10 Most Totally Random WWE Matches Ever

3. The Ascension Vs. Too Cool - NXT ArRIVAL

Chad Gable Shane McMahon
WWE

In 2020, NXT has settled into its identity as a reactive, competition-stifling defence unit that, with its Ladder matches held to determine the advantage in WarGames, patterns its booking after Vince Russo.

But it wasn't always zombies, Ember's Law and distraction finishes: once upon a time, NXT was good.

Those are jokes. NXT used to be amazing. And before that, even when it wasn't, it was very charming fan service that cultivated its once-immaculate reputation through fun nostalgia and genuinely life-affirming feel-good brilliance. Unafraid of novelty, in what scans as a totally bizarre match graphic now even more than it did then, the Ascension once worked Too Cool on the proto-TakeOver ArRIVAL stage. Not sure why they went with the Spongebob meme stylisation, but whatever.

An indictment of a tag team division in its formative stages, perhaps, as much as it was a nice mystery opponent reveal, the match really wasn't great. Occupying an uneasy space between the squash and the competitive match, so that it didn't resonate as a decent version of either, the fun stopped at the pop.

Still: it was enough that NXT once embraced these worlds-colliding moments, even if nothing got shattered.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!