The Ultimate NXT Draft: Picks 61-70

NXT definitely has too much talent, because picks 61-70 has a great mix of established stars and young wrestlers with TONS of potential. I start with a potential pick, and Jonah ends with The Finest.

61. Joe selects Lacey Lane

Joe: Lacey Lane is building up quite the following, and I think she is going to have a big impact when she starts making frequent appearances on TV. She’s very athletic and brings a lot of fire to the women’s division, despite her diminutive size.

Jonah: Lane sounds like a pretty good wrestler and has a good athletic background. She played D II basketball which is impressive considering I tower over her. Looks like a good pick for you here Joe, well done.

62. Jonah selects Danny Burch

Jonah: Danny Burch is interchangeable with Oney Lorcan and I got him 30 picks later. He’s good in the ring, and has a good brawling style. He and Lorcan got over with their wrestling ability and he should continue to do so.

Joe: Jonah, I’m convinced you’ve never seen Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch wrestle. Burch is solid, but Lorcan is FIRE. I hope your organization becomes a reality and you can officially make Marty Jannetty the commissioner, logo, and sommelier.

Jonah: I would absolutely hire Marty Jannetty just to fire him, Vince loves to do it. I’ve seen them wrestle quite a bit and I think they’re both talented, just that they’re equally talented.

Joe: Jonah, it’s impossible for me to believe that. Burch is nowhere near the level of Oney Lorcan, and you even said that Lorcan went too late at pick #32. If you thought these guys were even, why would you wait another 30 picks to take him? Come on, just admit that Burch is fine but nothing special.

63. Jonah selects Ridge Holland

Jonah: Here is an example of a great name change, because Luke Menzies is a terrible name. Holland is a former professional rugby player who’s big and looks like he would kick your ass. He’s also a pretty good looking dude, and he’s taken to wrestling pretty quickly since he’s only done it since 2016.

Joe: One of those picks that’s too early to tell much of anything with him. He hasn’t shown a ton in the ring, not a ton of personality, but at least Jonah thinks he’s cute.

Jonah: If you’re allowed to talk about guys being handsome, why can’t I?

Joe: I’m just making observations; I’m not going to stop you.

64. Joe selects Zack Gibson

Joe: People get so mad at Zack Gibson that they remove their shoes so they can stand in socks or barefoot on a nasty ass arena floor. This is way too low for Zack Gibson as he has an abusive style in the ring that is entertaining, and anybody who can generate that kind of heat is a-ok by me.

Jonah: Man this guy is super British. He did win the second NXT UK tournament and is the current NXT UK Tag Team Champion so he should have probably gone earlier. Also, getting British people to take of their shoes is apparently really easy, no wonder they lost the Revolutionary War.

65. Joe selects Brennan Williams

Joe: Brennan Williams was actually a legitimate NFL player as he was drafted in the third round by the Houston Texans. Things didn’t work out for him in football so he has since made the transition to wrestling. With the NFL background, he has tons of athleticism, and people have really gotten behind him as the “Sultan of Sit.” His big thing is just sitting down really hard in the corner, and I know that sounds stupid, but that’s because it actually is very stupid. Still, it’s really fun to chant, “Holy sit.” With the size and physical skills, he could be special, but there is definite bust potential which is why I was able to acquire him this late.

Jonah: Well Tino Sabatelli was a second round pick so I guess he’s super legitimate. Williams is a big guy with a good look who’s athletic, so plenty of potential there, but the sultan of sit thing doesn’t sound great. I mean no one can ever do it as well as Earthquake did.

66. Jonah selects Noam Dar

Jonah: Man Noam Dar was awesome when he talked about Alicia Fox. Plus we’re boys because he’s from Israel. I mean he’s also a good wrestler, plus him saying Alicia Fox is probably the most charisma I’ve seen from anyone in the last 15-20 picks.

Joe: Can’t deny that I laughed every time Noam Dar said, “Aleesha Faaaaaaaaaaaaawx,” and I was strongly considering taking him in the near future. I feel like he is one of many guys whose potential was hurt by 205 Live where a run on NXT or even NXT UK would have turned him into more of a viable threat. I know he’s been doing NXT UK stuff lately, and he has a very punchable face which is actually a good thing in pro wrestling.

As for the charisma thing, the pick before was a guy who has got the act of sitting down over, and six picks ago was Malcolm Bivens who got a WWE contract strictly based off charisma.

67. Jonah selects Aliyah

Jonah: Aliyah is young, attractive, on TV and decent in the ring. She’s of Iraqi descent, and as we all know I keep it international. She’s got potential and is already good enough to be on TV, plus I just love potential picks.

Joe: I was very happy that you went with Aliyah, who I would have liked to have, but I think her tag partner is significantly better than her.

68. Joe selects Vanessa Borne

Joe: It was clear that now was the time to pounce on Vanessa Borne who I think is very underrated in the ring. She obviously has a good look, but she has shown enough flashes that I think she will be a very good pro wrestler on top of that. I would say both her and Aliyah are still figuring out their characters, but there’s progress, and I’m looking forward to seeing how she develops in the future.

Jonah: This is a good pick, I just like what I have seen a little more out of Aliyah. Borne definitely would have been a pick in the next round for me. She’s got some good potential, I do think she needs to work on her character as “bitchy” has become quite a cliche in today’s women’s wrestling scene.

69. Joe selects Deonna Purrazzo

Joe: 69th pick is a lady, nice. But Deonna Purrazzo is also good in the ring. They haven’t quite pulled the trigger on really giving her a push on NXT TV, but I think she has the skill-set to be an important part of it and would be very surprised if she doesn’t make an impact on the main roster in a few years. I probably waited too long to take her so I feel very fortunate that she fell to me at this point.

Jonah: I was more disappointed in this pick than your other one. Deonna Purrazzo has shown good in ring skills so far. She’s got a good look and just needs a character, well and also some real TV time. Purrazzo is a steal here, good pick.

70. Jonah selects Kona Reeves

Jonah: A tip for the NXT booking team, if you’re going to repackage a guy to try and get him over, maybe don’t have him lose every match he’s in. I’m pretty sure Reeves won his first match back, but has jobbed in every other match. He does put in a good showing against guys much higher on the card than he is, which means the WWE does see some potential and will actually give him a real push at some point. His in ring skills are actually pretty good, and I like his look. I think I said this in our last draft review, but he’s better suited as a creepy heel, his eyes are freaky.

Joe: Is Kona Reeves the next CJ Parker? You can see flashes of something, but the way he’s packaged means that I do not want to see him at all. Maybe he’ll quit WWE (I’m not sure if that’s allowed anymore), go to Japan, and become Milk Stevenson.

Previously in the NXT Draft:
Picks 1-10

Picks 11-20

Picks 21-30

Picks 31-40

Picks 41-50

Picks 51-60

The Ultimate NXT Draft Review: 62-73

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 first 61, so we will finally close it out by going over the last twelve selections.

62-63. Joe selects Mada and Steve Cutler
Jonah: Mada looked cool as hell and apparently trained Jason Mamoa, sadly he was released.  Steve Cutler is in the Forgotten Sons. He was an NXT jobber forever, and is recently seeing some success as a member of the new group.  He’s a veteran, and as I mentioned I’m a huge mark for vets. He’s on NXT TV and actually winning matches since he’s a Forgotten Son, so he does have some potential going forward.

Joe: Jay got all of the attention, and nobody paid any mind to Lil’ Stevie. He truly was the Forgotten Son.

64-65. Jonah selects Babatunde Aiyegbusi and Carolyn Dunning
Joe: I’m going to go out on a limb and say Carolyn Dunning is no longer with the WWE since she hasn’t had a match in nearly three years since being signed. That is bad, but Babatunde Aiyegbusi is good. He is 6’10” and he can move fairly well. He doesn’t have a wide array of an offensive moveset, but he’s gigantic and competent. They have really slow played his development as he has been hitting up the house show scene for over two years without making his NXT debut, and I would guess that he will make a huge impact in 2019. I haven’t seen a ton of charisma, but he shows flashes, and at that size, he’s pretty much guaranteed to make the main roster.

Jonah: Carolyn Dunning is just patiently waiting for a track to explode on, but yeah she’s probably no longer employed.  I had actually heard of Babatunde since he was signed to the Minnesota Vikings the year before he went into wrestling. I knew he was a physical freak, which is a good thing in the WWE.  He has already made his main roster debut as the highlight of The Greatest Royal Rumble. Lio Rush also used to ride around on his shoulders, and that’s a gimmick that would get over anywhere.

66-67. Joe selects Terrance Jean-Jacques and Danielle Kamella
Jonah: So Terrance Jean-Jacques is a former Iowa wrestler and he beat his pregnant girlfriend and was released.  As I learn that the WWE takes domestic violence more seriously than many other sports, he’s a MMA fighter these days.  Danielle Kamella is Vanessa Borne who is an NXT wrestler with a character who is on TV. She mostly loses, but nice pick here to get a wrestler who is still developing.

Joe: This was my worst round of the draft. Vanessa Borne might be interesting, not even touching TJJ.

68-69. Jonah selects Jerome Turner and Bianca Blair
Joe: Jerome Turner has never had a match, so I’ll assume he’s done wrestling. Bianca Belair might be the second best pick in this entire draft, as she is UN-DUH-FEA-TED and totally awesome. She’s also married to Montez Ford which makes them the couple that the WWE wished John Cena and Nikki Bella were. She’s fantastic in the ring; she’s fantastic on the mic; she’s just fantastic, and the WWE will have to really try to mess up her career.

Jonah: Jerome Turner is just putting in the work at the Performance Center, waiting to be unleashed.  Bianca Belair is un duh fea ted, and that is a fact. She’s a physical marvel in the ring and she has great charisma.  She should be a future star especially if she’s whipping fools with her braid.

70-71. Joe selects Adrian Jaoude and Nikola Bogojevic
Jonah: Adrian Jaoude is Caesar Bononi’s tag team partner, so you’ve reunited this team.  He’s a BJJ practitioner, and gets on TV. He was also 8-3 in MMA, with his last fight being a loss to Roy Nelson which seems like a size mismatch.  He’s also 41, so he needs to get called up on the quick. Nikola Bogojevic is the other half of Heavy Machinery so way to reunite them as well. Big dude, can do the worm, good enough in the ring, and the charismatic one of the tag team.  Heavy Machinery would have a nice jump in the redraft, while Jaoude is picked before all the people who retired.

Joe: HOW DARE YOU CONFUSE ADRIAN JAOUDE AND ANTOINE JAOUDE. Antoine is over the hill, but Adrian is a spry 37 so has plenty of time to reach his full potential. There is some hope for Jaoude as he and Bononi have occasionally been hanging around Taynara Conti, so they could create a formidable stable. I still definitely could have done better. Through the main roster and NXT draft, I loaded up on talented ladies and thought I was full of them which caused me to miss out on Bianca Belair and Jonah’s last pick.

But at least I didn’t let Otis Dozovic slip through my fingers. I still don’t think Dozer has a high ceiling, as even with his charisma, it’s more goofy than important. Basically, I think he’s George “The Animal” Steele. That’s a hell of a career, but I don’t really see the guy challenging for world titles.

Jonah: What is A. Jaoude the John Anderson of Brazil?  Sorry to mix up your guys Joe, clearly he’s very important.

72-73. Jonah selects Macey Estrella and ZZ Loupe

Joe: I think what this shows is that WWE is super fucking good at finding and signing talent. Macey Estrella is now Lacey Evans and may have debuted by the time this is published. She was nearly the last pick in the draft, because all I knew was that she was a tall blonde lady. I’m not the biggest Evans fan, but she definitely has enough talent to last on the main roster for quite a while, so good for her.

At least I knew that ZZ had no future in wrestling as he sucked on Tough Enough and apparently sucked after Tough Enough as he got released before he could shit the bed in front of an audience.

Jonah: Lacey Evans is a good female wrestler who is main roster bound.  She’s pretty, jacked, and has an original character. It should work. It’s kind of hard to not end up with the worst wrestler when you have the last pick in the draft, but ZZ had some show on the WWE Network for awhile, so at least he was on TV.

Previous Installments:
Picks 1-10
Picks 11-20
Picks 21-30
Picks 31-40
Picks 41-51
Picks 52-61