3 Ups & 2 Downs From WWE NXT (January 18, 2017)
1. A (Just About) Good (Enough) Main Event Segment
The heavily-hyped contract signing main event segment, setting up Bobby Roode’s San Antonio challenge of Shinsuke Nakamura’s NXT Championship, delivered - in spite of itself.
It started gloriously enough, even if the TakeOver: Dallas ticket stub presented to Nakamura last week was a retconned MacGuffin. Bobby Roode was in fine form, distancing himself from the universal praise bestowed upon Nakamura from all angles. “I’ve followed your career in Japan,” he surmised. “I never really thought you were worth my time,” he added, to searing heat.
That heat was doused when the segment degenerated into the sort of playground mudslinging which has smeared RAW in sh*t for years. As funny as it was, Roode’s mimicking of Nakamura’s hair and mannerisms was hardly fitting of a serious, high stakes main event series. He poked fun at his outfit, too.
What is it with WWE and clothes? What does the company find so funny about them? Nakamura’s red leather jacket was treated with the same disdain as Chris Jericho’s scarf. How does one man making fun of another man’s clothes build hype for a wrestling match?
It ended well enough - Nakamura’s “I’m gonna kick your head off” capper drew the required gasps - but the oddly comedic tone very nearly undermined a segment that really should have written itself.
Star power saved it - but, ominously, that star power is in short supply elsewhere.