of the year so far- including the main roster. And that’s why I adore NXT.
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Sure, the superstars like Shinsuke Nakamura, Samoa Joe, Finn Balor, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Bayley, Sasha Banks, Charlotte, Becky Lynch etc. tend to be most focused on- but the ‘smaller’ members of the brand such as American Alpha, The Revival, Tye Dillenger, TM61, Bobby Rhoode continue to shine brightly all under the influence of Paul Levesque, Matt Bloom and the entire writing staff down in Orlando.
NXT is, debatably, the best place to watch wrestling right now. Sure, the roster is currently a bit thinner than it was at the start of the year but everyone has faith that they’ll continue to give us new stars to care about that will eventually be pushed to the main roster with huge fanfare. And in my opinion The Revival or the Mechanics or Dash and Dawson- whatever you want to call them- are the poster boys of that movement. Now we just need to work out which ones which…
Written by @McIverTheMark, make sure to follow him on Twitter!