Will the new era of NXT women stack up with the old?

[Messiah]

Bayley (NXT Women's Champion)
Alexa Bliss
Dana Brooke
Emma (now a heel)
Nia Jax
Asuka
Evie
Eva Marie
Athena
Carmella
Billie Kay
There are a lot of reports that Blue Pants is done with NXT, but she rarely appeared anyway

With Sasha Banks officially gone from NXT after the last Takeover, we're now left with an almost drastically different NXT Women's Division. With the exception of Bayley, we're seeing a lot of new faces. In your opinion, will this new crop of ladies live up to the standards that Banks, Charlotte, and Lynch laid down?

In my opinion, this group has the potential to meet those expectations. Asuka has only had one match, but if that match is what we should come to expect from her combined with her reputation coming out of Japan, she may already be the best female in-ring wrestler we have seen in NXT. Yes, even ahead of Banks. It wouldn't even surprise me if she turned out to be a better all-around wrestler than Banks, and this is coming from someone who was a HUGE Banks fan before it became cool to be one. Like @Hanley! pointed out in his thread, Asuka does a marvelous job putting her character/personality across in the ring. It's a trait very few wrestlers, male or female, seem to do well and those who do are that much better for it (Banks, Owens, Lesnar, Sheamus to a lesser extent). I don't need to hear her talk to know who she is. I love that. I don't think I will ever prefer her over Banks simply because Banks might be one of my favorites ever, but it wouldn't surprise me if she turned out to be better. I really wish Banks could stay one more month in NXT because I would love an Asuka/Banks match.

Nia Jax made her debut on the recent NXT episode. It's too early to make a fair evaluation about her, but she's obviously different than everyone else in the pack. She could be that monster female that NXT has never had at their disposal and it wouldn't surprise me at all if she ended up being the one to take the title away from Bayley down the road. Hopefully she doesn't go on a Corbin-like run when it comes to squashing people, which he seemed to do for what felt like a decade without much character development until his heel turn.

I REALLY like Alexa Bliss. She still has ways to go in the ring but as far as character portrayal goes, I'm a big fan. She's a great heel and her job as a manager saved the title reign of Blake & Murphy. I'm looking forward to her feud with Bayley. Carmella won't ever do anything as far as challenge for the title or anything, but I like her too. She's good for what she is asked to do.

Also, someone who hasn't gotten enough praise for what she has done in NXT is Emma. She's done a great job as a heel in my opinion. A good wrestler too, which I think some people tend to forget. It was her match with Paige at the first Takeover that got people beginning to see how seriously the women's division would be taken in NXT.

There are a couple of others who haven't debuted yet (Billie Kay, Athena) or aren't signed but have made appearances and could be signed in the future (Evie) who a lot of people are high on. I'm not sure the division will be able to match the match quality of the Charlotte/Banks/Lynch/Bayley era (Paige and Emma too if you want to include them) because as of now Asuka is the only one on that level (I like Bayley a lot but she's not all that good in the ring, not Charlotte/Lynch/Banks caliber anyway) of the old guard. That could change with Athena, Kay, Jax, Evie, hell maybe even Bliss if she continues to get better, but as of now that isn't the case. What this division does have is a lot of personality and depth, maybe even moreso than we have seen in the past. I'm excited for the future of NXT Women's Division.

[Messiah]

This NXT Women's Division also has two of the best themes everrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.





Also I can't be the only one who wants to see Asuka destroy Eva Marie in the ring.

[Str8Shooter]

I'll probably go more in depth later, but I feel confident that, while it might not live up to the previous gen, it will still be an NXT calling card.

Triple H in particular, has been getting a lot of good buzz and goodwill from fans for the NXT Women's division. Let's be honest, he likes that attention. He's not going to let the NXT women devolve into a mess of sub par matches that will make people start criticizing his baby. Hence the signings of Asuka and I believe Athena is the other one. He knows what NXT fans expect and he knows he has to give it to them in order for NXT to continue to grow.

[Hanley!]

Things were looking very worrying for the division for a moment there, but I think they have enough talented names there now to keep it interesting for the next six months. And hopefully after six months, they might have made another signing or two, and a couple of their crappier female performers might have improved. I think there's every reason to be optimistic about the NXT women's division.

For starters, Bayley is money. She's got a quality gimmick, and she plays a great babyface in the ring. She sells well and she has plenty of fire. She might not be quite the worker that Banks and Lynch are, but she has the ability to draw people into her matches. She's a good champion to have right now, and you can already see WWE preparing her next few challengers.

Bliss is the right person to face her right now. She's a really good heel, she's one of the best promos in the women's division right now (and likely to get better), and she's a good wrestler too. She's got a pretty unique style and set of moves, which I respond to. She's not going to beat Bayley for the title, but she can give her a good feud and Takeover match. Maybe even two, but I don't think that's even necessary.

Asuka is amazing. Based on her match against Dana Brooke, she's one of the best wrestlers in the company. Holds herself well, puts her personality across, moves well, plays to the crowd. Makes you wish she got to NXT a year earlier. We could have seen some amazing matches between her and the Four Horsewomen. I don't think she should face Bayley any time soon. Both should remain babyfaces basically forever. A babyface vs babyface feud could be good, but I wouldn't do it with Bayley yet. She's such a good natural underdog, I wouldn't want to risk turning Asuka heel by having her face Bayley so soon into her title reign.

If it were me, I'd be booking a women's championship match for every Takeover show AND a women's grudge match between Asuka and somebody else on the Takeover shows too.

Nia Jax has potential. I like that she's something different because of her size. She seems like she's strong too, and a decent power wrestler from what little we've seen of her so far. I wasn't expecting a large scary woman from the Nia Jax video packages, so I was pleasantly surprised. But I have to say that her look is awful. The ugly costume she was wearing seemed designed specifically to draw negative attention to the worst aspects of her physique. I have no problem with her physique at all, I like a variety of shapes and sizes in my wrestling. But I think I'll have a little trouble taking her seriously if she continues with the tacky maternity wear.

Also she needs to turn heel soon. If only to provide Bayley with another challenger. Plus, I just like to see large wrestlers in strong heel spots. It makes for great David vs Goliath angles.

Emma is getting better. Honestly, when I first started watching NXT I had absolutely no idea what people saw in her. She wasn't great in the ring, her character was dumb, and it just didn't work for me. Now though, I think she's coming along nicely as a heel. I'm still not sure how much I like her work in the ring, because she hasn't had much singles competition lately, but hopefully she's come along there too. I think a match between her and Asuka is a logical next step in the division.

Dana Brooke is still very green, but she's getting better quickly. She could be relatively mediocre for the rest of her career, but she could also turn out to be really very good in a year, if she keeps improving at the rate she has been. One thing that I hope she tones down is her entrance. It feels like she's trying so hard to convey personality that she overdoes it and it starts to look phony. That being said, I'd much prefer someone trying too hard to convey a character than blandly showing no personality at all.

Carmella fills a spot, and honestly I'm not sure if much more will ever be expected of her. She's a perfectly serviceable talent for the spot she's in, but I can't see her going any further. She's not going to be main eventing any Takeovers, that's for sure. Eva Marie sucks on the other hand. If they're serious about pushing her to be champion, then god fucking help us, but I think it's a plan they won't be able to go through with. She's not got potential enough for them to stick their neck out for her. If fans are going to hate on her, it's easier to just go another way.

So I think the NXT women's division could be a lot worse. Bayley is great. Asuka is great. Bliss is great. Nia Jax and Dana Brooke could be quality heels in the future. Nothing to worry about for the moment.

[SlightlyJames]

Absolutely I would say this lot have the potential to match the previous division, Alexa Bliss has been reveling in her character since aligning with Blake and Murphy, she's pretty damn good at getting heat and I've been legit pissed watching her at times, like when she did the angle with the Vaudevillains where she abused their chivalry knowing that they wouldn't hit her back, it says a lot for the work that she did there that when she finally got her comeuppance from Blue Pants it was such a great moment.

There was a lot of discussion after the most recent Takeover about the match that Asuka managed to 'get out' of Dana Brooke, it should go without saying that it takes two to tango. That was some really nice, fluid looking wrestling and Dana did very well to handle that, even if she was just along for the ride. She's another one who's been putting a lot of time into developing her character and clearly she's feeling the benefit. Combine that with her natural athleticism and how quickly she seems to be settling in to NXT she can be a very valuable member of the division.

A lot of the credit for Dana's development likely goes to Emma, who they paired her with very early on. Emma's had a bit of a rejuvenation herself since returning to NXT, it's difficult to blame her for her failure on the main roster when you consider she was little more than Santino's goofy friend and they didn't really do much to help the everyday fan "get" her whole character. Nevertheless, it didn't work and they've done the right thing in going back to the drawing board, is the whole Ice Queen thing going to work any better? Who can say, I'd like to think she can pull it off. In the meantime I'm sure her presence in NXT is appreciated.

I don't really know what to think of Nia Jax at the moment other than she's The Rock's cousin and she needs a new outfit. Her size isn't a problem, it could do a lot to set her apart if anything but I don't think the shiny jumpsuit does her any favours if they want her to be considered a legitimate threat to match her moveset. Considering the family ties you would expect she'll at least be given every chance to succeed and I don't see any reason why she wouldn't be able to carve out a spot for herself as an important member of the division.

Asuka looks like she'll fit right in and from the one match I've seen combined with her reputation coming in, it's a safe bet that she is already one of the most rounded performers in NXT, I would expect her to become a mainstay of the division and stand as a tough test for many of the developing talents.

It is an enormous benefit to each of the women above that there is a fantastic champion for this division. Bayley is one of the only honest to god natural babyfaces the company has, people adore her, she has the potential to be one of the biggest stars in the WWE if they can cultivate an environment to accommodate that on the main stage, but as far as her time remaining in NXT, I would expect her to enjoy a storied title reign brushing shoulders with all of the women listed above. The future's damn bright.

[Messiah]

Yea, Jax's outfit was ridiculous but according to a comment I read this is the outfit she wore for her next appearance at the NXT tapings and what she has usually been pictured in. Much better IMO.

[SlightlyJames]

Yea, Jax's outfit was ridiculous but according to a comment I read this is the outfit she wore for her next appearance at the NXT tapings and what she has usually been pictured in. Much better IMO.

God damn she looks like she just got back from cosplaying at a Mad Max convention. That fits far better with the kind of role I'd say she should have in the division.