3 Ups & 6 Downs From WWE NXT 2.0 (Nov 2)
NXT 2.0 stars goof around; Tommaso Ciampa gets a new challenge; WWE loves a squash.
Well, this was a comedown.
Last week's Halloween Havoc special wasn't flawless, but it did feature some good matches. There was also a nice mix of new faces and old guard when it came to title changes and who was positioned in top spots (Toxic Attraction and Bron Breakker shone, for example, but certainly no more than Dakota Kai or Tommaso Ciampa).
Following that up with goofy skits, in-your-face character bits that did nothing to develop those characters and enough squash matches to make 1993-era Monday Night Raw blush was an odd choice. There's a real battle going on in NXT 2.0; WWE seemingly can't decide whether they want this to be a testing zone for zany comedy or a serious pro wrestling show.
Are both possible? Well, yeah, but there needs to be some balance - the show has none right now. Sadly, the only positives one can take from Tuesday's latest are two strong promo segments and the smart resurgence of a popular female face in the challenger role. Almost everything else, rather regrettably, sucked.
NXT produced a frightening episode of TV here.