6 Ups And 2 Downs From Last Night's NXT (April 7)
Ups
6. Big Night Feel
NXT - through no fault of its own, admittedly - has had a real House Show feel during all of this. The lack of atmosphere, the absence of big-name matches, the wheels just spinning on all of the biggest feuds, yeah, alright, it's all stuff that's been thrust upon them. But the booth, however, felt like it was on them.
We've had Tom Phillips doing the absolutely best he can in the situation. Week 1 with Triple H was great, week 2 with Byron was not, and last week with Sam Roberts was... well, not his best work, let's just say. Being greeted this week with the usual dulcet tones of Mauro Ranallo was a welcome slice of normality in the circumstances.
I also can't think of fewer jobs in this industry that would be more daunting than having to single-handedly provide commentary and insight when you're normally in a team of three. Fully understand why he hasn't been around of late, and surely this will just be a special one off as it's TakeOver but, still, nice to have him back.