15 Ups & 1 Down From Last Night's WWE NXT (Oct 2)

7. Be Even Better

Shayna Baszler and Candice LeRae had much to top if they wanted to claim any honours from the first night of the Wednesday Night Wars, but knocked out one of the brand's best matches of the year with little care for the jet-fuelled opener nor the equally-amazing Women's Title match on the other channel.

Oddly enough the stories between LeRae/Baszler and Riho/Rose were extremely similar. Giant-killing exploits were needed from the unfancied challengers, with LeRae in particular not just required to pull the 'Queen Of Spades' from her perch but also score a victory virtually every female in the last two years has failed to.

'Tenacious C' was added to that list in typically brilliant heartbreaking fashion. Baszler's wickedness as she worked on the LeRae's arm mirrored the fierce, devastating focus she applies to her TakeOver semi-squashes, but sense of occasion felt as though it'd scream louder than the Challenger's strained wails that came before the fall.

Nearly...nearly eeking out a pin from a Kirifuda Clutch attempt thanks to her well-studied efforts to counter it, LeRae came undone when Baszler herself flexed her remarkable in-ring awareness. Capturing her from the quadebra, she then re-applied it as her latest victim couldn't help but run out of fight.

Michael Hamflett

Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 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. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, 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

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