Flex Those Pecs

Longtime contributor and good friend of this blog David curated this collection of photos he's taken in various NXT events over the years. The theme of this collection is "Beefcakes Who Don't Miss Chest Day at The Gym." Thanks for these pics, David!

Tino Sabatelli

Radomir Petkovic

Uhaa Nation (aka Apollo Crews)

Shawn Spears (aka Ty Dillinger)

Roderick Strong

Hugo Knox

Jason Jordan

Cezar Bononi

Riddick Moss

PAC (aka Adrian Neville)

Rewind: The Beefcakes of NXT

 WWE's NXT franchise has seen scores of wrestlers go from the developmental stage to the big time. But for every wrestler that graduates to RAW or SMACKDOWN, there are many others who don't get signed (like Hugo Knox or Radomir Petkovic). Longtime contributor nd good friend of this blog David dug through his archives and pulled up some pics he took over the years of NXT beefcake. David says that back in the day before NXT matches were televised, the wrestlers would come out in their "independent wrestler" gear and look; no cartoony costumes, no bleached or dyed hair, and no flashy gimmicks. Thanks fro sharing your awesome work with us, David!

Roderick Strong

Rocky Feng

Steve Cutler

Johnny Curtis

Eric Bugenhagen

Montez Ford

Shawn Spears

Shane Haste

Body Shots: The Belt

Anthony Bowens (formerly Anthony Vigilante)

The Von Erich

Jason Carrion

Dragon Lee

Eddie Ryan

Justin Wylde

Roderick Strong

Tyler Nitro

Alexander Hammerstone

Finn Balor (formerly Prince Devitt)

Strong vs. Theory

WWE is certainly giving 22-year-old Austin Theory the push. On the December 25th episode of RAW, Theory made his WWE debut when he accepted the open challenge against Roderick Strong for the NXT North American Championship. Theory lost to Strong, but can you imagine the exposure  he got by appearing on this event? You can watch a clip from this match here. Here's how WWE is introducing Theory to their fans: Austin Theory Steps Up To The Challenge. Expect to see more of Theory in WWE this 2020. He already picked up his first NXT win against Joaquin Wilde in this clip that was posted a few hours ago.

Strong Style

When Roderick Strong joined WWE's NXT in 2016, I felt like he became less interesting, probably because he had become "mainstream." So I featured him less and less (not that I have anything against WWE Superstars, but I think wrestlers in the indie scene need more exposure).  Recently, I read somewhere that he is the current NXT North American champion. I checked out his Instagram page and was impressed by the transformation he underwent from his days in the independent circuit. See for yourself.