12 Live Observations From NXT Download Festival

8. Bobby Roode's Debut Popped (And He Was Booked Strong)

Every fan in attendance could have been forgiven for thinking the event was simply going to be an exhibition with little on the line: a soft introduction to more casual fans who came to the NXT tent as a secondary interest between bands. That was wrong on both accounts.

Bobby Roode's debut was easily the biggest moment of the entire weekend under the tent: as soon as his music hit and it became clear it wasn't just a walk on, fans burst into a round of "Holy sh*t!" and chased it with "this is awesome", and there was very much the sense that we were being rewarded entirely unexpectedly. In truth, it felt a lot like going to a Comic Con and seeing exclusive footage, knowing no-one else in the world was privy to it.

Roode was also there to do business, facing Angelo Dawkins in an entertaining singles match that the latter should be praised for. His work was enormously charitable and Roode came out looking exceptionally strong, though he reserved his heel work for his 6 man match on the Sunday (he's already the perfect heel).