Top 3 Performers of NXT (November 28, 2018)

Starting the episode with tag team competition between Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch against the Australian duo of The Mighty. The contest was back and forth between the two, with the Burch and Lorcan using their power game and the Mighty using underhanded tactics to try and gain an advantage. Burch and Lorcan got the roll-up pinfall victory in a closely fought encounter, but The Mighty jumped both following the match to a chorus of boos and chants of "You Still Suck".

EC3 returned to the NXT ring after hiatus, after the beatdown he received at the hands of the Undisputed Era following his roll-up victory against Adam Cole. He faced Marcel Barthel in the latter's most competitive match on NXT TV. With Barthel usually on the receiving end of squash matches, he got in a larger amount of offence against the returning EC3. EC3 would pick up the victory after hitting the 1 Percenter. The former TNA main eventer then got on the microphone and called out Bobby Fish for attacking him with a chair, after EC3's match with Adam Cole.

The sole women's match on the card was between the newly signed Mia Yim and Vanessa Bourne. Yim fought the majority of the match as the underdog with Bourne getting the majority of the offence, despite Yim hitting successive Arm Drags. However, the transition began after Yim caught Bourne in an Arm Bar. Following a series of dropkicks, Yim hit Bourne with her finisher "Eat De-feet" and pinned her for the win.

The main event of the episode was a battle of the juggernauts, in the fall out of the Takeover pre-show, between Keith Lee and Lars Sullivan. Predictably, it started with a trading of vicious strikes. Since arriving at NXT, Lee has mainly faced a variety of jobbers in squash matches. However, this fight generally resembled a battle between two superheavyweights in the way they traded blows. Lee his trademark crossbody, only for Sullivan to kick out at 1. This was followed shortly by Sullivan hitting Lee with a slam, only for Lee to kick out at one. The two traded blows for the majority of the match, with Lee getting the upper hand, using his agility to avoid several of Sullivan's strikes, and hitting a springboard crossbody and a Topa Suicida on Lars Sullivan. However, after Sullivan was able to roll out of the way of Lee's Corkscrew Moonsault he was able to hit the Freak Accident for the win.

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#3 EC3

It's incredible to think, given the level of entertainment that NXT has reached in the past month, that it has done so without one of its top-level talents in EC3. Following his victory against Adam Cole, EC3 was written off NXT TV for a period of time after he was beaten down by the Undisputed Era and Bobby Fish.

EC3 had a competitive match against Marcel Barthel, in an otherwise quick encounter. However, it was his promo on the microphone after the match that was the real standout of his performance this week. Calling out Bobby Fish for a singles feud with a great choice of words worked in. Seeing Fish return from a long lay off, and given Strong and O'Reilly representing the Undisputed Era's tag titles, it was always going to be interesting where Fish was going to stand when he returned from injury in the new dynamic. The idea of his having a run as a singles competitor could be interesting, and his first feud is a big one against EC3 will show how viable that is.

#2 Keith Lee

Since debuting on NXT, Lee has only been involved in Squash matches and full match against Kona Reeves. This was Lee's biggest challenge since he signed for the WWE, by facing the similarly sized Lars Sullivan. While the two wrestlers are the same size, the styles could not have contrasted more, with Lars Sullivan using strictly a power offence against Lee, while Lee often took to the air and used his agility to try and counter, with many moves you would expect from a smaller wrestler.

One of Lee's greatest attributes is his agility, and his ability to use a high-risk high flying offence as well as a strong power game. Lee was able to hit a regular cross body, a springboard cross body, a Tope Suicida and narrowly missed a Corkscrew Moonsault in this loss to Sullivan. This moveset draws comparisons to some of the other similarly agile big men that have gone through the WWE, like Vader, Bam Bam Bigelow and even The Big Show in his early days. If Lee is to follow in that path, he could have a great career in the WWE.

#1 Lars Sullivan

While Sullivan has had some great encounters during his time at NXT, he hasn't always been the smoothest in-ring worker, especially in a brand known for it's extremely talented and clean in-ring workers. This fight, however, may just be one of Sullivan's best on NXT to date. Facing up against the similarly massive Keith Lee, the two juggernauts of NXT went strike for strike and the two really seemed to bring the best out of each other. While Lee had to resort to his more agility based moveset to try and get Sullivan off his feet, Lars persisted with his heavy strikes and throwing offence.

The result of Sullivan sticking with his power game, and the fact that it was used so smoothly and effectively against a man of Lee's size showed how strong Sullivan was. This was emphasized right at the end of the match with Sullivan picking Lee up and hitting him with a Freak Accident for the win. Unfortunately, with Sullivan getting called up to the main roster we won't find out whether or not he would have been able to back this performance up on the Black and Yellow brand.