Charlotte, Bayley and Latest WWE NXT Developmental News

Charlotte and Bayley, two of WWE NXT's top Divas, are both getting press this week.

A respected wrestling magazine gave the NXT women's champ a major award. As for Bayley, she's getting the reward of doing a good deed. She announced that she's leading the charge at a charity event in February. 

In other WWE developmental news, NXT will take its show northward for one night, Corey Graves gets extra work and Sasha Banks punched her time card far from Full Sail University. 

We begin a Diva-heavy batch of reports with the current queen of that division—Charlotte. 

Charlotte Wins Rookie of the Year Award

Charlotte can add another accolade to her still-growing resume. Pro Wrestling Illustrated (h/t Wrestling Inc) named her the Rookie of the Year.

She joins Veda Scott and Madusa Miceli (Alundra Blayze) as the only women to win that award. Charlotte's father took home the prize in 1975. 

The NXT women's champ has grown tremendously during her time with WWE developmental. With as quickly as she has grasped the ability to connect with the crowd, this honor from PWI will be far from the last one she will place on her mantle. 

NXT Announcer Already Getting a Promotion

Corey Graves is doing quite well for himself after stepping away from the ring. In December, he officially hung up his wrestling boots and became an announcer for NXT.

He's already got another gig on top of that.

As Jason Powell of ProWrestling.net noted, Graves worked the pre-show as a commentator before Monday's Raw. Graves is set to do it again next week as well. He tweeted, "Still buzzing from last night's #RawPreShow! Can't wait till next week. Still lots of work to do."

Graves has been a good listen during NXT's shows. He's clearly passionate about the business, which goes a long way to succeeding as an announcer.

He follows Renee Young and Tom Phillips as NXTers who went from developmental to the main roster.

NXT Expands Its Reach

Credit: WWE.com

Charlotte goes up against Alexa Bliss.

Fans outside of Florida and its neighboring states haven't had a chance to see NXT live and in-person until now. For the first time, NXT is putting on a show outside of the Southeast.

As PWInsider's Richard Trionfo notes, "NXT will have a show on March 5, 2015 at the Lifestyle Communities Pavilion in Columbus, Ohio."

That's smart timing for WWE as it's the same weekend that the Arnold Classic bodybuilding competition comes to Columbus and when Triple H will be inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame, per Pro Wrestling Torch.

Hopefully the event does well and WWE is inspired to have NXT travel more often. It doesn't need to go on the road regularly, but it would be a special treat for wrestling fans far from NXT's home base. 

Bayley Leading Team at Charity Event

Credit: WWE.com

Bayley

Bayley is going to be bringing some smiles to folks outside of the wrestling ring. She, along with several other NXT prospects, will be participating in the 2015 Special Olympics Florida Polar Plunge.

She tweeted the announcement on Jan. 13, writing, "Gonna hug some water. Also...I'm the Captain!"

The annual fundraiser has volunteers team up with Special Olympics athletes. Donors give money for the privilege of dunking people like Bayley into a chilled pool.

WWE has long had a relationship with the Special Olympics. NXT, in particular, has worked with them often as of late.

Other Notes, News

Credit: WWE.com

Sasha Banks in control of Alexa Bliss.

Who WWE chooses from NXT to work house shows and dark matches is a good sign of who will soon get a call-up to the main roster.

Most recently, those opportunities have gone to Tyler Breeze and Sasha Banks. Per ProWrestling.net, Breeze worked against Darren Young on the Jan. 10 house show in Sacramento, California. Banks also competed in a six-Diva tag match that night.

Banks had more main-roster work ahead of her. As listed on ProFightDB.com, Banks took on Paige before Tuesdays' Main Event aired. 

While it's obvious with how WWE has booked her that Charlotte is headed for a promotion, these continued chances amid the roster proper point to Banks being right behind her.

When Breeze, Banks and company appear on NXT again, it will be on a different night and time. As Pro Wrestling Torch notes, the show is starting in its new slot. This week's show will air on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET.