nXt Cool Points Rankings: Post-TakeOver XXX

NXT Rankings for March 12 to August 22, 2020

Men’s Division

8. Damian Priest (4-5, New NA Champ)

Finally, after 3 TakeOvers, the rising star has won his first nXt North American Championship. Priest is putting the pieces together, becoming a more engaging in-ring competitor and promo guy, too. He is starting to show signs of his personality and is no longer as mysterious and stoic as he was upon arrival.

He has built-in feuds with any of the wrestlers from the Ladder Match, but it seems that Timothy Thatcher may have decided he’s ready for a title challenge. The stats back him up and it would be intriguing to see their wrestling styles match up.

7. Johnny Gargano (5-4, 2-0 in multi-man tag)

During the past 5 months of pandemic era nXt, Johnny Gargano and his wife, Candice LeRae, have shown a new side of their personas. As the “All Heart, No Soul” and “Poison Pixie” respectively, they’ve welcomed the world into their home, following a triumphant beatdown of former tag partner Tommaso Ciampa in April. They feuded with Keith Lee and his significant other, Mia Yim, too, prior to Lee’s nXt Championship reign.

Gargano continues to play an integral role in carrying the mid-card of nXt, battling with many of the roster’s newer members for the North American Championship this past month, leading up to TakeOver: XXX. Looking ahead, he’ll have an opportunity to fight for the nXt Championship again, though he will likely not be successful in that Fatal Four-Way match.

6. Timothy Thatcher (5-2, 1-1 in tag with BroserWeights)

Thatcher could be higher on this list, given all the promo time and matches he’s received this summer. A lot of work has been done to build him up as a no-nonsense wrestling machine. His debut in nXt, however, was awkward, subbing for Pete Dunne to help Matt Riddle. He gave that up quickly, and won a short but memorable feud against Riddle, culminating in a unique cage match in May.

He made his TakeOver debut last weekend, losing to Finn Balor, and no shame in that. He just gave word to Damian Priest that he’s ready for a singles title, too. His stock will continue to rise in 2020.

5. Adam Cole (4-1, 0-1 in tag)

Cole’s dropped a fair amount, considering his loss to Keith Lee at Great American Bash in June ended an almost 10 month nXt Championship reign.

His recent feud with former NFL punter and radio personality Pat McAfee marked nXt’s first foray into bringing in celebrity wrestlers. The match, at TakeOver: XXX was easily a highlight of the night, sparked by a controversial blow-up by Cole on McAfee’s show to get the ball rolling.

With the Undisputed Era no longer draped in gold, it will be interesting to see how they stay relevant in nXt. WarGames is up next though, and that has traditionally been their fighting grounds.

4. Cameron Grimes (6-4)

Grimes is another rising star from last summer’s nXt Breakout Tournament who has benefitted from plenty of match and promo time. His inclusion in the qualifying matches for the North American Championship ladder match was no surprise, and he had a great showing in that match. In fact, he almost won it at one point.

Grimes and Priest have battled on and off prior to Priest’s victory, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Grimes challenge his old foe for the title.

3. Dexter Lumis (7-2, 1-0 in tag)

The ultimate creep, Lumis’ win-loss record should be surprising to most nXt fans. He’s had high-profile moments kidnapping the Undisputed Era during the Backlot Brawl at TakeOver: In Your House and, of course, stalking Roderick Strong and defeating him in a strap match this summer.

Unfortunately, an injury has forced Lumis out of the ring, so his opportunity at nXt gold will have to wait. He could continue making life difficult for the Undisputed Era as well.

2. Keith Lee (7-1, 0-2 in tag, former nXt and NA champion)

At Great American Bash, Keith Lee became the first double champion in nXt history, defeating Adam Cole to become the nXt Champion, while retaining his North American Championship. It was a great moment for the brand and for pro wrestling, given the context of Lee’s victory as one of only a few Black wrestlers to wear championship gold in the WWE Universe.

Unfortunately, his exciting title run was cut short at TakeOver: XXX, as he lost to Karrion Kross. His debut on Raw this past Monday has already been lambasted by fans as another example of the main roster not knowing how to showcase nXt stars on their shows. Time will tell if he’ll become another Bobby Roode or if he’ll ascend to Seth Rollins-like heights or higher.

1. Karrion Kross (6-0, former nXt Champion)

Kross went undefeated and won the nXt Championship in record time, only taking 2 TakeOvers and a few months to do it. His entrance, presentation and partnership with Scarlett have enamoured fans since his debut and he has become a must-watch star on the nXt roster. His sound defeat of the Black Heart, Tommaso Ciampa was shocking and established that he would be no ordinary title contender.

Kross had to forfeit his championship only days after winning at TakeOver: XXX due to a separated shoulder. His return time is unknown, but it would make sense for him to challenge for the title once he is healthy again.

Women’s Division

7. Aliyah (1-7, 1-1 in tag)

Given her win-loss record, Aliyah has no business being on this ranking page, but she has been given a significant amount of promo time as part of the Robert Stone brand. So, I feel it is justified to give mention to her being used to give more high-profile wrestlers an opportunity to get some reps in on weekly TV.

6. Mercedes Martinez (2-1, 1-1 in tag)

Martinez demanded that Robert Stone represent her as well and so she has formed an unlikely alliance with the aforementioned Aliyah. She is a veteran presence in the division and it will be interesting to see how she initiates feuds moving forward. Will she be able to challenge Shirai sooner before later, or will other women present themselves as obstacles toward that oal?

5. Rhea Ripley (2-3, 1-1 in tag)

Ripley lost all of her momentum going into Wrestlemania: Tampa, when she lost the Women’s Championship to Charlotte Flair and then got pinned by Shirai at TakeOver: In Your House to lose again. These losses left Ripley without a clear direction or opponent.

She had a brief feud against the Robert Stone brand as a reset, and, at TakeOver: XXX, she ran out to confront Raquel Gonzalez, Dakota Kai’s protector. It won’t be long before she’s challenging Shirai again for the title. And nXt will be thankful for that.

4. Mia Yim (3-4, 1-2 in tag)

Yim has also declined in wins and losses since her #1 contendership last summer. She did get a great match at TakeOver: In Your House, wrestling in a fun opening 6-woman tag, which built upon her pre-existing feud with Candice LeRae.

As long as Shirai is the champion, Yim will be waiting for someone else to win before she’ll get another title shot. If there is a Women’s WarGames match this year, she would do well to captain a team

3. Tegan Nox (4-2, 1-3 in tag)

Nox received her title shot against Shirai on the July 15th show, wrestling in the main event. She received some great promo time, coming out of a successful showing at TakeOver: In Your House in the opening 6-woman tag match.

She’s got a decent record but will also suffer from a lack of future opportunity as long as Shirai is the champion.

2. Candice LeRae (4-2, 2-1 in tag)

The newly named “Poison Pixie”, Candice LeRae has been noticeably edgy and aggressive leading up to the end of the summer. She was the difference maker in her husband, Johnny Gargano’s final match against Tommaso Ciampa. She and Johnny have also opened up their home and delivered some engaging promos during their feud with Lee and Yim.

She’s in the right position to challenge for a title shortly and that would likely happen sooner than TakeOver: WarGames.

1. Dakota Kai (6-3, 2-2 in tag)

Kai won the #1 contendership over Ripley at the start of the month, but her loss to Shirai at TakeOver: XXX may yet extend her place near the top of the division. With Ripley’s return and desire to confront Gonzalez, that automatically makes Kai a part of the feud.

Her edgy persona has lifted her up the rankings in a way never before seen, so it’s clearly working for her. Easy to dislike right now for her antics.

Women’s Champion: Io Shirai (8-0, 1-1 in tag, nXt Champion)

Undefeated in singles competition over the past 5 and a half months, Shirai won the second-ever Women’s main event TakeOver match at TakeOver: In Your House to become champion. She has defended the belt well and none of her TV matches have shown her to be in jeopardy of losing it.

After defeating Dakota Kai at TakeOver: XXX, Rhea Ripley made the save as Shirai was attacked by Kai’s protector, Raquel Gonzalez. So, it would seem the feud with Ripley, from earlier in the summer, will be reprised at some point soon. Go Shirai Go!

Tag Team Division

5. Legado del Fantasma (Mendoza/Wilde/Escobar)

0-2, 2-0 in multi-man tag

This new faction of Cruiserweights have been busy battling Breezango during the past month. Before that, they were picking on Drake Maverick coming out of the Cruiserweight tournament. Their actual tag team experience is quite low at present, but because of the state of the division, they recently battled in a #1 Contender’s triple threat yesterday against Imperium and Breezango.

Should be interesting to see how serious they are about attaining tag team gold.

4. Undisputed Era (O’Reilly/Fish)

0-3

This is a weird sight to see but yes, the Undisputed Era is winless over the past few months and nowhere near another tag team title shot. Perhaps they will venture more into singles matches like Kyle O’Reilly did last night, or maybe they will regroup, reconnect and get back into battling for the gold.

3. Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch

2-2

Always dependable stalwarts of the tag team division, Lorcan & Burch fought to a .500 record. Whenever a team needs a tough challenge, these guys step up and deliver, and thank God for that. It is desperately needed during this trying time for the nXt Tag Team Division.

2. BroserWeights (Riddle/Thatcher)

1-1

Formerly the pairing of Matt Riddle and Pete Dunne, Covid-19 pandemic restrictions caused or forced Pete Dunne out of Florida. Thatcher was chosen as Dunne’s substitution and he lasted only a few weeks before the duo lost the nXt Tag Team Championships. That loss blew up into a battle between the two, which was referred to earlier.
This tag team is no longer active, due to Riddle’s jump to the main roster.

1. Imperium (Aichner/Barthel/Wolfe)

4-1

It seemed like Imperium would have a strangehold on the Tag Team Championships for months, simply because of the sheer lack of contenders in the division. Aichner & Barthel are a formidable duo, too. Well, at least, they were until Breezango beat them last night.

I can foresee a rematch between the teams but, after that, your guess is as good as mine what they get up to. Perhaps they could take on some of the newer teams in the division like Indus Sher?

Tag Champions: Breezango (Breeze/Fandango)

4-1, 0-2 in multi-man tag

It’s been a long time coming for these two veterans who can finally say they are nXt Tag Team Champions, defeating Imperium on nXt TV last night. Prior to that, they were struggling to keep up with Legado del Fantasma, losing both 6-man tag matches to them.

If these two can stay healthy, we should see a number of fun promos with these two as champs. After Imperium, I’d like to see some new teams take them on to give the Tag Team Division new life again.

COOL IT!

That’s a wrap on the rankings from my perspective. I look forward to reading where you agree and disagree. Here are three questions to help guide your comments.

1. Would you like to see the Tag Team Division get more attention again? What teams could be formed or given more promo time?

2. Who’s next in line to face Io Shirai?

3. What’s your prediction for this autumn’s WarGames match? Will there be a Women’s edition again?

Please join in the discussion below about what you’ve liked and not liked about Covid-19 pandemic era wrestling at Full Sail and the WWE Performance Center. You can also follow me on Twitter to keep the conversation going there.

Peace!

Follow @JCoolLOP

Related Links:

Can’t Knock The Hustle: NXT Takeover XXX Running Diary

nXt Cool Points Rankings: Pre-TakeOver WarGames