Who Should Be the Next NXT Women's Champion?
NXT TakeOver: War Games is now two weeks away and, as is often the case, it could well steal the spotlight from yet another "Big 4" PPV, Survivor Series. Headlining this edition of TakeOver is, as its name suggests, the highly anticipated return of the War Games match, airing for the first time in nearly 20 years.
Yet, the match that might just wind up stealing the show could be the Fatal 4-Way featuring Ember Moon, Nikki Cross, Peyton Royce, and newcomer Kairi Sane for the vacant NXT Women's Championship.
It's arguable that the NXT Women's Championship has been the most prestigious title in all of WWE for the past several years now, and with Asuka vacating the title undefeated, the next champion will arguably have even bigger shoes to fill without the rub of having beaten her.
With four competitors for the vacant championship, there would surely be pros and cons of each claiming the crown. Let's look at each.
#1 Kairi Sane
Kairi Sane was the first to qualify for this match after having defeated Shayna Baszler to win the Mae Young Classic in September. Kairi took the tournament by storm, consistently putting on the best matches in it against the likes of Tessa Blanchard, Bianca Belair, Dakota Kai, and Toni Storm prior to the final. After defeating Baszler, the NXT Women's Championship is in Kairi's sights, but how would she do as champion?
Pros:
Kairi is already beloved by the NXT audience. Her bubbly, almost childlike charisma works like magic in getting the crowd invested into seeing her win. It even managed to wake up the normally tired post-SmackDown crowd during the Mae Young Classic final. Her matches are always memorable and her finisher is spectacular, which would certainly add to the prestige of the title.
Cons:
Obviously, it's probably too soon for Sane to win the title. Even Asuka didn't win it until six months after her own debut, and her character is a vicious killer in the ring, while Kairi is a lovable underdog. Sane would probably work better chasing the title to a great payoff rather than rising to the top so quickly.
And speaking of the previous champion, a win so soon would inevitably make fans cast her into the role of Asuka 2.0. Sane probably won't be able to live up to those comparisons and they would spoil her own unique story.
So while I think she is a great performer, I don't want her to win the title here. It's not her time yet.