41. Joe selects Jermaine Haley
Joe: Jermaine Haley, who used to be known as Jonah Rock, also comes to the WWE from the land down under. He is the opposite of Vink as he is most certainly not a body guy, but he has built up quite the reputation as an incredible wrestler who knows how to put on entertaining matches. I’ve only seen a little bit of his work online and the one time he squashed Rik Bugez in 30 seconds, but the splash from the top rope looked great, and I think he has the talent to make an impact.
Jonah: He’s a big dude with the dopest former name ever. Again, if he was listed as Jonah Rock he would have been taken by me 5 rounds earlier. Anyone with the name Jonah Rock will be a huge success.
42. Jonah selects Killer Kelly
Jonah: Close to the talent level of Toni Storm and Rhea Ripley, but not booked nearly as well. Killer Kelly is another woman I expect to legitimately be the future of women’s professional wrestling. Fun fact, she’s the first Portuguese wrestler in the WWE. Great look, great gimmick, great name talented in the ring, great pick.
Joe: I have never seen Killer Kelly wrestle. I saw one photo of her on Google Images and made her my lowest rated female wrestler. She just looked like a jobber to me. Maybe it was a bad angle?
Jonah: Must have been, she’s a long ways from unattractive.
43. Jonah selects Cezar Bononi
Jonah: Cezar Bononi was named the future star of NXT in 2017, he’ll get there soon. He’s a good looking big dude with lots of muscles. He’s got the Brazilian market on lock down too. I went really international in my picks, so I’m happy that my show will dominate internationally. Anyways, Bononi has a good look and he’s good in the ring, honestly he should break out of the pack soon.
Joe: Jonah, your optimism about the WWE developmental talent is a wonderful contrast to your hatred in the abilities of the people tasked to actually develop that talent. Bononi is fine, but do we know he’s good in the ring? What’s your favorite Cezar Bononi match?
Jonah: You know me, Joe, ever the optimist. My favorite match of his was against Andrade, and Andrade is a stud, but he’s still a handsome Brazilian.
44. Joe selects Jordan Devlin
Joe: Although Jonah was busy scooping up ladies from every country he could find them, there had been 26 picks since the last male wrestler from NXT UK was taken in Tyler Bate. I broke the streak by going with Jordan Devlin who is endless energy in the ring and put on a really fun match with Finn Balor during NXT UK’s first Takeover event. If they are willing to bust out Finn Balor as a last second surprise replacement, either Finn or WWE management must think pretty highly of him, and I think that it is well-deserved in what I have seen from him so far.
Jonah: He’s a poor man’s Finn Balor, which I assume means he still does pretty darn well with the ladies. I’ve only ever seen him against Finn Balor, and that match was pretty good, but Finn Balor is pretty good against everyone. Honestly, this is a solid pick here, not much trash to talk.
45.Joe selects Wesley Blake
Joe: I dream that one day Wesley Blake will revert back to Beautiful Blake, who I don’t believe ever made an appearance on WWE television but absolutely stole the show at a small event in Largo, Florida where he wore white jeans and called everyone garbage about two dozen times. Worst case scenario, he can be my Bizzaro Hangman Page.
Jonah: Blake is a really good wrestler who couldn’t make it on tv for a few years after he dropped the tag titles. Honestly his new gimmick is pretty stupid, but whatever gets him on TV is a good idea for him. This Beautiful Blake gimmick sounds like a license to print money, I mean he knocked up and married Sara Lee, so maybe there’s something to it.
46. Jonah selects Drew Gulak
Jonah: I really like a gimmick of a cruiserweight who hates ariel maneuvers. He’s also a very talented mat wrestler and his Powerpoint presentations were amazing, he was “Boring” Lance Storm done even better. Plus he’s got a good look. The fact that he can’t get a push isn’t his fault. If only there was somewhere he could go where being a good wrestler who happens to be a little smaller wasn’t a bad thing. I’m very happy with this pick.
Joe: I like Drew Gulak too. He’s solid, high floor, low ceiling guy, but nothing wrong with having a guy like that on your roster. I was definitely considering him in this range.
47. Jonah selects Sam Shaw Dexter Lumas
Jonah: Here’s a guy who will make his NXT TV debut soon. He’s a big guy with a good look who played a “crazy” character well in TNA. Does his brand new name mean he will be a crazy Dexteresque character in NXT? We’ll see, but he’s got the talent, look and experience to do well.
Joe: It 100% means he is going to play the character of Dexter. WWE has the subtlety of a shovel to the face. I saw this guy once in person, and I did like him. He was different than most of the other talents which is always something that will pique my interest. I was hoping to snag him later, but it was not meant to be. Also, Jonah, I’m kind of amazed you know this much about TNA, but also that you are sticking with TNA instead of calling it by Impact Wrestling. I do not watch it and am still convinced that it is TNA, and that it has six-appeal.
Jonah: I will never call TNA anything but TNA, you shouldn’t have worn that pitard if you didn’t want to be hoisted by it.
48. Joe selects Trent Seven
Joe: Trent Seven is just fun to watch. It’s goofy and stupid, but it’s always fun, and he has plenty of actual skill to mix in the goofy with good wrestling. Sometimes it’s good to just have fun wrestlers, and him dropping this far is kind of incredible.
Jonah: I like Trent Seven, but he’s so old he trained Tyler Bate. He’s also pretty chubby, and I don’t need any old chubby guys on my roster. He’s charismatic and a good wrestler, but you can have him.
Joe: I’ll admit, having the chance to see him on back-to-back nights when Progress did their US tour really turned me around on him. I was more on your side with things, but seeing the guy in person made me a fan as everybody enjoys watching him wrestle. He also seems to understand psychology more than 95% of the WWE roster.
49. Joe selects Akira Tozawa
Joe: And here’s a guy who can kick your face off, and could be the modern-day Tajiri with the right push. Akira Tozawa is definitely one of those guys that is best appreciated in person as opposed to on TV.
Jonah: They really should have kept this guy in Titus Worldwide, because he needs a mouthpiece. He’s good in the ring and this is a good pick for Joe.
50. Jonah selects Jaxson Ryker
Jonah: Apparently I’m super high on former TNA wrestlers. In all fairness, they were really good at signing excellent people, just not using them correctly. He’s a big dude who looks intimidating and intense. He’s also a former NWA World Champion. He’s not the greatest wrestler in the world, but he’s certainly passable. I’m guessing he’ll get a pretty big singles push after he breaks away from the Forgotten Sons.
Joe: “He’s certainly passable” was my strategy on Jaxson Ryker in this draft. I would have continued to pass on him, because he’s not very good at anything outside of balding.
Previously in the NXT Draft:
Picks 1-10
Picks 1-10
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