15 Ups & 6 Downs For WWE NXT In 2019

"The stars don't even matter, I wanna be next to you. Black & Gold, Black & Gold"

by Michael Hamflett

If you're a fan of NXT already, you'll not need yet another piece telling you how the black-and-gold brand is the most fantastic thing going today. But here's one anyway.

It's a show so fantastic that there simply wasn't enough time to pontificate on everything ace about 2019's output.

If you're short on ideas of what to watch but long on time, treat yourself to the WWE Network archives for any of the following; The rise of Damian Priest from bizarre Ring Of Honor signee to future TakeOver pop generator in under six months. Kassius Ohno's return from England as the UK's greatest export and future Performance Center coach that knows he's a future Performance Center coach. Adam Cole using a TakeOver: Prime Target camera crew to shoot his humbling of Johnny Gargano's family and friends ahead of their final fight in Toronto. The Prime Target series in general, in fact, for how it effortlessly blended work and shoot for the good of a product fans remain willing to play along for. The mind-melting show-opening/Io Shirai entrance from semi-regular collaborator Poppy that can be found above and below this introduction.

And so on, and on, and on.

The Wednesday Night War welcomed scrutiny on arguably the most consistent brand of pro wrestling in the whole world, and it remained near-perfect to its followers and begrudgingly excellent even to those fundamentally opposed to the ethos the parent company controlling it.

Near-perfect...

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Contributor
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