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Like the rest of the sports entertainment industry, WWE NXT has also had an interesting year. The brand fought through the pandemic just like RAW and SmackDown and continued to entertain the fans without allowing the quality to drop.
Karrion Kross made his NXT debut this year and ran through the roster before suffering an injury. Finn Balor also left a big mark on NXT this year after returning to the brand last year.
Apart from that, there were some major victories and surprises on the brand during the year. We saw some Superstars and teams become Champions in WWE for the first time in their career, while several lesser-known Superstars won their first big matches on the show.
Imperium, Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan, Dakota Kai, and Candice LeRae had a phenomenal year. However, it was the year of the enhancement talents too, who managed to pick up major victories over top Superstars.
Keeping in mind the surprising bookings on the show, we will look at the 5 biggest upset victories we witnessed in WWE NXT this year.
#5 Breezango defeated Imperium for the NXT Tag Team Championships on WWE NXT (Aug 26, 2020)
Breezango has been one of the most entertaining tag teams in WWE for some time now. Tyler Breeze and Fandango work extremely well together, and even though they don’t have many accomplishments to their name, they’ve been a threat to their opponents in major rivalries.
While Imperium was just getting started with their reign as the NXT Tag Team Champions, Breezango challenged them for the title the second time on Aug 26th. On a night where Karrion Kross was forced to relinquish the WWE NXT Championship, Breezango did the unthinkable by defeating Imperium.
Imperium has been the top faction of NXT UK for some time now, and Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner are two of the best men in the business. Fandango was able to deliver a double leg drop to the duo and then pinned them to pick up the biggest victory of their career.
It was surprising to watch WWE give Breezango a chance to defeat them, even though Breezango deserved a run with the tag team titles. This was one of the biggest Championship match upsets of the year in WWE, and NXT managed to give Breezango a decent run with the title before taking it off them soon after.
#4 Xia Li pinned Mia Yim on WWE NXT (Feb 26, 2020)
Xia Li has had a tough year on WWE NXT. The Chinese Superstar has been on the losing end of her matches in the second half of the year, and we might see a character change from the Superstar very soon.
However, Li started the year on the right foot. In February, Li competed in her first singles match of the year against Mia Yim. Yim was considered one of the biggest Superstars of NXT, and even though she never won a title on the brand, she was still considered a major force.
The HBIC had the upper hand walking into the match, and took Li down early. However, a distraction from Raquel Gonzalez helped Li pick up arguably the biggest victory of her WWE career. Before her victory over Yim, Li had only won matches over other enhancement talents such as Jessi Kamea, Aliyah, and Vanessa Borne.
Surprisingly, Li never got a push after her upset victory over Yim, and even though she defeated Aliyah a couple of weeks later, she went on a losing spree in WWE.
#3 Cameron Grimes pinned Finn Balor on WWE NXT (May 13, 2020)
Cameron Grimes has been one of the most featured Superstars of WWE NXT this year. While Grimes has gotten the King Corbin treatment, where he’s been used as a top Superstar who loses matches on the trot, he’s proven that he’s incredible in the ring.
Grimes earned several title shots this year, but he was unable to win any Championship matches throughout the year.
Grimes’ loudmouth got him in a match against Finn Balor on the May 13th episode of NXT. Balor is one of the biggest Superstars in WWE, and it was expected that he would put Grimes down with ease and continue his rivalry against Damian Priest.
However, The Technical Savage was able to hold his own during the match, and a surprise attack from Priest helped Grimes hit the Cave In to pin the former WWE Universal Champion.
This was arguably the biggest victory of Grimes’ entire career, and it was no less than an upset taking into consideration Grimes’ bookings for the year. The Prince of NXT did not shy away from giving a deserving WWE Superstar a victory over him, to give Grimes a significant push.
#2 Drake Maverick defeated KUSHIDA in the NXT Cruiserweight Championship tournament in WWE NXT (May 20, 2020)
Drake Maverick has been seen as a comical relief in WWE for some time now. The Superstar spent most of last year in a comic storyline with R-Truth where both men chased the WWE 24/7 Championship.
While Maverick was heavily featured on television in mid-2019, he did not appear in any matches during 2020 until April. Maverick was announced as a participant in the Interim NXT Cruiserweight Championship Tournament on April 12, but WWE decided to release the Superstar from his contract on April 15th.
However, Maverick still competed in the tournament and he continuously stated that he was not going to leave WWE without the Cruiserweight Championship. Maverick lost his first match in the tournament to Jake Atlas, and fans did not take him too seriously on WWE NXT, even though he won his second match against Tony Nese.
However, he pulled off a huge upset victory over KUSHIDA on the May 20 episode of NXT. KUSHIDA is a top Superstar on NXT who’s already competed for multiple titles. It was surprising to watch someone like Maverick defeat one of the favorites of the tournament.
That wasn’t all, as Maverick defeated KUSHIDA and Atlas in a Triple Threat Match the following week.
Maverick lost the final of the tournament, but WWE treated the fans to a feel-good moment as Triple H offered him an NXT contract after the final match.
#1 Leon Ruff pinned Johnny Gargano for the NXT North American Championship on WWE NXT (Nov 11, 2020)
Did Seth Rollins really pull off the ‘Heist of the Century’ at WWE WrestleMania 31? Well, it seems like he’s got tough competition from Leon Ruff who did something similar on NXT in early November.
While Rollins fulfilled his destiny at WrestleMania 31, where he cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase to win the WWE Championship, Ruff’s destiny was left up to the spin of a wheel. NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano decided to spin the wheel to pick a challenger for his title, and Ruff’s name came up.
Ruff had only competed as an enhancement talent and taken losses from Aleister Black, Sheamus, and Karrion Kross, but WWE decided to pull off a huge surprise during the night.
Even though it seemed like the match would be a walk in the park for Gargano, Ruff was allowed to pin The Rebel Heart to not only defeat him but also win the NXT North American Championship in the process.
Gargano is arguably the biggest Superstar NXT has got today, and WWE decided to throw us a huge upset to hand the title to Ruff. That wasn’t all, as Ruff once again defeated Gargano a week later, this time via disqualification, to retain his title.
