NXT Year in Review: Wrestlers of the Year

Brad Abel continues his look back at WWE NXT for 2021 with some individual awards in the US and the UK!

It’s time for individual awards.

NXT UK Tag Team of the Year: Pretty Deadly

The tag team division in NXT UK was arguably the most interesting and competitive division in all of NXT. Subculture, Mustache Mountain, Symbiosis, Ashton Smith & Oliver Carter, the Gallus Boys, and Jack Starz and Dave Mastiff all had excellent showings. The best of the bunch was Pretty Deadly. No team since the Revival has done more to bring back old school heel tactics than Sexy Sam and Luscious Louis. It’s just a matter of time before they are dominating on RawDown. 

NXT Tag Team of the Year: MSK

What did I have to say about MSK this year:

“Win, lose or draw, I know they’re going to deliver.”

“The best curtain jerkers since the Hardy Boyz.”

“When MSK hits the stage, I can’t help but get excited.”

“In a place where the tag titles have always meant something, they are actually elevating them.”

And for good measure, they had tag team matches, a triple threat tag team match and a 6-man tag match all coming in at 4.5 stars or better. The sky is the limit for Nash Carter and Wes Lee.

NXT UK Female Wrestler of the Year: Meiko Satomura

Wrestling is known for its longevity. The joke is nobody ever retires. That may be true, but very few wrestlers are putting on MOTY candidates in their 26th year. Even fewer can legitimately claim to be best in the world that deep into their career. Satomura is an international wrestling treasure. When she retires, I hope more American fans include her when they talk about the best female wrestlers of all time.

NXT Female Wrestler of the Year: Raquel Gonzalez

Big Mami Cool dominated 2021. She started the year with a definitive victory over Rhea Ripley, and the beatings never stopped. I love her Chingona Bomb. I love that sweet leather jacket she wears to the ring. I love her simple pre-match pose when she turns the belt around and flares those traps. I love that she never lost the belt to a painfully boring and obviously inferior Mandy Rose. Wait. She what? Son of a mother fu….  

NXT UK Male Wrestler of the Year: Ilja Dragunov

The first six months of 2021, Dragunov was the most compelling and interesting wrestler in all of NXT. His WALTER-induced spiral into madness was gripping. Watching him fight his demons felt very real. It’s been a long time since a soul that tortured has given us so many great matches in one year. Dunne. Dar. A Kid. Gradwell. WALTER. As good as he is, it’s crazy to think he’s only 28 and only get better.

NXT Wrestler of the Year: Tommaso Ciampa

This feels like a last man standing award. He started 2021 with a MOTY candidate versus WALTER. He reinvigorated himself as a tag team guy with Timothy Thatcher. He ended as the NXT 1.0. the flag bearer, the final link to the Black & Gold Standard of professional wrestling. Anybody else who might have qualified has been 2.0’d. But make no mistake about it. Even if we still had Cole, Gargano, O’Reilly, Scott and the rest, the Blackheart has more than earned NXT Wrestler of the year, as well as…

NXT Overall Performer of the Year: Tommaso Ciampa 

You deserve it. Clap clap clap clap clap.

You deserve it. Clap clap clap clap clap.

You deserve it. Clap clap clap clap clap.

Thanks for the memories.

Up next: Some very special NXT UK Awards