NXT has seen plenty of new stars rise to the top of the card throughout 2020, with many making their illustrious TakeOver debuts and some even making it as far as championship glory. With the competition heating up on Wednesday nights, NXT have had to think fast and act quick when establishing new stars; it’s an experiment that doesn’t always pay off for the black and gold brand, but over the past year, we’ve seen a few breakout to become future megastars.
In this piece, we’re going to run down the 5 best breakout NXT superstars of 2020. Keep your eyes on these performers as they ride their respective waves of momentum into a year which should be massive for NXT, and the industry as a whole.
Make sure you leave your own breakout performers down in the comments below, and check out our thoughts on 2020’s breakout wrestlers from WWE, AEW and NJPW.
1. Pat McAfee
When Pat McAfee was first brought into the conversation on NXT, his name was met with a unanimous groan from the fanbase, but I think I speak on behalf of the entire wrestling community when I say that he’s left us all eating our words. McAfee has the natural talent for pro wrestling, a perfect blend of athleticism and charisma that’s made him one of the most reviled heels across the entire roster.
Pat’s breakout performance against Undisputed Era’s Adam Cole at NXT TakeOver: XXX was a real eye-opener for his future potential in the company. Celebrity matches tend to fall flat on their faces, unless you’re Stephen Amell of course, but McAfee has broken that tradition and gone on to forge quite the profile of quality matches from his short time in NXT.
I don’t see McAfee picking up any NXT Championship reigns anytime soon, but I do see him excelling in his role as a Cornette-like manager for the likes of Pete Dunne, Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan, while also being able to deliver the occasional, incredible moonsault.
You did good, Pat.
2. Dexter Lumis
I’ve mentioned in the past how the ‘creepy sociopath’ gimmick never works in wrestling, yet somehow, Dexter Lumis has managed to get over with the right people and has had one heck of a year in NXT. Lumis debuted to the usual monster heel squash match routine but soon found himself involved in a mini-feud with the Undisputed Era. His stalkerish antics made for good entertainment while creating an aura around Lumis that helped propel him into the North American title picture.
Unfortunately, Lumis was unable to compete in the big multi-man ladder match at TakeOver: XXX and was on the shelf for a short time after. Luckily, Lumis didn’t lose any of the favour he’d gained from his first run and jumped straight back into the fray in a feud against Cameron Grimes. This allowed Dexter to really go to town with his gimmick, competing in all sorts of kooky matches around Halloween, including a strange rendition of the House of Horrors match.
Whether or not you think Lumis has legs outside of this year is up for debate, but I definitely see NXT writers continuing to do their best with the strange artiste of NXT. Maybe a North American title shot in the near future? Or more trips to Lumis’ backwoods property? Either way, I’m down.
3. Shotzi Blackheart
The NXT Women’s division has seen the rise of Io Shirai and her villainous rivals, Candice LeRae and Dakota Kai, but in the background of the championship scene was the moulding of a rising star. Shotzi Blackheart made her NXT debut towards the start of 2020 and has since escalated into the main event scene.
Her most recent efforts at TakeOver: WarGames shows that NXT has a lot of faith in her as a headlining act, and it’s hard to deny her status after seeing the legions of fans rallying behind her.
Blackheart started as the likeable underdog but soon rose through the ranks to become a future contender for Shirai’s title. Having hosted TakeOver events and been featured pretty heavily on NXT TV, the future looks bright for the tank-riding badass.
4. Ilja Dragunov
Ilja Dragunov began to cement his place in the upper echelon of the NXT UK roster as soon as he entered 2020. The young Muscovite kick-started his year by putting together a hard-hitting affair with Finn Balor at World’s Collide and then went on to stamp his ticket for a NXT UK title shot after steamrolling through big names like Jordan Devlin and Tyler Bate.
And then COVID happened and everything came to a crushing halt. Fortunately for Dragunov, NXT UK picked things up exactly where they left off and pushed Ilja to the moon. Needless to say, he absolutely sprinted with it and has broken out as one of NXT UK’s newest, top stars.
His match with WALTER has gone down as one of the year’s very best, across all promotions. Even in defeat, Ilja came away with a newfound respect from his fans and enough credibility to warrant him another shot in 2021. Don’t sleep on ‘The Mad Russian’ just yet.
5. Damian Priest
What a year Damian Priest has had. At the start of 2020, Priest was floundering in the mid-card scene, often on the losing end of matches against fellow big men, Keith Lee and Dominik Dijakovic. Nevertheless, NXT weren’t willing to give up on one of the coolest dudes in all of professional wrestling. Priest would eventually find himself involved in the North American title scene once again, finally capturing the prestigious mid-card belt in the 6-man Ladder match at TakeOver: XXX to a thunderous reception. You could tell just how much it meant to Priest that night.
Damian cemented his new character by jumping into a hot tub, still in full ring gear and with the title across his shoulders as he sipped champagne and celebrated in style. Somehow this constituted a babyface turn and suddenly he was one of the most respected and popular stars on the brand. The meteoric rise was met with a big feud against NXT mainstay, Johnny Gargano, who he had some fantastic TakeOver performances against during his time as champ.
Priest proved to the world that he deserved to be on top of the division, smoothing some of the edges of his character and forging a presence like no other in NXT. Do I think Damian Priest is ready to move on to the NXT title picture? Absolutely. Nobody moves like he does, nobody comes to the ring like he does, Damian Priest is the real deal.
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