4 Ups And 4 Downs From Last Night's WWE NXT (June 17)

Samoa Joe vs Kevin Owens: Round 1

By Adam Blampied /

Last night's episode of NXT, the WWE's development brand, felt slightly paradoxical, at once over-indulgent and under-nourished in storytelling. To unpack that slightly, there weren't many matches last night, and only one of them, the main event, actually advanced a storyline. In terms of organic, in-ring storyline progression it was one of the thinnest shows NXT has produced in months. That being said, in terms of produced, glossy, sublimely-crafted video packages, two superstars - Becky Lynch and especially Finn Balor - were well served. They were almost too well served with part 1 of docu-package, A Very Special Look At Finn Balor, taking up a huge chunk of the episode. What few matches there were, however, all delivered. The card ran as follows: Enzo Amore, Colin Cassady & Carmella vs Alexa Bliss and Blake & Murphy Amore pinned Blake after hitting the Rocket Launcher. Charlotte vs KC Cassidy Charlotte forced a submission from the Australian rookie with the Figure 8. Samoa Joe vs Kevin Owens The match ended in a no-contest after the referee was caught in the crossfire. As usual, NXT distinguished itself in terms of its in-ring output, but the show itself is starting to suffer because of WWE's continued exposure of Kevin Owens.