With Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks all now full time members of WWE’s Diva division, NXT has been left with a big void since these three ladies joined the main roster. The next wave of NXT women are being positioned to fill the gap, but do these women have the same potential to be big stars of NXT and eventually the main roster? Let’s take a look.

Bayley

People familiar with my Bayley profile will know my feelings on the current NXT Women’s Champion. She has been positioned as the triumphant underdog champion and it remains to be seen how she will cope with being the top female in the division once her feud with Sasha ends at October’s TakeOver, considering her character may be more suited to chasing the title rather than holding it.

That being said, she is crazy over with the NXT crowd, both for her character and her in-ring abilities, though she may encounter problems recreating her good performances against lesser experienced women depending on who she battles post-TakeOver: Respect. If given the right opponent she may continue to flourish at the top end of the Women’s division, however if she is placed in a feud with an inexperienced woman like Dana Brooke or Eva Marie, Bayley might have an uphill struggle to keep her run of great matches going.

Emma

With Emma now a heel since rejoining NXT after her pointless main roster face run, she seems like the most logical opponent for Bayley to face once her feud with Sasha ends. She is a talented wrestler and her new “too cool for school” mean girl routine with Dana Brooke is a refreshing change of pace for the young Aussie.
Whether she gets a chance to feud full-time with the NXT champion following TakeOver remains to be seen, as WWE seems to be going with a different choice than Emma, but I believe she is the most qualified to get the best out of Bayley if they were to feud when TakeOver is done. She is more than capable of having a solid match with Bayley and her character could have great chemistry with NXT’s resident hugger.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKR3M74QXXg

Dana Brooke

She is one of the names touted by many wrestling pundits as next in-line for a title shot once Bayley gets past Banks at TakeOver. Dana is very much still in her learning phase in NXT and looks far too inexperienced to be trusted in such a position, both in an acting sense and as a wrestler.
While I believe she has a long road to travel before she can fill the shoes of Lynch and Banks, she is slowly and steadily moving on the right track. She only made her TV debut a year ago and she has steadily improved in that time. She has a marketable look that WWE obviously likes, she is very athletic and with the right attention and attitude, she could be the next Trish Stratus if she keeps learning her craft.

Eva Marie

The most hated woman in wrestling. Everyone knows who she is and why she is being pushed, so I’ll try to focus on what I’ve seen so far in between the ropes. Her wrestling skills make Dana Brooke look like A.J. Styles and she isn’t ready to have the rocket strapped to her back, even though it’s most likely already there. I’d actually love to see her improve; her character could be a great throwback, old-school heel.

Sadly, she doesn’t seem to have the right attitude behind the scenes to become a decent wrestler, and I feel she would be better served as an on-screen manager than an actual competitor. She seems destined for the main roster sooner rather than later and I fear she will set the Divas Revolution back even further when she arrives on RAW.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH33z8EikMg

Asuka

She will bring something completely different to the NXT women’s division. If she is allowed to work her own style, an arsenal of vicious kicks and painful submission holds, she will bring a breath of fresh air to Full Sail University. From a wrestling standpoint she has all of the tools to be thrust into the main event scene and is more than capable of delivering a high quality match.

How she settles into WWE is one big question, and how they chose to use her is another, but seeing how Hideo Itami was handled prior to his injury, along with her initial introduction, gives me high hopes that WWE will use her correctly, in NXT at least. The sky’s the limit in terms of how successful she can be.

Nia Jax

While her vignettes have been playing on NXT since the Brooklyn show, it’s too early to tell how exactly she’ll be used. Considering she’s getting vignette time they must have some high hopes for her being the next female bulldozer character.

Her size and stature obviously make her stand out compared to other females on the roster. She draws obvious comparisons to Chyna, Awesome Kong and the dreaded Tamina, it’s possible that she could be pushed strong straight out of the gate. She’s still pretty inexperienced, but she’s been working against Bayley on some NXT live events, so it’s possible that she could be plonked into a feud with the NXT champion soon enough.

Alexa Bliss

Alexa Bliss has been used perfectly since teaming with Blake and Murphy, so much so that she outperforms her men in the same way Sunny outperformed the Body Donnas. Prior to her heel turn, I was worried about her chances of success, but she has embraced the change beautifully and she has excelled as the queen-like valet which has given her a much needed personality lift.

She’s rough around the edges in the ring, and way off being on par with Emma or Bayley, but as a wrestling personality she has grown a good deal since the start of the summer. While I don’t think she’s ready for the upper echelon of the women’s division just yet, she has the potential to be a highlight of the NXT female roster in the coming months with some improvements in the ring.

Carmella

She’s been used wisely as a valet for Enzo and Cass, a team which has always seemed like a natural fit, but I wouldn’t hold my breath thinking she will ever be more than that in WWE. Her matches aren’t great and her gimmick does nothing for me.

I’m happy with her being a valet and even jobber to the female stars in NXT, but that, sadly, is all she can hope for.

Blue Pants

While her gimmick is over and it’s fun to a degree, I don’t see a bright future for Blue Pants. She’s fine in the enhancement talent role, but while others feel she has potential to be just as big an underdog as Bayley, these thoughts won’t come to fruition. Her cult popularity will only take her so far and I don’t see enough in-ring ability to warrant any sort of push.
At 32 years-old, she’s on the wrong side of 25 to get a worthwhile push in WWE, therefore she’s clearly not the future of WWE, but I’m happy to see her continue her enhancement talent work and hopefully obtain Brooklyn Brawler heights of jobber popularity.

Peyton Royce

Following in the footsteps of her fellow Australian, Emma, Peyton Royce is a new recruit to NXT after being signed following a tryout on WWE’s Australian tour in 2014. Royce has the potential to develop into a star in the same way Emma could with the right handling. She’s very young and still very raw in her development, so it may be years before we know if WWE can harness her talent.

It’s far too early to tell how successful she may be judging by her first two outings on WWE TV, however she does show good athleticism and movement to suggest she’s on the right track. I say give her a year and we may have a better picture of her potential.

Billie Kay

Just like Royce, Billie Kay was signed off of a tryout from WWE’s Australian tour. However, Billie Kay is far more experienced than Royce, with Kay having a 7-year run in SHIMMER prior to being signed in which she built up a fantastic résumé.

She, like Royce, is at the bottom end of the card, but she has the ability and talent to move up the ranks quicker than her fellow countrywoman, and, if given the right program, she could potentially be a bigger player in NXT in the year to come.

Athena

I’m sure I’m shocking no one by placing Athena here. By now it’s no secret that she has signed to WWE. I fully expect her to get similar treatment and hype as Asuka and Nia Jax when the time comes to debut, and WWE have a very talented lady on there hands. With her great athletic look and a fantastic skill set, she is definitely one to get excited about.

With an already-packed CV to her name from her time with SHIMMER, Anarchy Championship Wrestling and Women’s Superstars Uncensored, she has the ability to be the next big thing in NXT if given the chance. If needed, she could easily fill the void left by Banks and company. Definitely one to look out for in the coming months.