The Best WWE Men’s NXT Champion Bracket

On this episode I’ll be doing a bracket on who I think was the best men’s NXT champion in WWE. If you have any questions or any other bracket ideas for me please message me on my email smackdownwithmario@gmail.com. 

Transcript

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What's up, everybody? Welcome back to another episode of the SmackDown with Mario. I am your host, Mario Hobson, and today I'm gonna be doing another bracket. And this bracket is gonna be who was the best men's NST champion, or who I think was. Um they had a lot of good champions back in the black and go era days. People like Drew McIntyre, Seth Rollins, Bobby Rude, you know, people like that. Um the black and go era was a good time in NST, like it was like one of the best times. Um they was uh actually keeping WWE, you know, you know, making them look good, because you know, like around what's 2016, 2017, 18, Raw and SmackDown wasn't really good, but everybody loved the black and gold NST. They was actually yeah, they was way better than Raw and SmackDown sometimes. Like it was like like people from the Indies would rather like go to NST than go to um Raw and SmackDown because Raw and SmackDown just wasn't good, and Basic McMahon he didn't know what he was doing around those times, so everybody would rather go and work with Triple H random time. Um right now I'm just I'm I'm just blabbing. Let me uh let's get to this bracket. Um and on this bracket we have a total of 28 people, so uh Lesband, I guess a total of 28 people that's been the men's NST champion. Um we got everybody on there. Um everybody that's been champion, even the champion today, which I think is Tony D'Angelo. NST now is nothing like the black and gold era back in the day. Um it's really not good now. Um Shawn Michaels is not doing a good job over there to me. Um I just wish it would go back to how it was when they had like a lot of indie people that was recruiting and stuff. Now I think they're getting like people from college, athletes from college, giving them um NIL deals with the WWE. So I don't know. I just wish they would get people who are like who already had experience wrestling and not people who has none and you know have to start from day one. But I that's the direction they went with, so uh I guess it's the way they're gonna keep going. But like I said, let's get to this uh bracket, 28 people, and once again, like the last bracket I did, they gave uh this bracket is random, by the way, it's completely random. I put the names in, hit the random button, it's random. But the thing with it is um they gave four people buys from the first round, and those four people, I had nothing to do with this, by the way. Like I said, it's random. Those four people is uh Tommaso Champa, Ilya Dragonoff, Alistair Black, and Bo Dallas. Um so they gave them a bye, had nothing to do with it. I mean, it's not a big problem to me. Hopefully, it's not a problem to y'all. Um if you have bracket ideas or questions for me or anything like that, um you can send them to my email, smackdown with Mario at gmail.com. It will be in the descriptions. Um questions, anything like that. I will do them at the end of every episode if I get any. I haven't gotten so far, so I won't be doing none of this, but hopefully one day I will. And if I do, I will be doing them at the end of the show. And if I get any ideas that I like, I will uh make an episode out of it. So, okay, here we go. Let's start with this bracket. First round, we got Adrian Neville versus Ricky Saints. Okay, to me, this is pretty easy. Um, Ricky Saints was more of a transitional champion. He didn't really do nothing with the belt that I saw. I wasn't I'll be honest, when he had the belt, I'm I wasn't really watching NST at the time, which is like now kind of uh so I don't really know what he did with it. I don't think he had it long. Uh I was watching it more when Adrian Nebel had the belt, and uh from what I remember, he was a pretty good champion um over at NST. Uh he had robberies with Sami Zayn and uh Bo Dallas and all of them over there. It was a it was a pretty good time. It wasn't deep into the black and gold area, but it was I think he was a pretty good uh champion at the time. He was a he's really great in the ring, as we all know. Uh even now uh over at AEW, he's pretty good. Uh he always been great in the ring, and I think he was a pretty okay champion. He was a better champion than Ricky Saints. I say I'll tell you that much. So uh Adrian Neville goes on to the next round. Next, we got Kevin Owens versus Dolph Zittler. Um Dolph Zittler, once again, he didn't hold the belt long. I know he was he wasn't even there long. He was just in a robbery with Braun Breaker. Um, so he was a transitional jump. I think that he beat Braun and then like not too long after that, Braun beat him back for the belt. So I don't really know. It was kind of a weird situation. But Kevin Owens, I think he um did he not win the belt when um uh he faced John Cena for the US or United States Championship. Um I can't remember if he was a double champ or not, but uh I don't think he had the belt long, but I know that robbery he had with Sammy's Aina NST was good when he had the belt. So with that being said, I think I have to give it to Kevin Owens. So Kevin Owens will move to the next round. Next we got Braun Breaker versus Adam Cole. Uh Braun Breaker uh was a champion at a weird time. That's when Vince had took over. When Bron Breaker became the uh NST champion. That's when they did the NST 2.0, which wasn't that good. I don't think Bron Breaker was a bad champion at all, but the the way that Vince had did NST with the time was not good. But Adam Cole, he was a great champion. Him in the Undisputed area was like very good. And um I don't think nobody would disagree with me when I say that Adam Cole was a better champion than Brian Breaker was because at the time uh when he was champion, NST was at with his was at its peak. He carried like that uh black and gold uh era at that time. So to me, I think Adam Cole was a better champion. So Adam Cole will move on to the next round. If you disagree with me, send uh let me know. Let me know. Just send questions, send anything to the email that I have in the description, please. Next, we got Oba Femi versus Big E. Two big guys, okay. Um Big E, when he won it, I think he won from Seth Rollins. Um, I don't think he had the belt long until he lost it. Um but Oba Femi Um He was a great champion, he was a dominant champion up until like they had him lose weirdly to Ricky Saints and then win it back. I don't uh that was weird to me. But with that being said, I just think Oba Femi was a better champion than Big E. Because I don't even remember Big E run like that. I just know he won for himself. But Oba Femi, he was a dominant champion, and I yeah, I just yeah, he was a better champion than Big E. So he moves on to the next round. Okay, next we got Karrion Cross versus Johnny Gargano. Um this is pretty rough because I both of them was a pretty good champions or in it NST. Um I think both of I think I would give the edge to Carrion because I think he won it more times. I can't remember if he won it two or three times. Um he was a multiple-time NST champion. Regarde, he only won it once, I believe, if I'm uh if I'm not mistaken. Um Beyondest, I remember Carrion's more than Johnny. Um I think Johnny was that with that group, the way, with uh Austin Theory, his wife, and um and that one girl, I can't remember her name. Um, but I think Carrion Cross had a better run with the championship than Johnny did. So uh Carrion Cross moves on to the next round. With that being said, next we got uh Joe Henry versus Finn Bowler. Again, Joe Hendry. I wasn't really watching that time. I was keeping up with it a little bit with NFC nowadays. I do I watch highlights and stuff, and I don't think he was champion for long. They just gave him the belt. Uh I think he's on raw now, actually. He just lost the belt and now he's on raw. And I think uh, like I said, he was a transitional champion. He wasn't gonna be that long. They knew he wasn't gonna be there long, so they just gave him the belt. And um he just lost it to Tony D'Angelo in that um, I think it was a triple-threat match, if I'm not mistaken, or fade or four away, or something like that. But Finn Balor, I think he was a three-time NST champion, and I think all his runs was better than Joe Hendry, because a lot of Joe Hendry, I it was a short run, it wasn't really it didn't really mean anything. So with that being said, uh Finn Balor, I might have to give um the win to Finn Balor in this round. So he goes on to the second round. Uh okay. Next we got Sami Zayn versus Keith Leaf. Um it's pretty hard. Um Sami Zayn did so much for NST at like the beginning stages. Um he was at the heart and soul for NST for like a little bit. Like it was, yeah. Um great wrestler. I think he was a great champion. Him and that robbery Kevin Owens was amazing. But Keith Lee, he had a really good run. I love his run. He actually was a double champion, he was um NST champion and the North American champion. So I think with him like being a double champion, that kind of gives like to me gives him the edge. So y'all might disagree with me with this, but I'm gonna say Keith Leaf had a better championship run than Sami Zayn in NST. So Keith Leaf goes on to the second round. Next we got Ethan Page versus Seth Rollins. Um it's kind of hard. Um, because Seth Rollins didn't have the belt long before he went up to WWE. Ethan Page didn't really have it long. Um, and again, y'all might disagree with me on this one, but um only reason that I'm uh give it to this guy is because I think he won the belt like three months, like probably not even that long, two or three months when he first got to NST, and that was Ethan Page. Um, I know, but then I then y'all don't know because Seth Rollins was the first champion. So should I give him the edge for being the first ever NST champion? Huh. It's kind of tough. Um, you know what? Seth Rollins one of my favorite wrestlers. I can I'm gonna be a little biased here since he was the first NST champion. I'm gonna go ahead and get him the edge on that one. Um, so Seth Rollins moves on to the second round. Next we got Carmelo Hayes versus Sinske Nakamura. Um the robberies he had with Samoan Joe, I think Bobby Roode and all of them was crazy. Uh Carmelo Hayes, he had the he had the belt multiple times as well, if I'm not mistaken. Um he had good robberies with Chip Williams and uh Ilya Jagronoff and stuff like that. But like I said, the black and gold era was like like the best era, and those matches that Sinsky Nakamura had with Samoa Joves and uh uh Bobby Rude and like all them other people was like five-star matches. So I'm sorry, but I have to get this to Shinsuke Nakamura just because like those matches he had while he was a champion was crazy. Alright. Next we got a pretty easy one because we got Bobby Rude versus Tony D'Angelo. Bobby Rude, I think he won it at the time he was he held it for the longest. I don't know if he still holds that reign or not as the longest NST um champion. I think Oba somebody might have beat him. I'm not 100% sure. Maybe Keith Lee didn't beat him, but he had a great run with it. And Tony D'Angelo he just won the belt, so he ain't really did nothing with it yet. So we're gonna go ahead and move uh Bobby Root over to the second round. Next we got another pretty easy one that I think anyway. Um Samoa Joe versus Trick Williams. Um Chip Williams Um he was uh he was like one of the bright sides of NST like just a couple years ago, like where everything else was like not good, like Trick Williams, his promos, his what he did in the ring, like he he was the bright side of NST for a minute after all the good people had left. Um but uh the black and go era, like nobody can beat that. And like uh Samoa Joe was just I think he was a multiple-time uh NST champion as well. Um so I just think that Samoa Joe had a better run at the uh better run with the NFT championship than Trick Williams did. So with that being said, Samo Joe moves on to the second round. Next, and this is the last matchup in the first round, is Drew McIntyre versus Andrande. Now this one's tough. This one's tough. Um in my opinion, um Andrade, um when Drew Beck came back and won, it was a big moment. But I think that Andrade had a better reign than he did. Um him and Selena, like that pair was like perfect. Um Andrade he made a name for himself in NST. Like he was I don't know, that run he had with the NST Championship was was great. Um so I'm gonna I'm gonna have to say to me, Andrade had a better NST um championship run than Drew McIntyre. So I'm gonna put Andrade over to the second round. With that being said, now it was time for the uh second round, and we got somebody that had a bye in the first was Tommaso Champa versus Adrian Neville. Um Tommaso was a great champion. Um Adrian was a good champion, but if I was to say um who had a better reign as the champion, um I would have to say Tommaso did had better matches than Adrian did. I mean, not saying Adrian wasn't like uh bad in the ring or anything, but he hasn't good matches with Sami Zayn, but uh Tommaso Chappa with Goldie, uh yeah, and plus those matches with Johnny Gograno, yeah. I think that Tommaso Ciampa had a better uh NST championship rate than Adrian Neville. So Tommaso moves on to the third round. Next we got pretty hard one uh Kevin Owens versus Adam Cole. Um I think what's gonna put Adam Cole to me uh over the edge is the fact that he held it longer and that he was long uh there in the NST longer than Kevin Owens. Kevin Owens was a transitional champion as well. Like he wasn't there long, not too long after he won the NST championship. He was already in the main roster fighting John Cena. So the fact that, you know, uh Adam Cole held it longer and he was there longer, and uh I would say that he was a better champion, uh, NST champion if that than Kevin Owens was. So uh Adam Cole goes on to the next round. Next we got somebody that had a buy in the first round, which was Ilya Draganoff, uh him versus Oba Femi. Um Dragonoff, I know you had some good fights with Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams, but um I think Oba Femi had a better run to the championship than uh Ilya did. It's the way he was dominant the whole time, except when that crazy stuff with uh Ricky Saints to the point where which was weird because they tried to erase it kind of because they had like Oba win his last match in NST for the belt, and then like the the next episode of NST he just like relinquished it, like just gave it up as if he hasn't lost it before. I don't know. It was just to me that was just weird, but I think that Oba Femi was a better or had a better run with the NST championship than Ilya Jurgonoff. So Oba Femi goes on to the next round. This one got a pretty hard one to me. Um we got Kenyon Cross versus Spin Balor. Um yeah, this is pretty rough. Um I think Carrion Cross had carried it over to the point where they was on NST 2.0. But I think um to me, and you might disagree to me, Finn Balor had a better run with the NST championship than Carrion Cross to me. Um, yeah, that's just my opinion. I think people agree with me on that. I think I think people think that Finn Balor had a better run than Karrion Cross. Uh so I'm gonna put Finn Balor over to the next round. Alright. Next we got um somebody else who had a buy in the first round, Alistair Black versus Keith Lee. Um it's a pretty tough one too. Um I think Aleister Black had that to me a five-star match with Andrade when he was the NST champion. Um Keith Lee was a good champion as well. Um the battles we had with um Adam Cole and stuff, it's pretty good. Um who was a better champion though? Should I give the edge to Keith Lee because he was a double champ? I don't think in this matter I can because it because it wasn't like Alistair Black was not a good NST champion at all. Like, so let's see. Y'all might disagree with me, but I'm going to say Alistair Black had a better NST run than Keith Lee. So Alistair Black goes on to the next round. Okay. Now we got Seth Rollins versus Sinsky Nakomura. Um okay, I was biased with Seth Rollins last time, but this time I can't be, because obviously Since K, all those five-star matches he had over there in the NST when he was a champion or fighting for the championship, whatever, he had a better run than Seth Fallen. So Sanskrit goes on to the next round. That was pretty easy. Next, we got somebody else who had to buy, which was Bo Dallas versus Bobby Roode. Um Bo Dallas was an okay champion. Um that whole Bo Lee stuff he was doing was good. Uh the matches he had with Neville and Sami Zayn, the robberies, that was good. But that year run that Bobby Roo had was incredible. Bobby Roo, I don't know how come they couldn't make that work when he caught up to the main roster. His whole gimmick and everything was like amazing. And that whole year he had the belt was amazing. His mic skills was amazing, he was great in the ring, his insurance was incredible. Um I'm gonna have to give it to Bobby Roode on this one. He was a better NST champion than Bo Dallas was. So Bobby Roode moves on to the next round. Next, this last uh matchup in the second round, we got Samoa Joe versus Adrade. Um as much as I say Adrade had a a great run. I don't think his run was nowhere near better than uh Drade was uh run was no better nowhere near as good as Samojo's. Um so with that being said, I think Samojo goes on to the next round because yeah, the matches that Samojo had, it was it was crazy. I already know how this is gonna end already. This is gonna be fucking crazy. But uh Samojo goes on to the next round. Um third round the Elite Eight. Let's go. Tommaso Champa versus Adam Cole. This is a tough one as well. But if I was to be honest, and I think a lot of y'all would agree, I think Adam Cole had a better NST run with the championship than Tommaso Ciampa. Um had better matches than Tommaso Chappa did. I know I'm not saying that he didn't have no good matches, but Adam Cole had better matches. Yeah, um to me, I think he was just an overall better NST champion than um Tommaso Chapa. Um I know Tommaso had a good uh run with it with the whole Goldie and all this stuff. His entrance was incredible, and ring work was incredible, but the whole Undisputed Era that Adam Cole had with um uh Cal O'Reilly, Bobby Fish, and Roger Strong, like that. Yeah, uh Undisputed Era was like a great time in NST, so I'm gonna have to go with Adam Cole. Alright. Next we got Oba Femi versus Finn Balor. Alright. I would say this is tough, but honestly, to me, it's not. I think I'm being a little biased because I like the black and gold brand more than anything, which I'm pretty sure everybody else does. Anybody that's watched NST for a long time, everybody say the black and gold era was the best time. Um and it's that's it was nothing to do, or it was not Oba Fini's uh fault, the way he was booked and whatever. He was a great champion, he was a dominant champion, but some of the matches wasn't all that good. Um, I think Finn Balor had a better NFT run with the championship. Well, one of the three champ uh runs anyway uh was better than Oba Femi. So I have to give Finn Balor the win in this one. So he goes on to the next round. Next we got Alistair Black versus Sinskate Nakamura. Um this is pretty easy to me as well. Alistair Black, he was a great champion, don't get me wrong, but he was not a better champion than Sinke Nakamura. I don't think nobody would disagree with me on that. So I'm gonna have to put Sinke Nakamura over to the next round. Last matchup in the third round of Bobby Root versus Samoa Joe. Now, this is tough. This is real tough. As much as Bobby Roo run with the belt for that year, he had it was great. I do not think that he had a better run than Samoa Joe. I know Samoa Joe had like two runs with it, but that run he had with the um when he had the belt when he was fighting like um the matches with Sisk and Nakamura, I think Finn Balor as well, those matches he was having with them. I'm sorry. I think those five-star matches he was having to just put some over the edge because to me that was five-star. I think even um Dave Messler might have given him five-star as well, but I'm gonna say some Mojo was a better, uh, had a better NST run with the championship than Bobby Root. So he moves on to the next round. Now we're down to the final four. Who do I think was the or who was the best uh NST champion? I'll find out. Alright. First matchup in the final four, Adam Cole versus Finn Balor. This is tough. Yeah, I know y'all gonna disagree with me on this. But to me, I'm gonna have to say Adam Cole had a better run than Finn Balor. To me, I I just I'm I'm sorry. It's how it is for me. I think that Adam Cole had a better run with the NST Championship than Van Balor. So I'm gonna have to put Adam Cole over to the final round. Now we got probably the toughest one out of all of them. Uh Sinske Nakamura versus Samojo. This is this is tough. Um I don't know how to break it down to tell which one because they both was like incredible champions, so um man, who do I think was the better NST champion? You know what? To me, and y'all might disagree, I know I keep saying that, but I know somebody probably like yeah, this man is crazy, and the way he put him over him, but I gotta do it. I have to tell you, I have to say that Sinse Nakamura was a better NST champion than some old Joe. So with that being said, Since goes on to the final round, and now in the final round, we got Adam Cole versus Sinsei Nakamura. Who do I think was the best the better NST champion out of these two? I'm gonna have to say Sinke Nakamura. Yeah, to me, it's my opinion, Sinke Nakamura was the greatest NST champion of all time. Yeah. Some people might say that I'm right, some people might say I'm crazy, but that's just what I think. Um I think Wednesday I'm gonna do another episode, um, and I'm gonna do the Who's the Best NST women's champion of all time? That's gonna be tough too, because you have people like Charlotte, Paige, Bailey, Sasha, uh, Oscar. I think that one's gonna be tougher than this one. Um, but I will be back Wednesday with another episode. Um send questions in. Send uh brackets in. I'll do a Mount Rushmore of anything. I'll do um any question you uh want to send in. I'll I'll do it on my shows at the end of the shows. I will answer any question. Just send them in at um at my email at smackdownwithemario at gmail.com. I will put it in the description. Um I guess that will do it for this show today. Since Kenakamura is the winner, I think he was the greatest NST champion of all time. You might disagree with me, but that's just what I think. Uh until next time, I will see y'all again. I will see y'all again Wednesday, hopefully Wednesday, if nothing goes wrong. Um I will put that episode out for you guys. Thanks for listening. Please follow me on any platform that you are listening to this on. Um, I will try to do episodes as as quickly as I can. Um but like I said, thanks for listening. Please follow me on any platform you uh are listening to this on. Uh and I will see y'all again Wednesday. Bye.