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After Bron Breakker and Carmelo Hayes moved onto the WWE main roster, Trick Williams became NXT's top star. His feuds with Hayes and later Ilja Dragunov catapulted him into superstardom.
Throughout his tenure as the new top dog of NXT, Williams enjoyed the special treatment that come with it. Most big stars usually do, but WWE's handling of Trick's journey to the top has included some strange booking.
As he's risen from sidekick to megastar, WWE has made the next four mistakes with Trick Williams' ascent to the top of NXT.
#4. The narrative of the NXT Title being "stolen" from Trick Williams
Ethan Page made his NXT debut in May 2024 and immediately challenged Trick for the NXT Championship. While Page lost the first time at Battleground, he challenged for the title again at NXT Heatwave in a Fatal Four-Way match featuring Shawn Spears and Je'Von Evans.
When a match no longer pits two stars against each other, the rules are loosened. There are no disqualifications and the champion doesn't need to be pinned to lose the title.
This is precisely what happened to Trick as Page fell on top of Evans to secure the shocking win. All Ego surprisingly won the title fair and square according to the rules of the match.
Despite that, he keeps claiming that the belt was stolen from him. Announcers like Vic Joseph and Sarah Schreiber have echoed the sentiment. The name of the video above even claims that Page "stole" the title. Complaining about losing a title this way is usually something a heel does.
#3. Over-telegraphing of his first title win and beyond
Like Breakker before him, Williams didn't win the NXT Championship on his first try. Trick fell to The Mad Dragon in two prior encounters.
That fact and other facets of his short career were highlighted in a pre-taped video package leading up to his title match with Ilja Dragunov at Spring Breakin'. The video highlighted his journey before NXT and how he went from sidekick to standout.
When Hayes and Dragunov went for the title, they had brief videos. Fans could see a title change coming but for Williams, the pre-match hype video left little doubt that he would beat The Mad Dragon.
Having Dragunov declare for the WWE Draft before the title match didn't help either. When he's had celebrity guests in his corner, there was no shot at him losing.
#2. Lack of a face rival
When Breakker and Hayes were still in NXT, they always had parallel paths. Both portrayed heroes when Melo won the belt from Bron. Having that other viable face at the same time at least provided some shred of unpredictability.
It worked this year between Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins. This briefly happened with Trick and Dragunov, but once Williams defeated The Mad Dragon and he moved to RAW, that luster was lost.
There haven't been many viable faces to emerge along Trick, especially since Wes Lee was injured and then turned heel. Having more than one option at a given time opens up multiple avenues of storytelling instead of John Cena always overcoming the odds.
Fans knew that Trick was going to win the title because bookers didn't build up enough other viable challengers. It wasn't until Page arrived that the prospect of a title change arose. Without the chance of a title change, matches lose a bit of appeal.
#1. The celebrity treatment in WWE
It's nothing new for top stars as they always interact with celebrities in WWE. During his time as the face of NXT, Trick Williams has always been flanked at some time by celebrities or huge main-roster stars.
With superstars, it's somewhat of a career-defining moment that happens a lot. In some cases, however, the treatment makes it feel as if the younger star needs help from a legend like CM Punk or John Cena to "win" the feud.
Trick's also always been a part of the cool kids' club, brushing elbows with celebrities. Williams was backed by controversial rapper Sexxy Red and more recently, Tyrese Haliburton.
Haliburton has acted as a heel in WWE, trolling fans in New York and Orlando. When he was in the ring with Trick, however, he was a big fanboy. Williams and Hayes also shared the ring with Ollie Jay, another rapper who sang the theme for NXT 2.0.
