#7 Aleister Black
From one former NXT Champion to another, Aleister Black has gone from strength to strength throughout 2018, and a main roster call-up is surely on the horizon for The Dutchman in the near future.
Black's biggest moment of the year came when he defeated Andrade 'Cien' Almas in an exceptional outing at NXT Takeover: New Orleans to win the NXT Title for the first time in his career.
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He would later drop the belt to Tommaso Ciampa before being off TV for a couple of months with an injury.
Even when he was off television, though, Black managed to remain relevant, with his mystery attack storyline dominating NXT's weekly shows for the best part of two months.
Black would eventually return and put on another late match of the year candidate with Johnny Gargano at NXT Takeover: WarGames II.