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

Ups...

15. Be The Best

Adam Cole Matt Riddle

Starting white hot, NXT surprisingly and smartly opened with the Heavyweight Championship clash between Adam Cole and Matt Riddle, expertly enhanced before the bell by Mauro Ranallo's announcement that there wouldn't be a single commercial interruption during the encounter.

Barely able to catch their breath thanks to the shock of its place on the card, the Full Sail faithful weren't given a rest during the match itself as as the Undisputed Era leader and 'Original Bro' dropped nothing but bombs on each other.

After start barely resembling the opening of a wrestling match, Cole and Riddle delivered a festival of devastating boy-poppers impossible to avert eyes away from. And of course they did - this was ratings-motivated television.

Cole sewed up victory by clattering Riddle with the cast he was forced to wear thanks to a Riddle-related injury, but holy f*cking sh*t what a set of counters and reversals that came before it. The fans gave both the “NXT! NXT! NXT!” and "Fight Forever" chants after the exchange, but all love should have been showered on Cole and Riddle themselves for the Those accusing of NXT being too clinical need to prescribe themselves a viewing of this - it was yet another antidote to a blatantly bullsh*t accusation.

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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