Over the past few years, the conversation of: “Who is the Mount Rushmore of Wrestling?” has evolved into “Who are the pillars of wrestling?”. This conversation mostly floats around AEW, but with WrestleMania weekend approaching, I wanted to touch on NXT 2.0 and NXT Stand & Deliver happening on Saturday April 2nd at 1pm est. Despite general public opinion on NXT’s rebrand to 2.0, NXT is still a brand of the future.
The Pillars of 2.0
Cora Jade, Carmelo Hayes, Bron Breakker
Starting with the youngest member of the NXT roster: Cora jade. At 21 years old Cora has amassed a huge following online, due to her skills in ring as well as her earnest personality. Cora first showed up back in January of 2021 in the Women's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic being eliminated by Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell in the first round. However Cora’s first appearance on NXT was in February losing to Xia Li. Sadly we wouldn’t see Cora for a few months until she showed up across the ring from Frankey Monet (aka Taya Valkyrie), losing again.
Cora disappeared for a few months again until showing up in October across from Frankey, this time pulling out a surprise victory. The rise of Cora started here, constantly impressing viewers despite her relatively short matches. Cora manages to land a spot in War Games. Cora was presented as the little sibling trying to prove herself to the big players of NXT; Io Shirai, Kay Lee Ray & Raquel Gonzalez. Her breakout moment was during War Games diving off the cage onto Jacy Jayne and crashing through a table. Ever since this moment Cora has been entangled with Toxic Attraction, constantly fighting them and even her wargames partner Raquel. Stand and Deliver Cora stands across 3 people she has been trying to prove herself against from the start: Io Shirai and Kay Lee Ray, two of the most notorious women in NXT and NXT UK respectively, and Mandy Rose, who seems determined to prove that Cora is nothing but a child. Let’s hope that at Stand & Deliver, Cora shows that she belongs in this division and maybe will even have the championship to prove it. The second Pillar is Carmelo Hayes, and as I’m sure you’ve heard him say “He don’t miss”. Hayes signed with WWE in February of 2021, and debuted on tv in June accepting an open Challenge from Kushida catching the attention of.. well everyone. Hayes went on to sweep through the NXT Breakout tournament gaining him a match for the North American Championship against Santos Escobar. Hayes came up short against Escobar, however he earned his spot after another stellar performance.
With the help of Trick Williams and a new attitude, Hayes swung back less than 2 months later winning the North American Title from Swerve Scott. Hayes stands out amongst the fresh faces of 2.0 as he’s been wrestling since 2014. Since winning the NA Championship Melo has gone on to defeat Roderick Strong, absorbing the Cruiserweight title. Melo is on a warpath to prove that he is the “A-Champion”. At Stand & Deliver Melo faces his biggest challenge yet: A 5-man ladder match against Santos Escobar, Solo Sikoa, Grayson Waller & Cameron Grimes. Even if Melo loses his title this weekend, it won't be long before gold is around his waist again.
Finally The face of 2.0, Bron Breakker crashed onto the scene defeating LA Knight on the debut episode of NXT 2.0. The son and nephew of newly inducted Hall of Famer’s Rick and Scott Steiner. Breakker’s career path changed quickly after he was signed to the NFL’s Baltimore Raven’s for just a few months in 2020. A few short months later Breakker is working independent shows in his home state of Georgia.
Despite what people think Breakker’s first appearance on TV was as a zombie at the performance center during The Miz and Damian Priest’s Zombie Lumberjack Match. On the opening night of 2.0, Breakker defeats LA Knight and lets new NXT champion Tommaso Ciampa know that he’s going for the championship. In similar fashion to Carmelo Hayes, Breakker’s first attempt at gold is unsuccessful. Even in defeat Bron earned the respect of Ciampa. After a successful showing in War Games, Bron stands across Ciampa for a third time. New Year's Evil 2022 Bron Breakker becomes NXT Champion. From the moment Bron won the title there has been no shortage of roadblocks. Santos Escobar and Legado Del Fantasma were determined to regain gold by targeting the new champ. Breakker stood tall against Escobar with the help from a former rival: Tomasso Ciampa. Bron’s Title reign never felt like it had time to breathe, the moment they overcame Legado, in comes Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. During this feud Bron even got a spot on Monday Night Raw. Unfortunately for Bron, Ziggler was able to sneak out a victory stealing the NXT championship. Bron’s first run as champion felt like it never had a moment to breathe, there has always been someone interrupting or attacking him. In Wrestling, It’s all about the chase, and Bron is back to chasing the title from Dolph Ziggler facing him one on one at Stand & Deliver.
NXT 2.0 is filled with talent that I personally believe will be the stars of this industry in a few years. Cora Jade, Carmelo Hayes, and Bron Breakker are standouts amongst standouts. These 3 wrestlers have been consistently growing and improving in the ring and on the microphone. NXT Stand & Deliver will hopefully be a night- I mean afternoon filled with star making performances. These 3 are the pillars and foundation of the future of WWE.
Happy WrestleMania everyone!
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