10 Ups & 2 Downs From Last Night's WWE NXT (Nov 20)
4. Tagged Classic
The above clip from WWE's official YouTube channel of course does no service to the beautiful, luxurious story told between two of the best tag teams in the world over 25 delicious minutes. But nor should it - seek out the full version at any and all costs even if it means dropping 9.99 in your currency for one month of the Network. This was worth it and then some.
Using the combo cocktail of old tag formula with supercharged spots, the duos brought all the grace they've normally got in the chamber for a TakeOver classic and unleashed it in deserved glory for the Full Sail faithful. Counters had context, moves had meaning, and even the attempts at cheating fed into the arc so masterfully crafted.
Revival slipping into a defacto babyface was an inspired choice as the contest wore on - Fish and O'Reilly's failed attempt and Dash and Dawson's old tag denial spot didn't work because they were dealing with the past-masters of the craft. Dawson's hot tag forced him to be the guy he was more used to fending off before Dash rejoined him for yet more greatest hits spots against The Champions.
One of (if not the) best match of the USA Network era, this was as big a victory for the genre as it was the NXT Tag Team Champions.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett