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Including NXT UK and all Performance Center recruits, NXT has thirty-nine women signed to its roster. This includes several talented wrestlers including current NXT Women's Champion Rhea Ripley, former NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler, NXT UK Women's Champion Kay Lee Ray, former NXT UK Women's Champion Toni Storm, Io Shirai, Dakota Kai, Candice LeRae, Bianca Belair, Tegan Nox, Piper Niven, and Mia Yim. This is by far the best the division has looked since the days of the Four Horsewomen and Asuka.
#4 The match quality of the division is consistent
The NXT women's division has produced several match of the year contenders. Former NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler had many excellent matches against superstars like Bianca Belair, Io Shirai, Kairi Sane, Dakota Kai, Candice LeRae, and most recently Rhea Ripley. The match with Ripley was especially good with some near falls that led the NXT Universe to believe that either woman could walk away with the title. The moment when Rhea Ripley broke out of the Kirafuda Clutch was an iconic moment that the NXT Universe will never forget. They also will not be able to forget the beautiful Avalanche Riptide that The Nightmare used on Baszler to become champion.
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The first-ever NXT Women's War Games match featuring Shayna Baszler, Io Shirai, Bianca Belair, Kay Lee Ray, Candice LeRae, Rhea Ripley, Dakota Kai, and Tegan Nox exceeded the ridiculously high expectations. Not all of the matches had to feature Baszler to be great, though.
Io Shirai has proved herself to be the division's ace with a number of excellent matches against Mia Yim, Shayna Baszler, and Candice LeRae. The match mentioned above between her and Candice LeRae at NXT Takeover: Toronto II was arguably the best women's match of the year and proved that Candice LeRae could still go. The fatal four-way match featuring Candice LeRae, Mia Yim, Bianca Belair, and Io Shirai on the first episode of NXT on the USA Network was exceptional as well, and it only fits that it was the first match of NXT's new era. It showed all of the strengths of the four women, including Io Shirai's high-flying, Bianca Belair's raw power, and the pluckiness of both Candice LeRae and Mia Yim.
#3 The division includes homegrown talent
Vanessa Borne, Taynara Conti, Xia Li, and Bianca Belair all had minimal wrestling experience when they signed with WWE to compete in the 2017 Mae Young Classic. Vanessa Borne, Taynara Conti, and Xia Li have all had a recurring presence on NXT TV since then. Conti has had a few impressive performances against superstars like Nikki Cross, Lacey Evans, and most recently, Candice LeRae. Vanessa Borne has allied herself with Aliyah and has had respectable performances against the likes of Kairi Sane, Mia Yim, and Xia Li. Li, in turn, has shown a lot of promise over the past few months with strong performances against superstars like Shayna Baszler, Deonna Purrazzo, Karen Q, and Bianca Belair.
Bianca Belair is by far the best purely homegrown talent in WWE since the days of Chad Gable and Charlotte Flair. Despite being new to the sport, Bianca Belair showed promise with an impressive performance against Kairi Sane in the 2017 Mae Young Classic. Since then, she has shown a lot of growth with excellent performances against Shayna Baszler, Io Shirai, Mia Yim, Dakota Kai, Rhea Ripley, and Nikki Cross. The fact that NXT women's roster includes homegrown talent shows just how incredible the roster is as the experience of other members of the roster can help other talented superstars grow.
#2 Its ability to integrate with wrestlers from NXT UK and the main roster
While the NXT UK women's division is not as strong as NXT's women's division, there are still many talented superstars in that division. NXT UK Women's Champion Kay Lee Ray, Toni Storm, Piper Niven, Jinny, and Jazzy Gabert are among the best. There were two recent cameos from the NXT UK women's division in NXT. Kay Lee Ray was the surprise partner of Team Baszler for NXT Takeover: War Games III. She helped Io Shirai defeat Mia Yim in a ladder match to determine who got the advantage in the War Games match and defeated Dakota Kai in a singles match before competing at War Games. Toni Storm also appeared to help Team NXT at Survivor Series before being eliminated by a Sharpshooter/Bank Statement combo by Sasha Banks and Natalya. There is further potential for Toni Storm to fully join the NXT roster and other superstars such as Jinny, Jazzy Gabert, and Piper Niven to appear.
Several main roster superstars have appeared on NXT as well. Earlier this year, inaugural WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Sasha Banks & Bayley appeared and promised to defend the titles on NXT. A dream match with the Kabuki Warriors seemed likely. Unfortunately, they dropped the titles to the IIconics, and it seemed as if the titles would never be defended in NXT. However, after the Kabuki Warriors won the titles, they defended their championships against Team Kick in an excellent match. Becky Lynch also appeared on NXT and had a good match against Rhea Ripley. It is definitely possible that whoever are the WWE Women's Tag Team Champions return in the future to face a team from NXT.
#1 The elite character work of NXT's women
Shayna Baszler truly helped to build the entire NXT women's division. She was a dominant bully who could take down anyone put in front of her. Her dominance helped to create sympathy for superstars such as Dakota Kai. However, after Kairi Sane defeated her for the championship, she had a newfound fear of losing the title, so she employed the help of Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke. Superstars like Mia Yim, Io Shirai, Bianca Belair, and Candice LeRae benefited from causing the champion to fear that she might lose her title. The fact that Rhea Ripley was willing to step up to the dominant champion made her a fan favorite. Her performances against some of the main roster's best superstars such as Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks helped to make her even more of a star, and her victory over Shayna Baszler to become champion was electric.
Bianca Belair and Io Shirai both reacted to losses to Shayna Baszler in different ways. Bianca Belair seemed to have lost her mojo after losing to Shayna Baszler as she also lost multiple matches to Mia Yim. She only regained her overconfident braggadocious nature after scoring a number of victories against other superstars. Io Shirai took out all of her frustrations on being unable to become champion by turning on her friend Candice LeRae. Since then, she has become the ace of the division. Candice LeRae reacted to Io Shirai's attack on her by deciding to remind the NXT universe that she is one of the best wrestlers in the world. She took the fight to Io Shirai and even managed to work her way into a title shot against Shayna Baszler.
Dakota Kai and Tegan Nox both returned from injury after NXT debuted on the USA Network and were determined to make an impact. Tegan Nox had more success in doing so than Dakota Kai, which is why she was chosen by Rhea Ripley to join her team at War Games, and Dakota Kai wasn't. Dakota Kai had been bullied by Shayna Baszler multiple times before she was injured and was desperate to be able to get revenge against her finally. She tried her best to defeat Shayna Baszler on an episode of NXT, so Mia Yim took her spot. It makes her attack on Mia Yim and Tegan Nox understandable even though her betrayal of Tegan Nox is one of the most heartbreaking WWE betrayals of all time because they both worked to return from injury together and Tegan Nox only wanted what was best for her closest friend.
