WWE NXT: Who Will the New ‘Face’ Be?

With the recent influx of heels that appear to be leading the WWE NXT brand, there is some question as to who will be the believable face to challenge them. Once we get past Shinsuke Nakamura and Hideo Itami, else will rise?

For the past few years, WWE NXT has been a breeding ground for a number of today’s top WWE stars. Whether it was Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Bray Wyatt or Roman Reigns, a great deal of time and effort was put into giving this young talent in the meantime to develop and grow; they have achieved success and captured championships, all while continuing to learn as performers. It now appears as though NXT is undergoing a transition period, where fewer known independent commodities and homegrown talent are with the brand, and more notable names have come into the company.

Due to the popularity of the likes of Bobby Roode, Samoa Joe, and Shinsuke Nakamura NXT has far surpassed being simply a developmental system. Some may see this as a positive, in that WWE is able to bring in recognized talent from all over the world and promotions such as TNA and NJPW, or CMLL, which produced Gran Metalik (who is competing in the Cruiserweight Classic) and Andrade Almas, who wrestled under a mask as La Sombra.

At one time the brand was filled with the likes of Sami Zayn, Adrian Neville, Tyson Kidd, Corey Graves and Justin Gabriel. There was a high flying, all out aerial assault when these men were in the ring. The women had depth in talent and in ring skill with Charlotte, Paige, Becky Lynch, Emma, Sasha Banks and young and an up and coming talent named Bayley. Even stars that didn’t appear as polished were elevated as well, such as Dana Brooke. But with the draining of the brand, NXT appears depleted of young, homegrown talent. While seeing established stars coming into NXT isn’t necessarily a bad thing, they run the risk that younger talent loses that time to shine as well.

Fans would be hard-pressed to find someone that WWE NXT can now as that young ‘face’ of the brand that they can get behind and stay behind. The recent return of Hideo Itami is another example of an established star that was pegged to be elevated to the main roster. This begs the question of who can NXT safely say will be the next big ‘face’ of the brand? In recent years it has been Sami Zayn or Neville, and for some time it was Finn Balor, but what about now? It appears as though Nakamura may, in fact, be the one being positioned to be that person. Another person that also appears poised to take on a bigger role is the exuberant No Way Jose, or even Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas.

The dominant face that fans can get behind may not, in fact, be there just yet, but rather waiting in the wings. The recent Cruiserweight Classic that is being featured weekly on the WWE network teased the possibility of something that fans fully embraced. Cedric Alexander, who is known for his time in Ring of Honor, was defeated by Kota Ibushi in a match that was without question the match of the tournament so far. Alexander left that match as fans were chanting ‘Please sign Cedric,’ and Triple H came out, smiled, patted the former ROH star on the back and walked him to the backstage area much to the admiration of those in attendance.

It is understandable that as times change, decisions for a company change as well. Change is needed in order to evolve and stay relevant. What is interesting to see is who will be the one to take hold of the role as the face of the NXT brand and move it forward. The established names that have come in are refined in their promos and ring practices, and are simply adjusting to the WWE style of competition and the way they work television. Will any of the Tough Enough competitors’ amount to something that fans can get behind and believe in as part of NXT as well? It was reported recently that first runner up ZZ was released from the company and thus his time with WWE ended almost before it began.

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There are a number of possibilities that are out there, but the question still remains who will be the one fans come to embrace to lead the face side forward.