NXTMania

Hello! Its another Wrestlemania Blog- and this one is fantasy booking to an extent. Its not exactly what you may think though, this is Wrestlemania 31 if there was an NXT Invasion and they took up exactly half the spots on the card. I'll be replacing the Half of the Match that I view as least important to the match and replacing them, with the exception of the Battle Royal which I've excluded just because there isn't enough NXT guys to make up that number of spots.

I've decided to keep the Babyface/Heel dynamics in all the singles

Pre-Show: The Usos v KiddSaro v The Dubstep Duo v The Lucha Dragons
I still view the Lucha Dragons as an NXT Team, despite their recent appearances on Main Event and the other secondary shows I don't consider someone to have been called up until they get a run on RAW (however short that run may be). NXT has a distinct lack of Tag Teams at the minute, which is weird considering at one point everyone in NXT was seemingly in a team; and the only teams on the roster are Team Skrillex, Team Macarena & Enzo & Big Cass- who I've saved for a spot in another match. It's perhaps fitting then that this match is on the Pre-Show because very little attention is being put on either Tag Division at the minute.

IC Title Ladder Match
Bad News Barrett v Daniel Bryan v Dean Ambrose v Dolph Ziggler v Hideo Itami v Tyler Breeze v Enzo Amore
I had the NXT side take the lesser side of the spots in the match for a number of reasons, but primarily I couldn't decided whether I'd have Dolph or Ambrose in the match- so I just decided to pick both of them. I've added in Itami, Breeze and Amore because they are pretty much at the IC Title Level in NXT Terms. Itami is someone who is world renowned- but he is yet to have the feud where he can really kick into high gear and go all out- which is pretty much IC Title level in NXT Terms. With that in mind it is perhaps unsurprising that the person who he recently feuded with is also in the match with Tyler Breeze also occupying a spot in the match, I've also got Enzo in the match- I was debating between Enzo and Big Cass- and then Bull Dempsey briefly but I eventually chose Enzo, but in the match I'd have Big Cass running interference a few times, similar to the way Rhyno did in one of the early TLC Matches- I'd even have Carmella have a spot in the match where she tries to climb the ladder and then someone (most likely Ziggler) pulls her down and does his "thang" with her before Enzo/Big Cass wipe him out. The bonus of having these three guys in the match is they're agile enough to pull off some great spots which is what Ladder Matches are renowned for- and I also picked these three because it makes Barrett the only true power guy in the match, so by default he'll be heavily involved because he'll be the base for a lot of the high-flying stuff.

Seth Rollins v Finn Balor 
Rollins/Balor is an interesting dynamic, and one I'd definitely like to see explored in the future. I see some similarities between Balor and Orton as well, in that they're a babyface but at the same time they have a dark-side; quite literally in Finn's case- and given its a Wrestlemania we'll be getting Balor's special entrance. It's also a match the majority of the crowd will appreciate with the background of Black/Devitt- and the obvious talent on show. 

Rusev v Baron Corbin
This is an "Unstoppable Force meets Immovable Object" type match- and if Corbin were a bit more developed its a match/feud that could have definitely happened while Rusev is undefeated. This match wouldn't have been the prettiest or the most technically sound- but if Fast Lane was anything to go by neither will the Rusev/Cena match. The beauty of this match would be the crowd wouldn't know who was going to lose- especially if it were up to me and they put a No DQ stipulation in and someone had to either be pinned or submit

The Bellas v Charlotte & Bayley
Like it or not the Bellas hold more value in the current WWE landscape than Paige & AJ. As such I had to have two babyfaces oppose her- and with the exception of Alexa Bliss Charlotte & Bayley are the only two Babyfaces on the Current NXT Womens Roster, and I thought they'd have a better dynamic than either of them with Bliss because they've played up their friendship- and the friendship tension storyline etc. already in NXT. Like it or not the Bellas are likely to go over for the "Total Divas" moment.

Sting v Kevin Owens
This would be great. Owens is the heel I can see becoming either the top heel on the Main Roster for quite a few years- or is someone Vince'll completely screw over once he gets to the Main Roster and he'll be stuck in Midcard hell. However, NXT Owens would be the perfect opposition for Sting in my opinion. It's perhaps unsurprising that Triple H has (reportedly) taken Owens under his umbrella down in NXT because I see a lot of similarities character wise between Owens and Triple H- combine that with the undoubted ability of Owens and it makes it a perfect pairing. 

The Undertaker v Adrian Neville
I was struggling for an opponent for Taker if I'm honest, I briefly had Corbin because he has a dark, brooding type gimmick but the match wouldn't have been good enough and lived up to the standard Taker matches have attained consistently for the last 10 Years with the exception of Last Years. As such I simply went back to the basic "Little & Large" combination that works because Taker will provide a good base for Neville to execute his highflying moves- but Neville is also a good enough grappler to provide adequate competition with Taker. With the utmost respect to Neville he could be the "spot monkey" in this match which would make the match a high-octane match, and then factoring in the almost unrivaled ring psychology of Taker makes this a near perfect pairing. 

Brock Lesnar v Sami Zayn
Sami Zayn is in a way the Daniel Bryan of NXT- so for a joke I was tempted to put him in the IC Title Ladder Match, but I'M A SERIOUS BOOKER DAMMIT! This is the match the actual Main Event is what a lot of people would argue should be. As with the Taker/Neville dynamic Brock will provide enough of a base for Zayn to do his acrobatic stuff- but more so in the case of this match these two can simply wrestle where necessary throughout the match. Zayn has had his best matches in WWE when there's been someone who can execute proper power moves- specifically when he faced Cesaro, so when you factor in the athletic ability of Brock this match would be top draw. 

This was just a bit of a fun blog, it is interesting to match up the NXT Roster to the Main and see where everyone slots in, in my mind. Of course there'll be differing opinions so I'll be happy to hear yours if you so wish to present it. 

Thanks for reading as always, this is yet another Mania Blog in case you were unaware I'm doing 31 Blogs for this Mania Week so have a look at the blogs I've already done this week and if one takes your fancy you should read it, no really... Read It..... READ IT.