5 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's NXT (Aug 5)
3. Damien, Out, In Out, TakeOver All About
The North American Championship qualifiers have been fairly consistent at present, in that each has seen the underdog emerge victorious. Yes, ok, you can argue Lumis was on just about the same level as Thatcher and Balor, but as mentioned Reed is really enjoying a newfound spot in the limelight. Or some lime in the spotlight. Whatever.
However with Oney Lorcan coming of a spirited series of defeats and Ridge Holland debuting from NXT UK, seeing Damien Priest - a man who has routinely challenged for championships on this brand already - pick up the win was a bit of a shock in itself. The looming threat of having a lineup entirely comprised of surprising winners is gone, and we have a clear favourite for TakeOver.
In the long run it's probably a smart move not to have the formula be so blatant, but it did make for an incredibly underwhelming debut for Ridge Holland. After a whole week of hype packages his ultimate contribution here was to run around, shout, barge people over, and then get chumped out by Priest ahead of the finish.
He'll be on Raw or Smackdown by the end of the month.