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If you were to ask me who the biggest names in NXT today are, I'd tell you Johnny Gargano, Johnny Wrestling, Johnny Bad Ass, and Johnny Takeover. My bias opinion aside, when Vince McMahon requested the four best superstars NXT has to offer, he received NXT champion Tommaso Ciampa, NXT North American champion Johnny Gargano, the "One and Only" Ricochet, and the "Man from Amsterdam" Aleister Black. These are the four pillars of NXT, the four men who are always featured on TakeOver and always steal the show.
In the past two years, there have been at least ten superstars you could claim to be among the top five in the eleven-year history of the yellow brand. This is a show, mind you, whose inaugural champion was Seth Rollins and whose first episode featured Daniel Bryan vs. Chris Jericho.
NXT's roster is more stacked than it has ever been, but these men moonlighting on Raw and SmackDown this week served to remind us that they will not be here forever.
These are the four superstars primed to slide into the main event scene and fill the voids that will be left behind by Ciampa, Gargano, Ricochet, and Black when they are inevitably called-up.
#4 Matt Riddle
Matt Riddle is a blue-chip prospect that many believed would never come to WWE. He has spent ten years fighting in the MMA and wrestling on the Indies, but it seemed as though WWE would never take a chance on him. That was until he was spotlighted in the crowd of TakeOver: Brooklyn IV.
Ever since then the WWE universe has been enamored with the King of Bros. He has had a handful of matches including a clash with a debuting Punishment Martinez, a technical and physical masterpiece with Drew Gulak, and a trilogy with Kassius Ohno. At TakeOver: War Games II, Riddle had an impromptu match with Ohno that saw the original bro KO the knockout artist with a running knee in six seconds.
In longer subsequent matches with Ohno, Riddle has been very impressive, including literally elbowing Ohno into submission at TakeOver: Phoenix. Riddle is technically sound, can brawl, is laid back but also has a fire burning inside of him. He has a natural charisma and connection with the audience that can't be taught, and will definitely be headlining future TakeOvers once the Gargano-Ciampa fairy tale is over.
#3 Keith Lee
Keith Lee's potential is absolutely limitless. Lee is the answer to the question, what if you had a guy the size of Mark Henry who could move like Kofi Kingston? Lee is a big boy who can move like a cruiserweight and that will always lead to show-stealing opportunities.
On top of his raw athleticism, Lee is also naturally charismatic. Look at his last encounter with Kassius Ohno for example. Ohno mouths off to the crowd and states that he's leaving, only to turn around and get laid out by a rolling elbow from Lee.
Lee takes to the mic and says "oh no". Lee goes on to say that this ambush could have been worse, he could've low-blowed Ohno just as he had done to Lee in the past. Lee goes on to say "don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out of here", then goes on to revel with the Street Profits.
Lee came off as funny, entertaining, and, more importantly, himself. A superstar always sounds better when they come off as being themselves rather than playing a character or reading a script.
While Lee has not yet had a standout match in NXT his charisma has shown through, and he has a catchphrase that resonates with the audience. No matter what Lee is doing you can hear fans singing "oh bask in his glory", that connection will catapult Lee into the spotlight when the time comes.
#2 Dominik Dijakovic
Feast your eyes on six foot seven inches and 270 pounds of raw talent. Dominik Dijakovic is a dangerous man. We have heard it before, "the perfect combination of size, strength, and speed", but the adage does not do Dijakovic justice.
We have seen men the size of Dijakovic do some surprisingly athletic things, but how many of them do you see utilizing springboard maneuvers? For those unfamiliar with the term springboard, it is when a wrestler leaps from the ground up onto the top or middle rope and performs a move, such as AJ Styles' Phenomenal Forearm.
Dijakovic can employ power moves and agile aerial moves such as moonsaults and tope con hilos. Dijakovic originally debuted under his real name of Chris Dijak, but after a cup of coffee, he disappeared from NXT television. Vignettes aired of a man by the name of Dominik Dijakovic, leading to the repackaging of this future star.
Dijakovic got a chance to shine at the World's Collide Tournament featuring talents from NXT, NXT UK, and 205 Live. NXT's Velveteen Dream won the tournament but everyone got much-needed exposure.
In the first round, Dijakovic defeated TJP, but lost to Tyler Bate in the semifinals. Dijakovic has looked very impressive when featured on TV and has a finishing move, an Argentine backbreaker into a GTS, that looks absolutely brutal. You could not pay me to take a bump from Dijakovic. Dijakovic will be a pillar of NXT when the next mass exodus of talent comes.
#1 Adam Cole
Adam Cole is money. Point blank. Adam Cole staked claim to the NXT championship when he debuted at TakeOver: Brooklyn III. Cole founded the Undisputed ERA with Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly, and later recruited Roderick Strong. Cole is as talented as they come, as charismatic as they come, and just as good on the mic as he is in the ring.
At TakeOver: New Orleans, Cole competed twice in one night. First winning the six-man ladder match to become the inaugural NXT North American champion, then replacing an injured Fish as O'Reilly's partner in the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team classic\NXT Tag Team championship triple threat. It was here where Strong turned on his partner Pete Dunne, helping ERA win the trophy and the titles. Despite all of this, Cole has not peaked.
After losing the NXT North American championship to Ricochet, Cole has been left off of multiple TakeOvers. The leader of the Undisputed ERA has been less featured than his cohorts. While Cole is a heel, he receives babyface reactions as he and the ERA are simply too cool to boo.
Anytime Cole throws his fingers in the air the entire arena yells "Bay! Bay!" with him. Everything from his catchphrases, mannerisms, multitude of kicks, unmatched arrogance, to the way he points and yells "boom" in sync with his theme music, you can't help but want to see more of him. You see ten minutes of Adam Cole and you want the entire show to revolve around him.
Cole has accomplished a lot in his time in NXT but has not yet completed his mission statement of becoming NXT champion, overshadowed by the likes of Gargano and Ciampa's rivalry of the century, Aleister Black's mystique, and Ricochet's meteoric rise. When these men move on, NXT will descend into a new era, the Undisputed ERA.
