In June of 2016, so now nearly two and a half years ago, Lukewarm Jonah and I got together to do an NXT Fantasy Draft. We are going to focus on the NXT roster as the transition from NXT to the main roster or just the progression within NXT provides some fascinating talking points. Although we did a fairly good job, there were definitely some big time misses and some amazing steals. We've already broken down the top 40, and now it's time to author the next 11 picks.
41. Jonah selects Alexander Wolfe
Joe: He has made it to Smackdown, so that’s a nice accomplishment, but he may be the least important person on Smackdown. Earlier, I mentioned Street Profits being The Black Rockers. Well, Sanity is Goth Rockers, with Killian Dain as Shawn Michaels, Eric Young as Marty Jannetty, and Alexander Wolfe as Leif Cassidy, and only Leif Cassidy as there is no Al Snow run to follow.
That was unnecessarily mean as he is very solid, just has been given nothing to make him memorable in any way. I doubt many people even know he’s German.
Jonah: Hey Wolfe made the main roster and that is impressive. He’s also a former NXT Tag Team Champion. He looked great in that War Games match, he does have some real potential if they ever use him in any way. Joe mentioned that he is German which is great for the expanding Europe market, but making his gimmick anything German probably won’t go well, a little bit of German culture goes a long way Joe. The crazy thing is Sanity will probably be tag team champs on the main show at some point, so I think he’s a future tag champion. At 41, that’s a good pick, and really this probably where he deserves to go even if he did already make the main roster.
Joe: Jonah, have you not been paying attention? German thoughts from the 1930s are all the rage in America today. Alexander Wolfe could be the babyface the oppressed white heterosexual males need to fight for their cause.
42-43. Joe selects Aliyah and Thomas Kingdon
Jonah: Aliyah has become a new heel in the lower card of NXT. She’s getting some TV time and has a gimmick of a rich spoiled girl. She’s got potential and you never know what she could become in the future. She’s good enough in the ring and super young. A nice potential pick here. Thomas Kingdon is huge and working at a 24 Hour Fitness.
Joe: Aliyah has had more gimmicks and turns than anyone in NXT history. That seems to give her less aim, but maybe she’ll just become a construction worker and join up with Heavy Machinery on the main roster next month. I’ll just take your word on Thomas Kingdon as I’m not even going to waste my time looking him up.
44-45. Jonah selects Dylan Miley and Josh Woods
Joe: Josh Woods is gone, but the Dylan Miley pick worked out okay for Jonah. He’s now lurking around as Lars Sullivan. Sullivan is going to be interesting, because he plays the monster, but he’s really just a beefier Rusev who has solid charisma but not to the level of Rusev, but he’s American, so his charisma will likely get seen as much higher since he doesn’t have an accent. This is obviously incredible value as he can make a strong case to be in the top ten. I would have liked to see him get some more seasoning in NXT as these quicker call-ups do not have a great history. It will be interesting to see what they do, as he could be a monster on the level of Lesnar or Strowman, or he could end up doing shitty comedy bits and be depressingly underutilized.
Jonah: Dylan Miley looked like a buff George “The Animal” Steel, that’s a good look. He’s now known as Lars Sullivan and he’s going to the main roster as a monster. He had a good NXT career and he moves up a ton of picks in a redraft. Great wrestling pick, but he’s a racist so that really bums out my excitement over this pick. Josh Woods won the ROH Top Prospect Tournament in 2017, so he was still a good pick, he’ll be back in the WWE in five years as a huge indy signing.
Joe: Jonah, can you hear me? Are you still living in reality? What have you seen from Josh Woods that makes you think he’ll be a huge Indy signing in five years? I actually like him, and although anything could happen, this is an insane take.
Jonah: In five years Triple H will be signing everyone he can from ROH, that’s just a fact. He probably renames the WWE NWA-ROH.
46-47. Joe selects Bronson Mathews and Tucker Knight
Jonah: Bronson Matthews won Tough Enough and was hated by everyone, he got released. Tucker Knight is half of Heavy Machinery and despite looking like garbage at the Portland NXT show, he found gear and a wrestling style that worked for him. Heavy Machinery is on their way to the main roster so great pick and a higher pick in the redraft.
Joe: Not my best round as Mathews is gone, but Tucker Knight is going up to the main roster so that’s nice value. Still not sure what kind of impact they will have on the main roster as I definitely have doubts about how well they will be used. Either way, I can’t wait for six months of Heavy Machinery vs. The Ascension before it comes to a head on the Vengeance preshow.
48-49. Jonah selects Jeet Rama and Kishan Raftar
Joe: They have not done anything with Jeet Rama, and they released Raftar, but at this point in the draft, you’re basically throwing darts hoping somebody will work out. These darts didn’t hit a bullseye, but he does have some of the greatEST steals coming up later.
Jonah: Good news, Jeet Rama is still signed to NXT. The WWE needs an Indian superstar, and I can guarantee that Rama is better in the ring than The Great Khali and can pretty confidently say he’s better in the ring than Canadian Jinder Mahal. If he’s still got that moustache, he’s gonna be over like Rover. Kishan Raftar was released and retired this year, cutting my Indian developmental guys in half.
50-51. Joe selects Gzim Selmani and Sunny Dhinsa
Jonah: These random names are better known as AOP, The Authors of Pain. Well done on the pick here as they are former NXT Tag Team Champs and former RAW Tag Champs. They have everything that could make a real monster tag team. They’re The Ascension except physically intimidating and better in the ring. They were obviously better with Paul Ellering than Drake Maverick, but having some sort of a manager makes tons of sense. Make AOP a real monster tag team and they will be great for the next decade. I think these guys move up to the top 20, maybe the biggest jump of anyone in the redraft.
Joe: Yeah, definitely a fan of the AOP pick, and although they have had a slow start, they are massive, strong, and have shown they can go in the ring. It would take a lot of things to go wrong for them to not be one of the better tag teams for years to come. Thank God they had cool masks, or otherwise, they may have slipped by.
