WWE NXT Year-End Award winners, show recap, and reaction

Tonight's NXT episode was an interesting change of pace, but one kind of expected. Rather than a typical episode, we were treated to the announcement of the winners of this year's NXT Year-End Awards.

And, man, I love awards shows. I know, for the most part, they're self-congratulatory horsehockey, but there's just something about them - especially pro wrestling awards - that just fill me with stupid glee. I hope if Sportskeeda ever holds a televised wrestling awards show, that they'll ask me to host because I would be all over that like Hulk Hogan on a bandana.

Anyway, let's take a look at the awards presented tonight, as well as - if NXT presented them - nominees for said awards. WWE assures us that all the awards were chosen from fan voting and, actually, I see no reason to not believe them. I'm not being sarcastic, either - I have no doubt these were awarded to the recipients that fans voted for.

So, let's get started.

Oh, and happy new year, you guys. :)

NXT Tag Team of the Year -

NXT has, among a lot of things, a pretty killer tag team division. It says something that two of the nominees tonight are not only now on RAW but actually that brand's tag champions. The other two are standout teams on NXT UK.

In the end, though, the winners (and you're going to see a theme here) Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly - the Undisputed ERA.

Nominees:

Street Profits

Grizzled Young Veterans

Viking Raiders

Mark Andrews & Flash Andrew Morgan

The Undisputed ERA

Fish and O'Reilly are an amazing tandem - fans of Ring Of Honor know this already - and more than just "two guys from the Undisputed ERA". I kind of wish WWE would treat them as such. I, personally, don't think they had a better year than the Viking Raiders - they pretty much dominated WWE's tag team division overall - and I hope they give them a little more identity as a team before too long.

So... what's next?

NXT Male Competitor of the Year -

So, yeah, let's look at the nominees here but... look, no disrespect to anyone else nominated here, but we all know who had the best year.

Nominees:

Adam Cole

WALTER

Velveteen Dream

Tyler Bate

Tomasso Ciampa

Johnny Gargano

Winner: current NXT champion Adam Cole.

While an argument could be made for any of other other nominees, once that argument is compared to Adam Cole's 2019 resume - yeah, no. You can't pick anyone else. And, you didn't.

When Cole hit the ring and attacked then-NXT Champion Drew McIntyre lo those... few years ago, the fans watching the show unfamiliar with Cole's work elsewhere were... well.. unfamiliar with Cole's work elsewhere. Adam Cole doesn't just make you forget that he's a smaller guy than the majority of his opponents with his ring work. He makes it a non-issue through his promos, charisma and, I swear to God, pure tyranny of will.

If Adam Cole wasn't on this list of nominees, picking a winner would be a bit difficult.

But, he is. And the winner is clear. Baybay.

NXT Female Competitor of the Year -

The winner of this year's NXT Female Competitor of the Year might not be the most charismatic of the nominees. She might not be the most popular. In fact, I think it's safe to say she isn't. The majority of the women on this nominee list, in fact, probably had a more noteworthy and exciting year than our winner.

But, nobody in NXT's women's division - hell, I'd say nobody in NXT overall - was more successful than The Queen of Spades, former NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler.

And consider the crowd she was up against:

Io Shirari

Toni Storm

Kay Lee Ray

Bianca Belair

Rhea Ripley

All five of those other women had career years to be proud of. Rhea Ripley, in particular, ended the year not just as the most popular female star in NXT, but probably the most popular star in the brand overall. But, you can't be a great hero without an equally great villain, and Baszler was an amazing bad guy.

In fact, I'd say she was the best heel in WWE - of any brand - of the entire year. She was badass and she flaunted it. But, she also wasn't afraid to cheat and make use of her friends when she needed to.

It's time for her to move on - laterally - to another brand and show the same dominance there.

NXT Rivalry of the Year -

Here's a pairing we're going to see again, but the fans of NXT picked Adam Cole vs Johnny Gargano as their Rivalry of the Year.

It certainly had all the making of said award - amazing matches (including... wait for it...), the bad guy doing bad guy stuff (even involving his family), and, let's be fair here - it was NXT's biggest bad guy against NXT's ultimate good guy. How could that not be the rivalry of the year?

The actual award presentation was pretty interesting as well, as both Cole and Gargano joined Commissioner Regal in the ring in the empty arena and accepted the golden ring bells. Their back-and-forth hinted at a future confrontation without complicating any stories either performer is engaged in.

Both Cole and Gargano are my two "Must Watch" talents in NXT for 2020, so that makes this award especially interesting.

So... who's next?

NXT Future and Breakout Stars of the Year-

So, there's both a "Future Star" and a "Breakout Star" award for NXT? Don't get me wrong, NXT has the talent to award both of those titles to someone on their roster. It just seems weird to me.

"OK, 'Future Star', congratulations! And, you, 'Breakout' Star... you're like that but more advanced!"

Obviously, I'm being a bit silly, but this seemed like a good category to combine together so, unless anyone is offended by that... here are the Future Star nominees:

Kushida

Xia LI

Bronson Reed

Tegan Nox

Dakota Kai

Ilja Dragunov

Isaiah "Swerve" Scott

Taynara

Cameron Grimes

Dakota Kai took the prize home and cut a pretty badass heel promo. It was a pretty good pick, NXT Universe, as Dakota has really found her second wind as a character once she turned heel in magnificent fashion at War Games. I have no doubt she'll keep it up in 2020.

As far as Break Out Star goes? Well, here are the nominees, but I'm pretty sure we've been all basking in the glory of the obvious winner:

Damien Priest

Piper Niven

Dominik Dijakovic

Angel Garza

Joe Coffey

Keith Lee

Candice LaRae

Matt Riddle

Rhea Ripley

All of these nominees are deserving of this honor. but Keith Lee - outside of maybe Ripley - showed he's got crossover star power and going to be a legend someday.

I hope all of these talents prove to be like that, but Lee was the one to get the NXT Universe's vote.

NXT Takeover of the Year -

NXT Takeover: War Games

NXT Takeover is, no matter when it happens during the year, considered the best show of the month or season or whenever.

Frankly, NXT Takeover is the best show of that time period, er... period... because everyone involved in the production of each show is determined to make it the best show ever.

And this is why we love NXT so much.

But, when it comes to comparing all the Takeover shows together, War Games has way more going for it - and not just because it has two War Games matches included.

Still, it's a big part of the reason why.

NXT Takeover: War Games was the NXT show taking place concurrently with WWE's Survivor Series - an event known for cross-brand conflict and advertised as the first PPV that NXT, as a brand, would be equal footing with Raw and SmackDown.

Both men's and women's War Games matches were legendary, and the rest of the matches on the show were a treat, we as well. But, even though I had no say in this actual award, I like to think that this show won the award because this was an historic time for NXT and they stepped up gloriously.

NXT Match of the Year -

Johnny Gargano vs Adam Cole for the NXT Championship - 2 out of 3 falls

No jokes. There were a lot of amazing matches in NXT this year. A lot of them involving both Cole and/or Gargano. But, this match...

Geez.... this match...

Gargano vs Cole, 2 out of 3 falls for the NXT Championship was not only a masterpiece but the match's stipulations set up the story for the follow-up matches and... just...

This match. Wow.

Cole claimed the first fall - something he would use in great effect in the story leading up to the rematch - and Gargano would pull out the last two. The entire match was so expertly performed - I had an anxiety attack near the end of the match. I was - and am- fine. I get those. But, that's what did match did to me. And, I loved it.

The energy. Not the panic attack.

(By the way, if you're dealing with anxiety and depression and any other mental health issue, YOU ARE NOT ALONE. Tweet me and I'll help you find a source to help you. This health break is brought to you by Sportskeeda.)

But... this was not only the most exciting NXT match of the year, but it also told the best story. And both Adam and Johnny should be proud of the performance they put on that night.

NXT Overall Competitor of the Year -

Adam Cole.

NXT Champion Adam Cole.

Look... the dude is awesome, all right? You know it. I know it. DOGS know it.

I didn't pick him to win but he's a great in-ring worker, he's a smug ass as a character and he clearly loves being in NXT. He's clearly going to be a huge star one day, but he's in no hurry to get there.

On a personal note, he's the most fun interview I've ever had in my career. Granted, we were talking about video games, but that was more fun than I've had in interviews I've had with people who actually make video games.

All in all, what did you guys think of tonight's awards? Is Cole YOUR NXT competitor of the year? Is Tommaso Ciampa? Am *I*? I hope not, that would be weird.

Happy new year to all of you and thank you for reading Sportskeeda!

Edited by Prasen Moudgal