10 Reasons why 2018 was the best year in NXT history

4. The roster was at its strongest

NXT's 2018 top stars ahead of the annual Year-End Awards

Never has NXT's roster been quite as stacked as it was in 2018. From high-flying luchadors and mat technicians to martial artists and 'hoss' big men, NXT's penchant for recruiting a diverse and dynamic talent pool from all over the pro-wrestling spectrum is currently unmatched by any other wrestling development entity. In 2018, Japanese women from the Stardom promotion worked the same cards as 300-pound indie guys, catch wrestlers and British strong style practitioners. High-flyers with years of experience elsewhere were intermingled with athletes from other sports who showed remarkable potential and progress.

Andrade Cien Almas and Raul Mendoza represented Lucha libre well with their skills adapted to a WWE ring, Shayna Baszler and Matt Riddle proved MMA fighters are perfectly capable of transitioning to sports entertainment, and Lars Sullivan (playing the role of a ferocious but intelligent monster) became NXT's answer to Braun Strowman. Heavy Machinery, War Raiders and Keith Lee proved big men can be as athletic as their smaller counterparts. Kairi Sane and Dakota Kai worked well as underdogs, while Bianca Belair and Street Profits shined like stars, and Io Shirai - maybe the greatest female wrestler active today, made her presence felt following a picture-perfect moonsault at Takeover: War Games. The Undisputed Era were dominant as a stable and tag team as well, however, Johnny Gargano, Tomasso Ciampa, Aleister Black, Ricochet, Pete Dunne and Velveteen Dream were the indisputable MVPs and helped move the needle as NXT's main attractions.