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The 2018 NXT Year End Award nominees were all announced on the January 2, 2019 edition of NXT. There will be 9 different awards including Male Superstar of the Year, Female Superstar of the Year, Overall Superstar of the Year, Breakout Star of the Year, Match of the Year, Tag Team of the Year, NXT Takeover Event of the Year, and Future Star of the Year. Several top superstars including Undisputed Era, Shayna Baszler, Johnny Gargano, Ricochet, Andrade 'Cien' Almas, Aleister Black, Ember Moon, The Velveteen Dream, and Tommaso Ciampa were nominated for awards:
NXT Takeover of the Year: NXT Takeover: NXT New Orleans
NXT Takeover: New Orleans was the best NXT Takeover event of 2018. NXT Takeover: Philadelphia did have 2 MOTY contenders and a pretty good NXT Tag Team Title match but both Shayna Baszler vs Ember Moon and Kassius Ohno vs The Velveteen Dream floundered. NXT Takeover: Chicago II also had several good matches but both the NXT Women's Championship match between Shayna Baszler vs Nikki Cross and the NXT Championship match between Aleister Black vs Lars Sullivan could have been much better. NXT Takeover: Brooklyn IV was almost perfect but a concussion suffered from EC3 prevented the EC3 vs Velveteen Dream match from being much better. NXT Takeover: War Games II would have to be the number two choice as both shows were nearly perfect.
However, NXT Takeover: New Orleans was slightly better than NXT Takeover: War Games II. The card started with one of the best opening matches ever as debuting superstars like Ricochet and EC3 faced off with the Velveteen Dream, Adam Cole, Killian Dain, & Lars Sullivan in a ladder match where Adam Cole won his first title in WWE. The second Shayna Baszler vs Ember Moon match was a huge improvement from their disappointing first match at NXT Takeover: Philadelphia and the triple threat NXT Tag Team Title match was a solid affair that was overshadowed by Roderick Strong's shocking heel turn. Andrade 'Cien' Almas and Aleister Black then had an excellent match where Andrade 'Cien' Almas finally got his comeuppance when Aleister Black won the NXT Championship due to unintentional interference from Zelina Vega.
Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa then had one of the best WWE matches of all time. This match was unsanctioned so there were no rules and Johnny Gargano needed to win in order to get his job back. This match definitely deserved to be the main event and was just incredible.
Breakout Star of the Year: Ricochet
When it was announced that Ricochet has signed a contract with WWE, fans all over the world were excited. Ricochet has definitely lived up to the hype. He possibly had one of the best debut matches in WWE history in the ladder match to determine who will be the first-ever NXT North American Champion.
He was a critical part of that match as he hit several high impact moves including a springboard shooting star press to the outside to start the match, a moonsault plancha while falling off of a ladder, and a diving shooting star press onto a ladder. He then entered into one of the best rivalries of the year with the Velveteen Dream and defeated him. After moving on from that feud, the One and Only would capture the NXT North American Championship from Adam Cole and then successfully defended his title against the likes of Pete Dunne, Adam Cole, and Tyler Breeze.
Ricochet would also be one of the standout performers of this year's War Games match as he hit a Double Moonsault off of the top of the cage. Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley can both go down as honourable mentions but the only superstar that deserves to be called 2018's breakout star is Ricochet.
The rivalry of the Year: Johnny Gargano vs Tommaso Ciampa
Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa produced some of the best WWE matches and most compelling storylines of all time. The rivalry started off with Tommaso Ciampa making his return in the most shocking way as he viciously hit Johnny Gargano with a crutch after he suffered a heartbreaking loss to Andrade 'Cien' Almas for the NXT Championship at NXT Takeover: Philadelphia. Tommaso then cost him his NXT career in another match Johnny Gargano had with El Idolo on an episode of NXT.
The two then had WWE's best match of the year in an unsanctioned match where Johnny Gargano got the feel-good victory. The two superstars definitely deserved the main event slot that they were given and were one of WWE's only 5-star matches of the year. The two then had two brutal matches. At NXT Takeover: Chicago II, the two fought in a street fight that just made its audience cringe at some of the spots that were hit. Tommaso Ciampa threw the man's wedding ring into the audience.
The fact that he walked away with the victory made the crowd go crazy and after that Tommaso Ciampa won the NXT Championship because of accidental interference from Johnny Gargano. The two had another great match at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn IV that Tommaso Ciampa barely walked away. This feud with Tommaso Ciampa helped Johnny Gargano descend into darkness as it was later revealed that Johnny Wrestling attacked Aleister Black causing one of WWE's best underdogs to turn heels for the first time in his career. While Kairi Sane vs Shayna Baszler, Ricochet vs Velveteen Dream, Aleister Black/Johnny Gargano/Tommaso Ciampa/Nikki Cross, and even Undisputed Era vs Moustache Mountain can be counted as honourable mentions but Johnny Gargano vs Tommaso Ciampa is the true rivalry of the year.
Future Star of the Year: Matt Riddle
Matt Riddle has already become one of NXT's premiere, main event stars. In his second match in WWE, he beat Kassius Ohno in 6 seconds with a big knee strike at NXT Takeover: War Games II. Since then he has beaten new WWE signee Punishment Martinez and Kassius Ohno in the main event of the first episode of NXT in 2019. He is currently set to face Kassius Ohno for a third time at NXT Takeover: Phoenix.
After that, there are so many different directions that Matt Riddle can go in. He can potentially form a tag team with his ally Keith Lee and challenge either Undisputed Era or the War Raiders for the NXT Tag Team Championships or challenge Ricochet or Johnny Gargano for the NXT North American Championship. The former MMA fighter can even possibly challenge Tommaso Ciampa for the NXT Championship.
Matt Riddle has so many qualities that Vince McMahon loves and is almost certainly a future world champion. While Keith Lee, Io Shirai, Mia Yim, Dominik Dijakovic, and even Candice Lerae are honorable mentions, the only choice for future star of the year is Matt Riddle.
Tag Team of the Year: Undisputed Era
Undisputed Era is unquestionably NXT's number one tag team. They started off the year as NXT Tag Team Champions and successfully defended their titles against the Authors of Pain (this was the first time that the Authors of Pain had ever lost a match clean). Their dominance over NXT continued as Adam Cole became the first ever NXT North American Champion in an amazing ladder match. Because of an injury suffered by Bobby Fish, Roderick Strong then turned heel and joined Undisputed Era (where he would defend the NXT Tag Team Championships alongside Kyle O'Reilly).
Adam Cole would successfully defend his championship against both Wolfgang & Oney Lorcan while Roderick Strong & Kyle O'Reilly successfully defended the NXT Tag Team Championships against Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch in one of the best tag team matches of the year. The two would then lose their titles to Moustache Mountain but would quickly regain them to become 2 time NXT Tag Team Champions. Undisputed Era and Moustache Mountain had 3 show stealing matches. Adam Cole would eventually lose the NXT North American Championship to Ricochet and after that, Undisputed Era would lose a War Games match to Ricochet, Pete Dunne, & the War Raiders.
Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong are set to defend the NXT Tag Team Titles against the War Raiders, Bobby Fish is looking to establish himself after his recent return from injury, and Adam Cole is set to compete in the Worlds Collide tournament. While all of the tag teams on this list are great with the War Raiders, Moustache Mountain, and Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch coming closest, the Undisputed Era is NXT's tag team of the year.
Match of the Year: Johnny Gargano vs Tommaso Ciampa (NXT Takeover: New Orleans)
Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa already have an award for the best rivalry of the year so it only makes sense that they get another award for having the best NXT match of 2018. This match had all of the emotion in the world because if Johnny Gargano lost, he would be out of NXT forever. The two started off brawling like they hated each other. Johnny Wrestling dived over the barricade to take out the Psycho Killer.
Tommaso Ciampa hit the first big move of the match when he hit Johnny Gargano with a suplex from the announce table to the floor. Gargano then fought back and went for a slingshot apron DDT but Tommaso Ciampa caught him and went for an Air Raid Crash on the apron. However, Gargano countered it and hit him with a Sunset Flip Powerbomb onto the concrete. Gargano then hit crazy moves like a Lawn Dart into an exposed turnbuckle and a vicious superkick that just could not get him the win. Meanwhile, Ciampa his a Project Ciampa for a near fall and after that he hit an Avalanche Project Ciampa for a 2.75 count. It seemed like Gargano had the win when he locked in the Gargano Escape but the despicable Ciampa raked the eyes.
Gargano then hit Ciampa's surgically reconstructed knee with a knee brace in a shocking moment. In the end, the hero would get the victory with a knee brace assisted STF for the submission victory. While all of these matches were great with Johnny Gargano vs Andrade 'Cien' Almas coming extremely close, this was the match of the year.
Female Superstar of the Year: Shayna Baszler
Shayna Baszler started off the year as the number one heel of the NXT Women's division and she has deservedly stayed in that position. The Submission Magician quickly established herself as a top heel when she brutalized the elbow of Dakota Kai and completely destroyed Ember Moon during and after their match at NXT Takeover: Philadelphia (even though she lost). She then handed Kairi Sane her first televised lost on an episode of NXT in February and became NXT Women's Champion at NXT Takeover: New Orleans.
She then successfully defended the NXT Women's Championship against Dakota Kai in one of the underrated rivalries of the year before also successfully defending her championship against Nikki Cross & Toni Storm. Kairi Sane would then defeat the Queen of Spades for the NXT Women's Championship at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn IV before becoming the first ever 2-time NXT Women's Champion at Evolution when she defeated Kairi Sane with help from Jessamyn Duke & Marina Shafir.
She then successfully defended her title against Kairi Sane in a 2 out of 3 falls match at NXT Takeover: War Games II and is set to defend her championship against Bianca Belair at NXT Takeover: Phoenix. While Bianca Belair, Kairi Sane, and Nikki Cross come close, it is Shayna Baszler who is the female superstar of the year.
Male and Overall Superstar of the Year: Tommaso Ciampa
Tommaso Ciampa made a shocking return at NXT Takeover: Philadelphia when he attacked Johnny Gargano from behind. After that, he cost Johnny Gargano his NXT career which led to the two having an unsanctioned match at NXT Takeover: New Orleans. This match was one of the best WWE matches of the year and even though Tommaso Ciampa was defeated he looked great in defeat. They then had another match at NXT Takeover: Chicago II that Tommaso Ciampa would win and after that, he won the NXT Championship from Aleister Black (with some unintentional help from Johnny Gargano) on an episode of NXT.
Tommaso Ciampa was the first superstar to pin Aleister Black in a one on one match. After that, Tommaso Ciampa would successfully defend his championship against Johnny Gargano in a Last Man Standing Match at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn IV and then defeated the Velveteen Dream in an amazing match at NXT Takeover: War Games II.
He is set to defend the NXT Championship against Aleister Black at NXT Takeover: Phoenix and can potentially reform DIY with Johnny Gargano. While Aleister Black comes close and Johnny Gargano deserves this spot anymore, Tommaso Ciampa's reign with the NXT Championship is what sets him apart. He has also been more consistent in the ring than NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler making him the male and overall superstar of the year.
