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WWE: 2019’s top 5 wrestlers of the year in NXT

By Joe Anthony Myrick

Tommaso Ciampa returns to NXT and confronts Adam Cole on the October 2, 2019 edition of WWE NXT. Photo: WWE.com
Tommaso Ciampa returns to NXT and confronts Adam Cole on the October 2, 2019 edition of WWE NXT. Photo: WWE.com /
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Now that 2019 has officially come to an end, let’s recap the year by ranking five of the best WWE Superstars to compete on the NXT roster this year.

But first, let’s send a special shoutout to a few WWE Superstars who just missed the list, but made an impact for NXT in 2019 regardless. Ergo, let’s go over some honorable mentions.

Honorable Mentions

Finn Balor – He re-joined the brand a little too late in the year to justify calling him one of the best NXT Superstars of the entire year, but ever since he turned heel, he’s been the talk of the town.

Tommaso Ciampa – He came into the year hot with his NXT Championship run and appearances on Raw and SmackDown, but his hot streak was cut short by injury in March. Though, he’s been slowly getting back into his groove since coming back last October.

Keith Lee – The breakout of Keith Lee is still a very new thing, but trust me, the way WarGames and Survivor Series set him up, 2020 is going to be Lee’s year.

Pete Dunne – His momentum’s slowed down since losing the United Kingdom Championship in April, but the record setting 685 day reign he continued heading into 2019 should not be ignored.

Tyler Breeze – While Breeze didn’t have a hugely successful 2019, he’s worth mentioning given how this time last year, he was either largely absent from the main roster without a direction or onscreen losing all the time. He returned to NXT in full force, coming on course with a career rebirthing comeback kicked off by a dream match against this man …

5. Velveteen Dream

2017 and 2018 were years where The Velveteen Dream was either on the cusp of stardom or merely had a taste of gold and success. 2019 by far has been a breakout year for The Dream.

Dream started the year in stride by winning the Worlds Collide Tournament in February before using that win to earn himself a North American Championship match with Mr. NXT himself, Johnny Gargano. Not only did The Dream win the title, but The Dream went on to have the longest reign that anyone has had with the belt since it was first introduced in 2017.

Before he lost his title to Roderick Strong in September and unceremoniously disappeared due to injury, Dream had some show stealing title defenses over the likes of Buddy Murphy, Matt Riddle, Pete Dunne and the aforementioned Tyler Breeze (to name a few).

Oh, and did I mention that in the middle of all this, he cameo’d in several ads for WWE 2K20? Which is pretty big for a still blossoming up and comer.

Dream continued to excel and standout both in the ring and on the mic now that the spotlight was on him as a champion for the first time in his WWE career. He rose to the occasion and if I were a betting man, I’d bet that when he comes back from injury, the spotlight will be even brighter for The Dream in 2020.

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