The Ultimate NXT Draft: Picks 81-90

Now that we just made it over halfway through (yeah, there are still that many picks to go), potential is the name of the game, but there are still some classic stalwarts that fell far and would be valuable assets to a roster. 

81. Joe selects Denzel Dejournette

Joe: A college wrestler? That’s all I need to know in order to take somebody. Wrestlers are ideally suited to transition to the pro wrestling ranks, and Dejournette showed good athletic ability while at Appalachian State. And yes, I am such a wrestling nerd that I did not need to look up this information on Denzel as I watch college wrestling like Jonah apparently watches Impact wrestling

Jonah: Well getting someone with an amateur background at this point is a good pick, but Appalachian State sucks. Back in the days when there were NCAA football games, they were one of the few teams my mighty Vandals could beat on a sim. I don’t care that they’ve since become a pretty decent football school, they’ll always be NCAA football game jobbers to me. Anyways, Denzel has the size and background to do well in the WWE, this is a good potential pick.

82. Jonah selects Nick Comoroto

Jonah: Nick Comoroto has the look. He’s a big, hairy, muscular dude who looks like he would rip your head off. In the last draft I took Lars Sullivan because he looked awesome and that worked out well. Hopefully Comoroto isn’t a huge racist, though it wouldn’t affect his career.

Joe: I can’t believe that you didn’t mention that this guy’s name is Freak Beast, and his theme music will rock your ass off. Unfortunately, he reminded me of The Renegade where he’s trying to be a scary jacked dude, but he’s not quite ripped enough to pull it off. I was still disappointed that I didn’t get him, because I start laughing every time I think about Freak Beast.

Jonah: Freak Beast!

83. Jonah selects Karen Q

Jonah: I love diversity, so I drafted another female asian wrestler. She was in ROH and TNA as well as a bunch of other independent leagues for years before coming to the WWE so I take that as a good sign that she can actually wrestle. Her gimmick appears to be super Asian stereotype right now, but we can change that.

Joe: I dropped the ball on this one. Karen Q is a very good pick here as she actually has a lot of talent in the ring. I was super racist and didn’t bother figuring out which person I didn’t like between her and Xia Li, and I paid the price. I will be rooting for Karen Q to make me rue the day I passed on selecting her.

84. Joe selects Kassius Ohno

Joe: This is one guy that NXT has not helped out. His original run in NXT, highlighted by his feud with William Regal, was phenomenal. But he didn’t look the part, and there was no sense sticking around. Then he looked even less the part, and WWE brought him back, and it feels like Bull Dempsey had a better run than the second iteration of Ohno. Still a very big guy who is very talented and actually has the skills to cut a good promo. I feel like it would be pretty easy to find something more for this guy.

Jonah: I love Chris Hero AKA Kassius Ohno, but he’s old and fat. He’s definitely underused, but really he was brought back to put over younger wrestlers. The good news is that he’s really good at wrestling so he’s a perfect job guy. He’s also a good promo as Joe mentioned. His talent makes him a top 20 pick, but his age and physique drag him down.

85. Joe selects Saurav Gurjar

Joe: This is a massive Indian man who looks like he could play the bad guy on TV or in the movies, and you may remember him from the hit show, Mahabharat, where he played Bheema, you know, the Second Pandava, Son of Kunti and Vayu, husband of Draupadi, Hidimba. It’s an unforgettable role for all of us Mahabharat Fans out there. I only saw him as part of a tag match, but with his size, he could definitely make an impact.

Jonah: He is a big Indian man, and that Indian market is important. I mean they made Canadian Jinder Mahal World Champion just because of that fact. He could also be the next Great Khali who is also a former world champion despite being less mobile than I am.

86. Jonah selects Fabian Aichner

Jonah: Fabian Aichner is a big dude who moves like a cruiserweight in the ring, probably because he was a cruiserweight in the Cruiserweight Classic before he added 30 pounds of muscle. Really, if we’re talking about taking talented wrestlers late in the draft Aichner is near the top of that list. He’s big enough to be taken seriously and is great at flying around the ring. He’s playing evil foreigner heel now, but if you gave this guy a real gimmick and push I think he would be legitimately successful.

Joe: I think the story of 30 pounds of muscle is bullshit, because he doesn’t look that much bigger, but maybe he put on a lot of fat with it.  I actually saw him have a really good match with Shane Strickland when he won the Evolve title, but other than that one specific instance, Aichner hasn’t done a ton for me. At this point, he’s a solid pick; I just don’t have much faith in him for more.

Jonah: I think he looks thick and his ariel maneuvers have impressed me, I’m very happy with the pick.

87. Jonah selects Tegan Nox

Jonah: Tegan Nox is a super talented wrestler who has had two bad knee injuries. She’s still recovering from the second one, but as Joe talked about much earlier in the draft, medical science and all. If Nox heals up, she will be a main eventer in whatever show she’s put on, probably NXT UK. This is really a steal that I was only able to have because of her health.

Joe: I will admit that the only thing I know about Tegan Nox is she was a commentator on the WWE PC Combine that I watched for like ten minutes before realizing it was maybe the most boring thing ever. After doing a cursory Google search, this seems like a good pick and one that slipped through the cracks for me since I had not seen her in person.

88. Joe selects Daniel Vidot

Joe: Vidot is a former professional rugby player who has the athletic chops and build to make it in WWE. Although I did not plan to get every Australian available, I might have done so by pure happenstance. He was signed in May of 2018, and has just started wrestling singles matches. He’s yet to get his first win, but I did see him lose to Rik Bugez once, but Bugez was the only thing memorable in that single match I saw.

Jonah: Vidot is going to get destroyed in the battle of the former rugby players whenever he faces off with Ridge Holland. Also Australia is a pretty cool country, I was even able to find a sports bar where I could watch the American football playoffs there. Anyways, this guy sucks.

89. Joe selects Mohamed Abdelfattah Fahim

Joe: I could almost repeat everything I said about Vidot, just replace rugby with boxing, and Australian with Egyptian. Also, he has never been rocked by the Bugez. But yes, I did just draft two guys with a combined zero victories.

Jonah: He’s a decent sized guy who was a former boxer and kickboxer. He’s also Egyptian and I love that diversity. I was going to take him very soon, so I have faith in this pick.

Joe: I feel like you love foreigners a little TOO much. There aren’t a ton of great foreign success stories where they became international stars. Kazuchika Okada might be the best wrestler in the world, but most wrestling fans don’t know who he is, and when he wrestled in Impact, he was a nobody.

Jonah: WWE is the only sports entertainment brand enjoyed across the world, or whatever Michael Cole said 10 times to try and justify the fact that they keep taking that sweet Saudi blood money. I do love international talent.

90. Jonah selects Marcel Barthel

Jonah: This guy is super German, I mean wow, he looks like he should come out in lederhosen. But he’s got decent size and I like what I’ve seen from him in the ring. He actually has some talent. On my show I’m bringing back all the super popular old gimmicks and making him the new “Das Wunderkind”.

Joe: I waited a little too long on snagging Barthel as he is good enough to be in the stable, Ringkampf, with WALTER, which is about as glowing of an endorsement as one can get in my eyes.

Previously in the NXT Draft:
Picks 1-10

Picks 11-20

Picks 21-30

Picks 31-40

Picks 41-50

Picks 51-60

Picks 61-70

Picks 71-80

Did Evolve 114 Change Things for the Better?

This past weekend, as many of you were watching WWE Evolution, or doing something else if you're a well-adjusted person who does not have their schedule revolve around what wrestling is going on. I was in Ybor City, the place where cool people go to party in Tampa, to surround myself with degenerate wrestling fans and attend Evolve 114.

Evolve has been one of the top independent promotions for a while now as they have been instrumental in the careers of Keith Lee, Matt Riddle, and Johnny Gargano. Since they recently lost those first two guys, they are in a bit of a rebuilding mode. Shane Strickland led them into the card as he was not only the Evolve World Champion, but has held belts for countries all around the US and is universally considered one of the top guys on the Indys.

Usually when this happens, new talent rises up to take up the spots that are now open. Evolve has a ton of guys that can do it as they had a ladder match with six super talented guys in JD Drake, Austin Theory, Darby Allin, Anthony Henry, Harlem Bravado, and probably my favorite Indy wrestler, AR Fox. But instead, Evolve went in the total opposite direction and picked up guys from above the Evolve level.

Evolve has had a working relationship with the WWE for the past couple years, and it has worked out for both sides. Evolve helps develop talent to get them ready for NXT, and WWE will occasionally send guys to Evolve shows to help boost the card. They have now taken that to the extreme.

The week of the event, Evolve's tag champions, Doom Patrol, Chris Dickinson and Jaka, issued an open challenge. This open challenge was answered by NXT's Street Profits, Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford, the latter of which should turn into a massive star if the WWE has any inkling of ability to develop talent. That's a pretty awesome upgrade for the card, and I assumed that they could put on a fun match where Doom Patrol finds a way to win, and they both go their separate ways.

But when the WWE announced that Street Profits would challenge, they also mentioned that other NXT stars may be interested in seeing what Evolve was all about. Considering that Shane Strickland did not have an opponent for his world title, my interest was definitely piqued. Strickland came out early to brag of dispatching the best that Evolve has to offer, so who would answer his challenge? The music hit, and out came the one and only...Fabian Aichner? Well, not exactly Riddle, Keith Lee, or Ricochet, but whatever, it should be a watchable match.

Then, throughout the night, we saw little used NXT wrestlers Jessie, Adrian Jaoude (with Cesar Bononi), and Dan Matha make appearances. This could have been very cool to see these wrestlers take a few more chances and let loose, but it was much more of NXT style matches than Evolve style matches. They were fine, but the most memorable thing from any of them was Dan Matha saying that he is the sauciest of sauces, and he goes drip, drip, drip, which made me laugh out loud as now every time I see Matha, I will only be able to think of Ol' Drippy from Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

On the positive side, the tag team title match between Doom Patrol and Street Profits was awesome. The crowd loved Street Profits, because really, how can you not love Street Profits? It was still more of an NXT match, but it was closer to the level of NXT Takeover tag matches as it was a good back and forth battle. And the crowd all erupted when Street Profits actually got the victory to win the Evolve Tag Titles.

Still, it was clear that the Evolve roster would have their revenge when Shane Strickland took on Fabian Aichner for the Evolve World Title. This was a really good match and is a great reminder of how awesome the talent in NXT is. Aichner is super good, and Strickland will always put on good matches. Still, the crowd knew that Strickland wasn't losing, so they never fully embraced the match. The ending was fast-paced back and forth with Aichner hitting a revolution powerbomb to win the match...wait, what? Fabian Aichner is the new Evolve World Champ? I now know what it would have been like to see The Undertaker's streak ended, because it was the same sense of shock when Aichner beat Strickland. Just total disbelief and dismay.

So what the hell does this mean? Both the Evolve World and Tag Champs are from NXT. With The Street Profits, I get it. They are one of the most fun acts in NXT, and even though they haven't quite risen to Championship level, if they found their way to a title shot and even a win in the next few months, it wouldn't be all that surprising. If they show up on NXT television with the Evolve titles, there is potential to draw a lot more interest from WWE fans in turning them into pro wrestling fans. I think that makes a ton of sense as it increases interest in Evolve, and it elevates Street Profits as just holding titles from another organization immediately puts them in the conversation for NXT Tag Titles.

But Fabian Aichner? That one is more puzzling to me. If Fabian Aichner shows up wearing the Evolve title on NXT television, nobody is thinking that they need to watch Evolve, they think that Evolve must suck, because Fabian Aichner can't beat anybody important. What is Aichner's best singles win over the last year? He has beaten Raul Mendoza four times over that stretch, but Mendoza has still beaten Aichner eight times overall, so maybe that isn't the best example. I mean he did beat Jeet Rama in April, but Rama got his revenge two weeks later. So I guess it is his big win over Humberto Carillo, and if you're wondering why you don't remember any of these matches, it's because all of these matches were on house shows. So I would say the decision to give Aichner the title is puzzling.

So what the hell does that make Evolve? I think the most interesting thing is if Evolve was fully embraced by WWE as their Double-A organization (NXT is AAA, Raw/Smackdown is the majors). People in the business always talk about how titles only matter to marks, but if you're a wrestling fan, that makes you a mark and titles are important. If you told me that Fabian Aichner was going to be on the next NXT Takeover special, I might pass out from how aggressively I gave the wanking motion. But if you tell me that he is going to be there defending his Evolve title against Shane Strickland or AR Fox, well, that actually does get me invested in a Fabian Aichner match, because I would be fascinated to see either of those challengers on WWE television. WWE has shown a willingness to use guys that do not have WWE contracts, most notably for the Cruiserweight tournament with Kota Ibushi and Zach Sabre Jr.

That sort of partnership between the organizations could be a win-win if done correctly. I'd love to see Evolve guys on WWE Network, and it would definitely increase the interest in Evolve as an organization. Eventually, Evolve may be able to be a part of the WWE Network, although that is more me dreaming of an idealistic world as a fan as I doubt it makes much sense for either side financially. Although I was pretty skeptical of things the night of the event, it could be laying the groundwork for something special down the line.

Before I go, I need to point out that the ladder match for the WWN Championship is the type of match that could make anyone a pro wrestling fan. All six guys had a chance to shine, and it was a sensory overload that was a blast to watch from start to finish. It was more than worth the price of admission alone. If you show that on WWE Network, you will have a whole lot of people wondering how they can see it in person, and that is why I am so interested to see where Evolve goes from here.