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...

by Michael Hamflett
Keith Lee Finn Balor
WWE.com

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?

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 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 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, 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