WWE NXT: Potential Moments, Predictions for TakeOver: San Antonio

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Strong is Strong

The recent imports to WWE NXT haven’t met expectations. Austin Aries never connected as a face, so he would be turned heel just months after arriving. Before Shane Thorne’s injury, TM61 struggled mightily to connect with Full Sail University and will face a tough when they are healthy. Ember Moon also hasn’t reached the NXT Universe. This could go back even further to 2015 to make the case of new faces just not connecting.

However, one NXT TakeOver: San Antonio match will feature tow stars that need wins to gain momentum and possible growth with the fans—Roderick Strong and Andrade “Cien” Almas.

It’s been a tough road for Almas, who faced fan-favorite Tye Dillinger in his debut and defeated him, much to the dismay of NXT fans. This set the tone for Cien’s time in WWE, as he struggled all the way to TakeOver: Brooklyn II and literally would be an afterthought in the promo package for his match with Bobby Roode. His heel turn has been an improvement, but still not where NXT made you think he would have been seven months ago.

Strong is still relatively new to NXT. He joined last fall and had been set to work with Aries, until the Greatest Man That Ever Lived suffered a brutal eye injury that’s kept him out ever since. This placed Strong into a mid-card babyface role that he seemingly hasn’t gotten his feet under yet. There hasn’t been much of a connection between him and the fans, which somewhat concerning at this stage.

The booking decision will be a tough one for NXT to make because the loser is going to continue to trend down. There’s more potential in the former ROH World Champion, however, with his wrestling ability that hasn’t been seen in longer matches and charisma that hasn’t been seen much yet. To do this, NXT would have to let Strong show a little more swagger, which has been missing from his game. Maybe this comes against Almas on Saturday.