Stock Up, Stock Down for WWE NXT Prospects for Week of May 12

As NXT Takeover nears, WWE prospects whose stock improved the most during the past week are mostly familiar names.

Mojo Rawley, Tyler Breeze and The Ascension showcased new weapons. These wrestlers have already shown off their biggest strengths, but after Thursday's NXT they provided a peek at other skills that will get them closer to a call-up.

Adam Rose already resides on the main roster and Bo Dallas is set to join him.

The wrestlers mentioned above took the most significant steps to joining Rose and Dallas, standing out in the increasingly crowded world that is WWE developmental.

The Ascension—Stock Up

Against Buddy Murphy and Elias Sampson, the contest was typical of Ascension matches: a one-sided steamrolling.

There was an added energy to their bout this time, though. Bouncing into the ring before the bell, Viktor and Konnor managed to ramp up the crowd more than usual. 

The Ascension exuded swagger as they battled with an extra snap in their slams. After beating down the latest team to step in front of them, the duo grabbed the mic.

Konnor's short speech was solid, but Viktor's mic time was especially attention grabbing. He growled "bring us something new to destroy" in a guttural tone. Paired with an aggressive delivery, it made for a memorable moment.

Being able to scare folks without fighting makes The Ascension more valuable.

Kalisto and El Local then challenged them, which led to an official Tag Team title bout for NXT Takeover being set. The matchup will be one of the champions' biggest tests, a lengthier match that will show us how these two look when telling a less truncated story. 

Alexa Bliss—Stock Down

Bliss showed flashes of why she will be a significant addition to the Divas division, but she also displayed her rawness. 

In her match against Charlotte, she followed up bursts of athleticism with awkward sequences. She seemed hesitant when going for the schoolboy and slapped on one of the weakest sleeper holds you will ever see—her arm hung a good six inches away from Charlotte's neck.

The flow of the match stuttered at times. It's hard to know how much of that blame belongs to either competitor, but it looked as though it was Bliss who wasn't as crisp and confident as Charlotte.

She's still a rookie, though, so a bit of stumbling is no surprise.

She comes off as passionate about what she's doing in the ring. That, along with her quickness, is going to help keep her around long enough to improve her mat game.

Aiden English—Stock Even

Against Rawley, English followed another good singing performance with a match filled with forearm smashes to the back. "The Drama King" was entertainingly aggressive, but he didn't do anything we haven't seen from him before.

Credit: WWE.com

His match against Sheamus remains his peak so far.

As other prospects continue to add to their resume, English is going to need to put in more performances like his aforementioned bout with the Irishman. He's been strong in the ring but hasn't stood out as much as NXT's top names.

He needs to work on being as much of a showman between the ropes as he is before the bell.

Mojo Rawley—Stock Up

English's opponent on Thursday's NXT made the bigger jump between the two.

Rawley remains behind English for now, but he has the higher ceiling and showed fans glimpses of that in this bout. His strengths are his speed and athletic ability, which he better translated into an in-ring story against English.

This was one of Rawley's longer matches, and he did well with the extended ring time.

Credit: WWE.com

He wobbled in the corner, selling the intensity of the match. He rolled around in the ring in a manner reminiscent of the Junkyard Dog. His crossbody in the middle of the match was noteworthy as well—a combination of power and agility that will make Rawley someone to watch going forward. 

He looked gassed at times, which may just have been him selling English's offense, but WWE is certainly going to want to see how the big man performs in lengthier contests.

Angelo Dawkins—Stock Down

In his defense, the booking of the match gave Dawkins only the briefest chance to go on the offense.

Credit: WWE.com

Colin Cassady was supposed to be the star here, dominating Dawkins, even as CJ Parker came out to distract him with a protest sign. Given minimal opportunities, he failed to entice. He is a fantastic athlete, but he lacks electricity in the ring.

He tried to get folks going with a pre-bout dance, which did work to a point.

One of his only bits of offense, a dropkick to Cassady's chin, was several steps below the gorgeous version of the move that Dolph Ziggler, Curtis Axel and others hand out. He's going to have to make a single move like that something that gets fans to take notice.

WWE is clearly not going to give him much of a share of the limelight.

Tyler Breeze—Stock Up

Before Breeze was a huge part of an excellent Triple Threat in the main event of Thursday's NXT, he delivered his best promo to date. He turned the volume up on his snobbishness, insulting Tyson Kidd with a most creative line about Canada being a "country full of Michael Ceras."

He doesn't often get to speak that long and did well with the added mic time.

He did just as well in the ring. At times, he crawled on the mat in pain. His anger, focus and grimacing were all realistic, boosting the quality of the action.

Sami Zayn and Kidd will get plenty of attention because they provided the match's stunt-like moves, but, surprisingly, Breeze was the glue. He added grit and realism, something that seems strange to say given his outlandish ways.

This was not Breeze's apex, but another high-quality match on an increasingly impressive resume.