11 Ups & 4 Downs From Last Night's WWE NXT (Dec 4)
All eyes move to December 18th, but NXT tries to make the journey as fun as the destination...
There's been a celebratory mood about the NXT camp at late. Victories in kayfabe and real life for the brand have forcibly reshaped, restored and reframed views towards a show that has, for many, been the best North American wrestling show this year.
Ratings aren't everything (and for Network executives right now they may well not be anything), but a two-week winning streak for NXT over Wednesday Night rival All Elite Wrestling remains the best run so far for the show. Meanwhile, storyline success at the Survivor Series a fortnight ago helped forge the post-TakeOver: WarGames path. These are black-and-golden times, for now, at least.
What was missing from the post-Survivor Series edition of the broadcast was a certain spark in the main event story. The bones of a big three-way angle are there - Tommaso Ciampa wants "his" belt back, Finn Bálor wants it to reclaim ownership of the brand he built (and tacitly, his self-belief left shattered by an underwhelming main roster run) and Adam Cole wants to keep it to ensure his Undisputed Era prophecy remains in tact.
The trio needed as big a week as any of the acts on the typically sublime show, but who else made the most of the fresh start air filling Full Sail University?