NXT Power Rankings: Taking Over

June 2, 2014 Patrick Hickey Jr. Professional Wrestling 0

Two amazing matches made NXT Take Over a fun time, but with the rest of the card being mostly filler matches and squashes, the WWE’s minor leaguers missed a golden opportunity to truly shine in the bigger spotlight.

Check out this week’s NXT Power Rankings to see who the stars of NXT Takeover really were.

Honorable Mention: Adam Rose: Quite possibly his last real feud in NXT, Rose made quick work of Camacho at NXT Takeover. With Jack Swagger in his sights, Rose appears ready to be a large part of the WWE mid-card. Although he’s still a bit rough around the edges, it’s hard to argue with the fans’ appreciation of his gimmick and a finisher that’s continuing to prove its versatility and power.

5: The Ascension: Is it their fault that the NXT Tag Team division is a joke? With a win over El Local and Calisto at Takeover, the tough guys continue to dominate every team that has stood in their way. With a cool finisher and a great theme song, Konnor and Viktor have potential, but they need more microphone time and stiffer competition before they can get to the WWE.

4: Charlotte Flair: The new NXT Women’s Champion, Flair’s match with Natalia Neidhart at Takeover was one of the best on the card and proves that she is a future Divas Champion. With a great look, excellent in-ring composure and plenty of charisma on the microphone, Flair is already a star.

3: Sami Zayn: His match with Tyler Breeze at Takeover was arguably one of the best of his career. Still one of NXT’s most beloved performers, Zayn will eventually get another shot at the NXT Title. For now however, he’ll have to play the part of the loser.

2: Tyler Breeze: If you had any doubts about what Breeze was capable of before this match, it’s obvious now. Breeze, win, lose or draw is a more than capable performer with a good gimmick and a repertoire of moves that make him an exciting and dependable worker. His ability to sell for Sami Zayn says a lot too about his work ethic and with a shot at the NXT Title in the coming weeks, Breeze is definitely a guy to watch.

1: Adrian Neville:His win over former WWE Tag Team Champion Tyson Kidd at Payback was probably the best match of his NXT career. With Tyler Breeze hungry for a chance at the title and Kidd now out of the way, Neville can continue to develop as a performer and do so against someone that has just as much to prove as he does.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14316 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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