WWE NXT Big Board: Updated Prospect Rankings and Analysis for October 8

The excellence of Wednesday's NXT TakeOver: Respect show went beyond the masterpiece Sasha Banks and Bayley crafted at Full Sail University. WWE scouts had to be thrilled at the number of prospects who hit new peaks or showed impressive progress.

Tyler Breeze had his best one-on-one match to date. Baron Corbin looked like the beast WWE wants him to be. And Dana Brooke looked far from out of place opposite the women's division's newest star.

Each of those performers is journeying in the right direction.

Brooke made it clear that the women's division is deeper than most think. Breeze's big moment brings up questions about what's ahead for him. Can he push his way into NXT's top rung?

The following is a look at where The Gorgeous One and his peers sit in terms of the list of the most viable main-roster prospects. Size, look, gimmick, charisma, mic skills and ring work all factor into the rankings. 

Male Wrestlers

Rank	Wrestler	Height/Weight	Notes
1.	Finn Balor	5'11'', 190 lbs	Excellent showman, highly marketable, "it" factor aplenty, top-notch athlete.
2.	Samoa Joe	6'2'', 279 lbs	Skilled use of facial expressions, stellar presence, versatile in the ring.
3.	Sami Zayn	6'1'', 205 lbs	Superb showman, fun move set, great crowd connection, inconsistent talker.
4.	Apollo Crews	6'1'', 240 lbs	Out-of-this-world athleticism, highly likable, great energy, needs character depth.
5.	Tyler Breeze	6'0'', 190 lbs	Excelling with gimmick, good showmanship, questions about whether he has hit his ceiling.
6.	Colin Cassady	6'10'', 276 lbs	Good movement for big man, intense, strong connection with crowd.
7.	Baron Corbin	6'8'', 275 lbs	Starting to make use of potential, strong presence, excellent look.
8.	Jason Jordan	6'3'', 245 lbs	Explosive, great power, good presence.
9.	Hideo Itami	5'9'', 182 lbs	Showing more charisma, making progress as mic worker, electric in the ring.
10.	Solomon Crowe	5'10'', 207 lbs	Excellent striker, good aggression, strong mic work, character in limbo at the moment.
11.	Simon Gotch	6'1'', 221 lbs	Continues to work gimmick into move set, fun ring work, good presence.
12.	Bull Dempsey	6'2'', 300 lbs	Gimmick holding him back, strong brawler, skilled talker when serious.
13.	Tye Dillinger	6'3'', 223 lbs	Excelling with current gimmick, good showmanship, smooth ring work.
14.	Chad Gable	5'8'', 187 lbs	Growing connection with crowd, showing more personality, top-notch technical skills.
15.	Scott Dawson	5'10'', 224 lbs	Excellent in-ring psychology, strong brawler, solid ring work, lacks presence as a talker.
16	Aiden English	6'3'', 215 lbs	Good showmanship, solid charisma, average in the ring.
17.	Enzo Amore	5'11'', 200 lbs	Unimpressive ring work, funny, charismatic, better suited for manager role.
18.	Dash Wilder	5'10'', 222 lbs	Strong tag team work, good striker, below-average on the mic.
19.	Blake	6'1'', 240 lbs	Solid athlete, inconsistent ring work, so-so presence.
20.	Mojo Rawley	6'4'', 290 lbs	One-dimensional gimmick, raw in the ring, big energy, good athlete.

Prospects just outside the top 20: Sawyer Fulton, Steve Cutler

Is Tyler Breeze's Best Good Enough?

Against Apollo Crews at TakeOver: Respect, Breeze was the most compelling he has been in the ring since the Fatal 4-Way for the NXT title last September.

He was nasty on offense, attacking Crews with ferocity, wearing a look of disdain the whole time. His strikes had great snap. He pulled out yet another new move from his arsenal, clamping on the Sharpshooter to try to get his foe to tap out.

When it was Crews' time to go on the attack, Breeze continued to thrive.

He sold a kick to the head like he had been hit with Triple H's sledgehammer. The way it looked like he was seeing cartoon stars bolstered that moment.

This was a standout performance for the showman. So why isn't he ranked higher?

Crews, for one, remains above him thanks to a higher ceiling. Fans saw glimpses of that with this bout. Crews is potentially a main event talent, a world champion and marquee star. It's not clear if Breeze can be that.

That's likely why WWE has chosen to have him lose all of his biggest matches. Other guys are getting the boost. He has been their springboard.

Can a wrestler with such an outlandish gimmick make his way out of the midcard? Can Breeze ever compete with the likes of Finn Balor and Sami Zayn in terms of in-ring performances?

Those questions remain unanswered. But the fact that they need to be asked creates some doubt about just how high WWE will let Breeze climb at NXT or the main roster.

The Lone Wolf Becoming an Alpha Male

Corbin twice had a chance to show the kind of predator he can be.

He and Rhyno teamed up to knock off Jason Jordan and Chad Gable in the semifinals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic before falling to Balor and Samoa Joe in the finals. While the babyfaces took home the trophy, the biggest takeaway was how much better Corbin was.

As indy wrestler Gran Akuma noted, this was Corbin's best night to date:

He prowled around the ring like a panther. He attacked Balor's injured leg with convincing viciousness. 

Corbin's exchanges with Jordan were impressive, as well. It was the smoothest and most confident that Corbin has been on NXT programming. 

This could have been his coming-out party had it been booked differently, but it was still a showcase of his ongoing improvement. Experience is clearly allowing him to reach his full potential.

He still needs to be more aggressive at times. Some of his punches didn't have enough power behind them, for example. And he still needs to show that he can be consistent and not follow this performance up with another underwhelming one.

Even with that mind, WWE officials have to be happy with what they saw from Corbin here. He is fast becoming the badass bruiser he's been billed as for so long.

Scott Dawson and the Art of Tag Team Wrestling

If Dawson is going to make it to the top rung of NXT and perhaps earn a spot on the main roster, it will be as part of a tag team. His biggest strength so far has been his deftness in the team format.

He and Dash Wilder faced Joe and Balor in an excellent opener. It was the best-worked bout of the tourney.

Thank Dawson for much of that. He was a pitbull snapping at his foes. He was intense, precise and completely in control of the story as it unfolded.

He and Wilder exhibited great chemistry. And as Aubrey Sitterson, who hosts the Straight Shoot podcast, pointed out, Dawson leaned on strong tag team psychology:

The brawler timed his tags well. He and Wilder cut off the ring. He made sure that Balor's leg suffered at every possible moment, a tactic that included dealing out cheap shots while the referee was distracted.

Dawson isn't a strong enough talker or a guy with enough "it" factor to be a top star, but with this kind of mastery of the mat, he could carve out a comfortable niche for himself as the workhorse of the tag division.

Female Wrestlers

Rank	Wrestler	Height	Notes
1.	Bayley	5'6''	Top-notch in-ring storyteller, strong connection with crowd, potential to be WWE's biggest female star.
2.	Asuka	5'3''	Excellent showmanship, infectious energy, great use of facial expressions.
3.	Alexa Bliss	5'1''	Strong heel work, good presence, athletic.
4.	Dana Brooke	5'3''	Ring work steadily improving, overacts, good athlete.
5.	Carmella	5'5''	Great energy, raw/inconsistent in the ring.
6.	Eva Marie	5'8''	Improving (but still needs major work) in the ring, good look, stilted mic worker.
7.	Billie Kay	5'8''	Good selling, solid in the ring, not standing out.
8.	Peyton Royce	5'7''	Lack of snap to offense, nondescript persona.

Asuka's Emphatic Arrival and Brooke's Statement in the Process

Asuka was everything she was advertised to be.

She pulled in the audience with hard strikes to Brooke's back. She pulled Brooke's limbs nearly out of their sockets. With a bounce in her step and a bloodthirsty look in her eye, Asuka went on a rampage in a fun, effective in-ring debut.

And it feels as if we are just seeing glimpses of her greatness, too. Will Pruett of ProWrestling.net is among those who are thrilled about what's ahead for her:

Lost in the hoopla about the NXT newcomer, though, is that Brooke looked like she belonged in there with Asuka. To match the veteran from Japan move for move, to not look out of place in the least against Asuka, is not something many expected from The Total Diva.

Her ring work up to this point has been inconsistent and even awkward at times.

She was neither on Wednesday night. Her mat work was solid. She helped make the match as good as it was by playing her part as antagonist and eventual victim well. 

And so while NXT fans may have thought they were set to see one star on the rise in this bout, they instead saw two very different performers shooting upward. Officials would be smart to pair these women up several times over.

That's a rivalry that will be both an education for Brooke and an exhibition of how far she has come.