Honourable Mentions
Asuka
Nobody is ready for Asuka. Plain and simple. The empress is equally as mesmerising as she is terrifying as she is fantastic. Her run in NXT will go down in history as possibly the greatest in history. Her hard fought victory over Ember Moon was an incredible match. This was much better than her outings with Bayley and her last match with Moon. NXT/WWE swerved a lot of fans by giving Asuka the win here but it was absolutely the correct decision. This kind of performance from Asuka has become the norm. The only question left is who can dethrone the Empress of Tomorrow?
Aleister Black
Aleister Black has that wondrous thing we call ‘it’. He was a part of possibly the worst match at Takeover but it was still a great match. Where Itami goes from here is anyone’s guess. However Aleister Black is going places in WWE. His entrance is hypnotising in the same vein as Shinsuke Nakamura and The Undertaker. As well as this Black carries himself as a champion and feels special. Aleister can really go on to do great things in both NXT and the main roster. At 32 years old there is plenty of time for the Dutchman. His solid ‘let’s kick each other in the face until one of us dies’ match with Itami only furthered the career of Black and it is going to be fun seeing where the Ominous Man from Amsterdam goes from here as a still undefeated star. Also, how fantastic is Black Mass?
Alexander Wolfe
While SAnitY winning the tag titles was a great and surprising move Alexander Wolfe gets a mention on this list. The reason being is that Wolfe had his best performance to date against the Authors of Pain. He looked intense and insane as he jumped around and into the Authors. Outside of this however, Alexander Wolfe made history at Takeover. By wining the NXT Tag Team Championship Alexander Wolfe became the first German to hold a title in WWE. SAnitY’s victory does deserve a mention as there match was fantastic however Wolfe’s own personal achievement is amazing.
Cesaro
Remember when Cesaro left mid-match to tear apart a beach ball?
Sasha Banks
Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss have very good chemistry in ring. Their reported real life dislike of each other apparently only makes them better in ring with each other. This match was the first good match of Summerslam breaking a 4 match chain of meh. While by no means the best match of the weekend or even Summerslam, the match was good. The result was somewhat surprising. It feels like Alexa should have kept the title at least a little longer. However Banks’ mention on this list comes from both the good match and the fact she is now a 4 time women’s champion. Solid match and with the feud with Bliss likely continue the factors of Bayley and Nia Jax make this interesting going forward.
