14 Ups & 0 Downs From Last Night's WWE NXT (Oct 16)
Ups...
14. Daddy's Home
WWE.com
Much like the quality of the segment between them to set this match up, Tommaso Ciampa’s clash with Angel Garza surprisingly employed a bit of comedy before the cool and calculated former NXT Champion put his lesser for away with Willow's Bell.
A Fairytale Ending tease on Garza’s flag pants was an absurd spin on the jingoism of old, but married up more with his wry corridor attack last week than it did Hulk Hogan’s distaste for foreigners in the 1980s. Kayfabe distaste.
Harking back to another bald hairy-faced legend, this was all actually closer to Stone Cold Steve Austin's Survivor Series 1997 neck injury return. Kept short, kept cool and kept relevant, Ciampa's aura was restored immediately by the battle. Daddy really is home.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
