{"id":54301,"date":"2019-09-19T15:33:03","date_gmt":"2019-09-19T19:33:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/?p=54301"},"modified":"2019-09-19T15:42:10","modified_gmt":"2019-09-19T19:42:10","slug":"nxt-on-usa-primer-the-nxt-mens-division","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2019\/09\/19\/nxt-on-usa-primer-the-nxt-mens-division\/","title":{"rendered":"NXT on USA Primer: The NXT Men’s Division"},"content":{"rendered":"

With NXT<\/strong> making its debut on the USA Network on Wednesday, a lot of new eyes will be taking in WWE’s third brand, joining Raw<\/strong><\/em> and SmackDown<\/strong><\/em>. While it’s new on national cable, NXT has been a work in progress since its beginnings as WWE’s developmental in 2010. In nine years, NXT has soared beyond the developmental tag into becoming its most athletically exciting product in years and well deserved of gaining it’s own distinctive brand status as it becomes NXT on USA. It’s lead by a stunning cast of franchise players<\/a> as well.<\/p>\n

We’re doing three primers looking at the depth of each NXT division in the brand – the Men’s, the Women’s, and the Tag Team – featuring the ones on TV now and a couple thoughts on impending debuts. In our first NXT on USA Primer, we take a look at all the players in the NXT Men’s Division, from NXT Champion Adam Cole, <\/strong>NXT North American Champion\u00a0Velveteen Dream<\/strong>,\u00a0to the fresh faces ready to debut when NXT switches to two hours on the USA Network.<\/p>\n

Angel Garza<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"\"
Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The luchador is one of the newest NXT signings and recently took part in NXT’s breakout<\/a> tournament.\u00a0 Known in the US for his run in\u00a0IMPACT Wrestling <\/strong>as Garza Jr, he wrestled all over Mexico before settling in with The Crash Lucha Libre<\/strong>.\u00a0 Was a tag team champion in The Crash as part of a team with his real-life cousin, 205 Live<\/em>‘s Humberto Carrilo<\/strong>. His uncle is legendary luchador and former WCW Superstar Hector Garza<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Austin Theory<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Long considered the next big thing<\/a>, it was only a matter of time before Theory signed with the WWE.\u00a0 The 22-year old Theory has called the World Wrestling Network\u00a0<\/strong>his home for the duration of his career where he was a former two-time WWN Champion as well as being the current\u00a0EVOLVE\u00a0<\/strong>champion.\u00a0 Theory has also had success outside of the USA as he is a former Heavyweight champion for The Crash and even appeared for Lucha giants CMLL.<\/p>\n

Bronson Reed<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An absolute monster of a man Bronson Reed was shot to fame in 2017 when he competed in\u00a0Pro Wrestling Guerilla’s\u00a0<\/strong>prestigious\u00a0Battle Of Los Angeles\u00a0<\/em>tournament as Jonah Rock<\/strong>.\u00a0 Debuting in 2007, Reed spent a decade ruling Australia winning various championships and touring with Pro Wrestling NOAH<\/strong>.\u00a0 He also helped form the popular faction The Mighty Don’t Kneel<\/strong>, which became one of Australia’s most over factions in history.<\/p>\n

Cameron Grimes<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"\"
Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Grimes was also a competitor in the recent breakout tournament coming up short in the final to\u00a0Jordan Myles<\/strong>.\u00a0 An 11-year veteran in the ring Grimes was a mainstay of the Carolina indies like\u00a0Carolina Wrestling Federation (CWF) Mid-Atlantic <\/strong>but was also a featured performance in PWG and IMPACT.\u00a0 As Trevor Lee, he is a former three-time X-Division champion a multi-time tag team champion and held the CWF Mid-Atlantic heavyweight championship for one thousand and eighty-five (1,085) days!<\/p>\n

Damian Priest<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Priest has started life on NXT like a house on fire.\u00a0 He’s been racking up dominant wins ever since making his debut.\u00a0 Before joining NXT he was a rising star in ROH that had won their television championship before taking his monstrous ways to NXT where he has since wreaked havoc.<\/p>\n

Dexter Lumis<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An eleven-year veteran Dexter Lumis has always been more of a character than anything.\u00a0 Whether as Slick Sleazy or tormenting interviewers as Sam Shaw,<\/strong> he has a tendency to play avant-garde weird characters.\u00a0 Has spent time with IMPACT and the National Wrestling Alliance.<\/strong>\u00a0 Has had two runs as Ohio Valley Wrestling <\/strong>tag team champion and three runs as Vintage Heavyweight Champion.<\/p>\n

Dominik Dijakovic<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dijakovic is a physical specimen that debuted back in 2013.\u00a0 He was quickly picked up by\u00a0Ring Of Honor\u00a0<\/strong>and has wrestled all over the world for almost every major independent wrestling company in the world as Donovan Dijak<\/strong>.\u00a0 2017 was his breakout year as he moved on from ROH and proceeded to tear it up on the indies where he would have some legendary matches with Keith Lee.<\/strong>\u00a0 Hasn’t really taken off yet in NXT but has all the tools to succeed.<\/p>\n

Drew Gulak<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The current Cruiserweight champion Drew Gulak has been making his name as a technical wrestling aficionado for years.\u00a0 A multi-time champion on the US indies the 14-year veteran has managed to be one of the best parts of 205 Live ever since it’s debut and will now bring his technical ways to NXT, thanks to Triple H’s announcement that 205 Live is now under NXT’s umbrella<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Imperium (WALTER, Alexander Wolfe, Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"\"
Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the night’s biggest surprises on the debut of NXT on USA was the arrival of Imperium<\/strong>, the faction lead by WWE United Kingdom Champion WALTER<\/strong>. Barthel and Aichner regularly work as a tag team in both NXT and its UK counterpart, NXT UK, where the rest of Imperium holds the company hostage. But it appears that WALTER and Alexander Wolfe are joining the other two in NXT, for at least the foreseeable future. WALTER has been one of Europe’s most dominant champions, winning titles in Germany, England, and Ireland, and now rules NXT UK with an iron fist.<\/p>\n

Isaiah “Swerve” Scott<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the best in the world before signing, Scott – then Shane Strickland – <\/strong>was known as the “King Of Swerve<\/a>“, as everything he did, he did just a little bit different than the others.\u00a0 Was the ace of Major League Wrestling\u00a0<\/strong>when they moved to TV and was a featured performer for\u00a0Lucha Underground\u00a0<\/strong>as Killshot<\/strong>.\u00a0 Add to this the fact he won titles for every major indie company in the US and Scott has the resume of a future superstar.<\/p>\n

Jaxson Ryker<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ryker is the muscle of the Forgotten Sons<\/strong>.\u00a0 The 18-year veteran has made his way through the NWA and IMPACT Wrestling\u00a0<\/strong>(as\u00a0Gunner<\/strong>) winning multiple titles along the way.\u00a0 A battle-hardened veteran, Ryker and the Forgotten Sons have the chance to prove themselves on USA Network.<\/p>\n

Joaquin Wilde<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Debuting all the way back in 2004, Wilde had been wowing audiences for almost two decades as DJ Z<\/strong>.\u00a0 His home promotion in his early years was International Wrestling Cartel <\/strong>but it was in IMPACT Wrestling where he would make his name.\u00a0 Wilde was a two-time X-Division champion and a tag team champion in the company.\u00a0 Wilde had a career revival after leaving IMPACT when he came back from a potentially life-threatening injury to win championships in Chicago super indie AAWPro\u00a0<\/strong>and proceeded to remind everyone why he was one of the best high fliers in the world.<\/p>\n

Johnny Gargano<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What is there left to say about Johnny Gargano?\u00a0 This man has defined an era<\/a> in NXT winning every championship in the brand during his nearly five-year stint. Always talented Gargano had success before his time in NXT winning championship gold in EVOLVE as well as their sister promotion Dragon Gate USA<\/strong>.\u00a0 Whether as part of DIY or on his own Gargano has been one of NXT’s best since day one and he is now the face of the brand.<\/p>\n

Jordan Myles<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The winner of the NXT Breakout tournament, Jordan Myles has spent a decade wowing audiences spending time in ROH and New Japan Pro Wrestling\u00a0<\/strong>as ACH.\u00a0 He also had a tag team championship run in EVOLVE and won multiple titles on the US independent wrestling scene.<\/p>\n

Keith Lee<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Debuting all the way back in 2005, Keith Lee went under the radar for twelve years before he exploded in 2017.\u00a0 His size mixed with his ability to pull off agile flips of men half his size wowed audiences with his mix of high flying and power-based offense.\u00a0 Was a WWN champion and a PWG World champion before making his way to NXT where he hasn’t quite hit the ground running.<\/p>\n

Killian Dain<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Beast Of Belfast is a former NXT tag team champion.\u00a0 His time on the main roster did not go to plan as Sanity never caught on but Dain is back in NXT having slimmed down and become more hungry than ever.\u00a0 He has made Matt Riddle a target ever since his return and will be looking to regain some of the dominance he had as a member of Sanity.<\/p>\n

KUSHIDA<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The former ace of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Junior Heavyweight division, KUSHIDA was one of the world’s best before making his way to NXT.\u00a0 Be it as part of the popular Time Splitters<\/strong> tag team with Alex Shelley\u00a0<\/strong>or on his own, he amassed eight championships in his time with NJPW.\u00a0 Has had classics with Kyle O’Reilly\u00a0<\/strong>that both men will be looking to follow up.<\/p>\n

Lio Rush<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"\"
Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the US indies’ most coveted young stars, Lio Rush<\/strong> was a breakout with Ring of Honor before signing with NXT in 2017. He quickly rose through the NXT ranks before heading to\u00a0205 Live\u00a0<\/em>and then last year, debuted on\u00a0Raw<\/em> as the hype man for Bobby Lashley<\/strong>. He left\u00a0Raw<\/em> early this spring and hasn’t been seen in months, but on the debut episode of NXT on USA, he returned in glorious fashion, defeating Oney Lorcan<\/strong> to become the #1 Contender to Drew Gulak’s WWE Cruiserweight Championship.<\/p>\n

Mansoor<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mansoor<\/a> is famous for winning the 50 man rumble at\u00a0WWE Super ShowDown\u00a0<\/em>which took place in his home of Saudi Arabia.\u00a0 Since then Mansoor hasn’t capitalized on that win for any momentum but the young man has all the potential in the world<\/p>\n

Matt Riddle<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“The BRO” Matt Riddle is known as much for his trash-talking outside the ring as he is for his work inside it.\u00a0 \u00a0The former UFC competitor was released from the UFC on the tail end of a four-fight win streak and decided to take his skills to pro wrestling.\u00a0 Riddle took to wrestling naturally and within a year was a big name on the US and European indie scenes scooping up championships left, right and center.\u00a0 Riddle was so good that he fielded offers from NJPW before joining NXT.<\/p>\n

Pete Dunne<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The “Bruiserweight” Pete Dunne spent 685 days as NXT UK Champion fending off challengers from all over the UK after winning the title in an instant classic with Tyler Bate<\/strong>.\u00a0 Dunne was a star in the UK before joining NXT as he held titles in every major promotion in the UK and Ireland and now represents an entire scene every time he steps in the ring.<\/p>\n

Rik Bugez<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A cult favorite, the former Eric Bugenhagen<\/strong> is one of the most eccentric personalities in NXT.\u00a0 His 80’s heavy metal throwback gimmick has proven very popular with crowds all over the NXT loop with fans air guitaring and headbanging along with Bugez.\u00a0 Bugez is the kind of gimmick that NXT has used perfectly in the past and will be taking his talents to NXT on USA.<\/p>\n

Shane Thorne<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Was a member of Australia’s premier tag team before joining NXT, but things haven’t gone to plan for Thorne in NXT.\u00a0 Injuries derailed the momentum of TM-61\u00a0<\/strong>just as they were finding their feet and then his tag team partner\u00a0Nick Miller\u00a0<\/strong>requested his release<\/a> leaving Thorne alone.\u00a0 Thorne has recently taken out his aggression at being forgotten on the members of NXT’s breakout tournament.<\/p>\n

Tommaso Ciampa<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"\"
Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If Johnny Gargano is the face of the brand then Ciampa is Thanos, he is Darth Vader.\u00a0 Ciampa for the longest time was the most hated man in NXT after turning on Gargano and then stealing his dream of being NXT Champion away.\u00a0 Ciampa went down with an injury earlier this year but is set to resurface soon, whether he stays on the dark side or comes to the light remains to be seen.<\/p>\n

Undisputed Era (Adam Cole & Roderick Strong)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"\"
Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NXT is the Undisputed Era’s playground.\u00a0 Adam Cole is the current NXT champion and has been in the main event scene ever since his debut.\u00a0 While Kyle O’Reilly and\u00a0Bobby Fish\u00a0<\/strong>are holding down the tag scene for the group and Cole is the NXT Champion, the workhorse Roderick Strong made a huge statement on the debut on USA by defeating the North American champion Velveteen Dream <\/strong>to ensure UE now held all the gold..\u00a0 Where one goes the others are sure to follow the Era are as dangerous as they are popular.<\/p>\n

Velveteen Dream<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"\"
Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A former tag team partner of Lio Rush in the US indies, the 24-year old has the world at his feet with his incredible charisma mixing with his eccentric gimmick to form one of the most popular characters on the brand. The former North American champion lost his coveted title on the debut episode on USA this past Wednesday, but don’t expect him to be out of the hunt for gold for long.<\/p>\n

CHECK OUT ALL THREE PRIMERS!<\/strong><\/h2>\n

NXT on USA Primer: The Men’s Division<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

NXT on USA Primer: The Women’s Division<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

NXT on USA Primer: The Tag Team Division<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/a>\u00a0for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.\u00a0 And make sure to watch NXT every week on the\u00a0WWE Network<\/a>\u00a0and now the USA Network.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With NXT making its debut on the USA Network on Wednesday, a lot of new eyes will be taking in WWE’s third brand, joining Raw and SmackDown. While it’s new on national cable, NXT has been a work in progress since its beginnings as WWE’s developmental in 2010. In nine years, NXT has soared beyond […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2013,"featured_media":54450,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,3],"tags":[68,5681,536,529],"class_list":["post-54301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-nxt","category-wwe-universe","tag-johnny-gargano","tag-nxt-on-usa","tag-pete-dunne","tag-tomasso-ciampa"],"modified_by":"Jamie Greer","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2013"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}