The Ultimate NXT Draft: Picks 41-50

Yesterday, we left off with an Australian, and today we start with one while finishing with someone totally forgettable.

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 11-20

Picks 21-30

Picks 31-40

Independent Wrestling Is on the Verge of Being Cool

Last weekend, I made what is now becoming an annual trip across the country, from Tampa to Seattle, to watch independent wrestling (and see my brother). This trip was pretty incredible as I was able to see two top notch shows with Progress traveling in from the United Kingdom for their first ever US tour, and Defy putting on another incredible local show where they continue to gain buzz. These shows were so good that I realized that it went beyond great pro wrestling shows; they were simply incredible shows, and I truly believe that pro wrestling is on the verge of being considered the best live entertainment option for regular folks. That's right; pro wrestling might actually become...cool?

I know you are laughing at me right now, and I'm not even mad about that. It's totally understandable, and I was hesitant to write this post, because I knew how outlandish the idea was at first glance, but I also 100% believe that going to pro wrestling will not only be acceptable, but a desirable weekend night out.

When I talk about pro wrestling, let me make it clear that I am not referring to the WWE. The WWE has, by far, the most talent in the world, and I would be fine if I never saw another WWE arena show again in my life. They are the ketchup of the pro wrestling world; popular mostly because availability and reliability, but you're rarely wowed by ketchup. WWE is fine, but WWE is not nearly as fun.

Instead, I am talking about independent wrestling. Many independent wrestling shows are 21+ which means there are no children there, and drinking is not only allowed but encouraged. The value of the former is that independent wrestling is allowed to put on a show for adults. They will cuss, be sexually provocative, and occasionally fly into the crowd. The value of the latter is that everything is better when you can have a beer of seven.

I have been fortunate to see some really awesome events. I love sporting events, but they all have their issues. Baseball can be slow, football is always slow, basketball and hockey are great, but they have their fair share of blowouts, soccer ain't too bad, but it ain't too great either, and golf is nice because you get to be outside and walk around, but it isn't that much better than just a day at a park.

On the cultural side, I have seen great bands, entertaining plays, and even a few musicals, but even at their best, they can't compare to pro wrestling (although Steel Panther does come close).

Here's the thing: Pro wrestling is the best of both worlds. First off, it involves insane athleticism. I know they are not necessarily competing against each other, but instead with each other, but you get the same high of watching people compete. Also, with them competing together, they can do far more to put on a better show. When going to a sports contest, you are lucky to see a handful of memorable athletic feats, but you will likely see at least that many in most live wrestling matches. And if your only argument is, "Durr, it's fake," all I can say is that it may be predetermined, but there are certain things that you simply cannot fake, and you and I would both likely vomit from pain and exhaustion if we were put through a five minute wrestling match.

Oh yeah, it also adds the characters and built-in drama that you would see on stage. Are some of the characters over-the-top and cheesy? Of course they are, but let's take a step back and recognize that rapping Alexander Hamilton and singing cats are as stupid as anything pro wrestling has done, and people seem to be just fine with that. Oh yeah, and every single performance is unique. I haven't seen Hamilton, but I can tell you how it ends. In wrestling, the script changes, and even though it is predetermined, you WILL pick a wrestler to cheer for. It's logically stupid, but it's just like a TV show or movie, where you find characters you pull for, and characters you want to see horrible things happen to, and doing it live adds so much fun.

And although I mentioned it being scripted, it's much more of an outline, and the outline is basically, start off like this, do a bunch of cool shit in the middle, finish with this. That do a bunch of cool shit in the middle is not only awesome, but you can help influence it. If you see two brutal chops to a man's chest that are so loud and hard that it sounds like a shotgun blast, you can start a "One more time" chant to get that poor wrestler even more abused. When you see something great, you can repeatedly yell "This is awesome." And if you see something disturbing, it is more than acceptable to chant, "You sick fuck" at the wrestler. Let's face it, we'd all be happier if we got to call people sick fucks more often.

Now, I must admit that Defy and Progess put on INCREDIBLE shows. They had it all; action, drama, comedy, and over the two nights, I probably saw two matches that I would consider average, where everything else was good to "OH MY GOD, I CAN'T BELIEVE WHAT IS HAPPENING." I'm a fan of brutality, so seeing a guy from Austria named WALTER (it's in all caps so you know he's awesome) brutalize opponents will always appeal to me. There were also genetic freaks like Brian Cage, possibly the next big thing in all of wrestling with Shane "Swerve" Strickland, incredibly crazy luchadors like Bandido, and even some comedy with Trent Seven. Shit, man, this show even bucked the stereotype that wrestling is only for backwoods rednecks by having well-respected women wrestlers like Toni Storm and, GASP, positive representations of homosexuals with the tag team of Sexy Starr. When I type all of that out, I refuse to believe there is a person out there that wouldn't want to see an independent wrestling show.

Not all independent shows are going to be at that level so you may not see that great of variety of amazing wrestling, but you would be surprised at how many places have incredibly good shows. You can find a great show in any major city, and even if you live in a smaller city, there is always independent wrestling. Sure, you might not be watching future superstars, but the beer is probably cheaper, and that's tough to beat.

Considering the cost of live entertainment, you can definitely find an affordable show, and there is no such thing as a bad seat, because they are always in very small buildings. The shows I went to were about as expensive as it gets, but there are very few shows that you can't get into for $20 or less. I went to a show in Tampa where I was in the third row, and if I did a 180 in my seat, I was bellied up to the bar - best of both worlds.

Will you watch some things and think, "Oh, that is so stupid?" Yeah, of course you will. Even I think some things are stupid, and there are pro wrestlers that I simply don't care for. But on the whole, you are going to find way more things to like than not. At its best, you're giggling with excitement at what you are seeing, and at worst, you are giggling at the performers, but either way you're smiling and having a good time. All I'm saying is to give it a chance, because I would hate to see you realizing five years down the line that you could have seen the most incredible combination of athleticism and drama, but you were too much of a nerd to realize how cool it was to go to a wrestling show.