NXT Power Rankings: Zayn Still the Man

January 18, 2015 Patrick Hickey Jr. Professional Wrestling 0

Although just 49 minutes this week, NXT featured zero, nonsense. Every match was an important one and set the scene for the future. With plenty of players moving up and down, NXT, in a way, is more engaging and interesting a product than what’s on RAW and Smackdown. Even without Kevin Owens, Hideo Itami and a few other key members of the promotion, this week’s show featured some wonderful in-ring action.

Check out this week’s NXT Power Rankings to see who starred in a no-fluff, but shorter episode of NXT.

Honorable Mention: Bull Dempsey: He pushed Baron Corbin farther than anyone else has, but that wasn’t saying much as Corbin finished him off in just a few minutes. A superstars career is defined by their losses and because of that, it’ll be interesting to see where he goes from here.

5: Sasha Banks: A win over Charlotte Flair is sure to get her back in the NXT Women’s Championship picture. With a great look and one of the best finishers in Women’s wrestling today, she certainly deserves it. It also helps that she has someone like Becky Lynch in her corner, who will do anything to help her cause. Because of that, she’s going to eventually be NXT Women’s Champion. There’s no doubt.

4: Baron Corbin: Making quick work of fellow undefeated superstar Bull Dempsey, Corbin continues to make a name for himself in the promotion. However, considering he hasn’t had any match go longer than a few minutes, forgive us for still feeling suspect about his long-term potential.

3: Finn Balor: Getting to work with Tyson Kidd in NXT is a privilege, an opportunity to really shine. With a bevy of different cool maneuvers at his disposal, he’s a perfect blend of technical and indie, with plenty of Japanese polish and stiffness. This week on NXT, Balor did just that, having one of his best matches in the promotion and continuing to prove he’s much closer to being a player in the WWE than anyone expects.

2: Adrian Neville: At this point, he’s proven he’s totally ready for an opportunity in the WWE. What else can he do here?

1: Sami Zayn: It was a lot harder than he thought it was going to be, but Zayn retained his title in his rematch with Adrian Neville. Going a long way to establish him as a credible champion, Zayn continues to prove he is a one-of-a-kind performer. With Kevin Owens hungry for an opportunity to steal the NXT Championship, things will not get easier for Zayn.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14262 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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