WWE NXT: Updated Prospect Rankings and Analysis, Predictions for Week of March 3

New arrivals further intensified the competition at WWE NXT. On Wednesday's NXT, Austin Aries strolled into the University of Central Florida's CFE Arena, and Hugo Knox made his first appearance on WWE TV.

Aries immediately has to be considered among the top prospects of the developmental brand. He didn't show much in his first outing other than the ability to sell a beating, but fans familiar with his TNA work know of his excellence.

Knox certainly looks like a Superstar in terms of physique. Fans only saw flashes of what he can actually do in the ring, though.

The latest NXT left the audience with questions about more than just Knox. One has to wonder after the show whether The Vaudevillains can be convincing heels. What's keeping Emma from storming up the NXT ladder is another question left in one's mind.

The following is a look at how all those wrestlers and their fellow prospects stack up in the ongoing competition to be NXT's best. Gimmick, size, charisma, mic work and ring skills help determine the order of the rankings.

Male Wrestlers

Rank	Wrestler	Height/Weight	Notes
1.	Samoa Joe	6'2'', 279 lbs	Elite intensity, best talker in NXT, highly consistent in the ring.
2.	Finn Balor	5'11'', 190 lbs	Steadily delivers top-notch matches, rock-star aura, stellar athlete.
3.	Sami Zayn	6'1'', 205 lbs	Stellar storyteller, great crowd connection, understated promos.
4.	Baron Corbin	6'8'', 275 lbs	Growing presence, getting more comfortable as heel, solid brawler.
5.	Colin Cassady	6'10'', 276 lbs	Strong presence, larger-than-life aura, good energy.
6.	Apollo Crews	6'1'', 240 lbs	Not noticeably better than when he arrived, fantastic athlete, great build.
7.	Austin Aries	5'9'', 202 lbs	Excellent storyteller, strong mat wrestler, good promo work, size and age are biggest obstacles.
8.	Hideo Itami	5'9'', 182 lbs	Excellent ring work, highly athletic, mic skills are current weakness.
9.	Jason Jordan	6'3'', 245 lbs	Starting to get overshadowed by Gable, good power, good energy.
10.	Enzo Amore	5'11'', 200 lbs	Hugely over, highly charismatic, unique character, below average in the ring.
11.	Chad Gable	5'8'', 187 lbs	Picking up mat game at impressive rate, high-level technical wrestler, strong connection with crowd.
12.	Scott Dawson	5'10'', 224 lbs	Promos still need work, excellent intensity, top-notch striker.
13.	Rich Swann	5'6'', 165 lbs	Out-of-this-world athlete, great energy, size could prove an issue.
14.	Christopher Girard	6'1'', 199 lbs	Good striker, aggressive, dependable ring work.
15.	Simon Gotch	6'1'', 221 lbs	Darker persona a good fit, creative offense, strong showmanship.
16.	Alex Riley	6'3'', 236 lbs	Strong on promos, very intense, not special in the ring.
17.	Tye Dillinger	6'3'', 223 lbs	Solid ring work, works gimmick well, may have already hit ceiling.
18.	Dash Wilder	5'10'', 222 lbs	Slowly progressing as a talker, solid bruiser, good tag team work.
19.	Murphy	5'11'', 227 lbs	Growing more intense, good athlete, minimal presence.
20.	Sawyer Fulton	6'8'', 285 lbs	Impressive size, limited in the ring, will need right gimmick to succeed.

Prospects just outside the top 20: Blake, Aiden English, Elias Samson

First Glance at Hugo Knox 

Knox and Tucker Knight teamed up to take on The Vaudevillains in what was meant to be a showcase of Simon Gotch and Aiden English's newfound viciousness. So Knox was asked to play the doormat as the heel team walked all over him.

From what we saw of him, he is clearly an impressive athlete. He was agile as he moved around the ring. He got good air on his jumps.

What stands out right away, however, is his build. He is stacked, put together like the prototypical WWE star. That alone will certainly afford him some opportunities ahead. 

Greg Parks of PWTorch has watched him in matches other than this one and had good things to say:

Knox does look like he has ample potential to tap into. He will need to tone down his selling, though. When his foes whipped him around, his reaction was bordered on cartoonish. Finding the right balance in those kind of reactions is a nuance that will come with experience.

The Vaudevillains

The story is supposed to be that a frustrated pair of friends are moving ever closer to the dark side. It's just not resonating. That's especially true with English.

Gotch had a nastier aura about him. He glared at his opponents from the ring apron and added a touch of aggression to his attack. He still needs to turn up the intensity, though.

As for English, he's just not coming off as intimidating. 

However much he scowled or pounded away on Knox, he wasn't a convincing predator. He doesn't exude an air of villainy despite his tag team's name. A part of that is his nonthreatening look. English was a better fit as an arrogant actor.

In a world of beasts and monsters, it's going to be hard for English to make his mark as is.

Introducing Austin Aries

Moments into Aries' debut, Baron Corbin ambushed him, laying him out on the entrance ramp. While that set up an intriguing storyline for the near future, it prevented fans from seeing what Aries could do in an NXT environment.

He had no mic time and didn't execute a single wrestling hold.

Regardless, his TNA and Ring of Honor work is a testament to his skills. Everywhere he's gone, he's put on stellar matches. He's a skilled mat technician and excellent showman. All that makes him a great fit at NXT.

Former TNA world champ Bobby Roode knows just how deft Aries is between the ropes:

It won't be skill that holds Aries back. His age (37) makes him less appealing to WWE officials than someone like Apollo Crews (28), who has so much of his career left ahead of him. And The Vascular Vegetarian's size will force him to work harder to get WWE's attention.

He'll get an excellent chance to make an impact early working against Corbin in the coming weeks.

Female Wrestlers

Rank	Wrestler	Height	Notes
1.	Bayley	5'6''	Getting the best from her opponents, great storyteller, superb connection with crowd, average on the mic.
2.	Asuka	5'3''	Compelling presence, highly skilled ring worker, unique.
3.	Alexa Bliss	5'1''	Mastering nuances of being a heel, increasingly strong in the ring, has star quality.
4.	Nia Jax	6'0''	Improving at a rapid rate, ferocious, great power, growing presence.
5.	Emma	5'5''	Current gimmick feeling incomplete, strong ring work, works heel role well.
6.	Carmella	5'5''	Showing flashes of potential, charismatic, good energy.
7.	Peyton Royce	5'7''	Improving presence, better sense of character, good aggression.
8.	Dana Brooke	5'3''	Overacting is grating, heavy-handed showmanship, impressive athleticism.
9.	Liv Morgan	5'4''	Still raw, shows potential, good athlete.
10.	Eva Marie	5'8''	Poor selling, wooden in the ring, star look.
11.	Billie Kay	5'8''	Good power, intensity needs work, OK presence.

Emma's Momentum Slowing 

Emma is fully capable of being one of the very best women at NXT and a key piece of the women's division on the main roster. She's just been unable to climb onto the tier above her.

All of the things that have made the heel version of Emma so compelling in recent months were there during her bout against Santana Garrett on Wednesday night.

She leaned on crisp technical wrestling. She was effectively cocky and vicious, whether she was pulling Garrett's hair or slamming her head into the turnbuckle. As Zack Zimmerman of ProWrestling.net pointed out, "Emma 2.0 continues to bring a whole lot to the table."

For her to compete with Bayley and Asuka, however, she's going to need to up her game.

Against Garrett, she didn't sell consistently, missing out on chances to add drama to the match. She needs to rev up her nasty side even more to stand out. And she and NXT are going to have to find some new elements to add to her gimmick.

It feels incomplete right now. The "she's no longer the bubbly one" narrative has to lead into something else.

Predictions

Elias Samson won't make it.

Even with The Drifter gimmick, he's too ordinary, too average to push past a talented roster. Count on him having a similar career arc to CJ Parker's. A run as the guy who loses to everyone awaits before he and NXT go their separate ways.

When Asuka and Bayley take on Eva Marie and Nia Jax next week, it will be showcase of the babyfaces. The story will be all about the tension between Asuka and the champion, but the narrative regarding their development will be about how wide of a gap there is between the teams.

Asuka is going to blow Marie out of the water.