10 Reasons why 2018 was the best year in NXT history

5. There was longterm storyline continuity

Gargano vs. Ciampa was a masterpiece in

pro-wresting

storytelling

For what seemed like the first time ever, NXT in 2018 got into the habit of purposely building medium to longterm narratives that played out like a suspenseful television drama. Going beyond simply booking spotfest matches with minimal attention given to the underlying story, the past year of NXT gave us the remarkable angle of Tomasso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano in a bitter tag team-turned-enemies rivalry filled with twists and turns. Gargano, playing the role of the white meat babyface attacked by Ciampa after coming within an inch of winning the NXT title from Andrade Cien Almas (only to make the rash decision of putting his career on the line in the last ditch effort of capturing the gold) was near-perfect in his character execution. Gargano, having lost the career stipulation when Ciampa interfered in the Title vs. Career Match with Almas, went to war with his ex-friend in a classic Unsanctioned Match in order to get reinstated, only to watch the same monster, Ciampa, turn around and become NXT Champion, to his chagrin. The storytelling in and out of the ring, slowly paced and laid out over the course of nearly a year, was genius.

Likewise, the who attacked Aleister Black? angle, formed after Black suffered a legit groin injury at a house show and couldn't make it to Takeover: Brooklyn IV, engulfed the entire NXT roster into a mystery that spanned much of the Summer. Mr. Regal, the middle-aged British general manager of NXT, lurked around the TV studio at Full Sail University like Sherlock Holmes looking for clues. Subplots and mini-feuds that had nothing to do with Black or whoever attacked him were spawned during the course of Regal's "investigation", and the whole of NXT just seemed to have more purpose overall. Perhaps influenced by the rise in popularity of New Japan Pro Wrestling, which is known for its use of long-term storytelling, NXT's iteration of this booking style has been just as interesting.