2 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE NXT (Jan 11, 2017)
Hopefully that isn’t the future.
Episodic wrestling television exists, primarily, to set up the next episode. In that respect, just enough storyline threads were left dangling on this week’s edition of NXT to tempt viewers back.
Looking every bit the lunatic she is promoted as, Nikki Cross ran to the ring to rescue Asuka in the wake of her beatdown at the hands of Billie Kay and Peyton Royce. Cross’ unhinged body language is exceptional; it’s as if she is so tortured by tics that the only way she can rid herself of them is to violently assault everybody around her.
Accordingly, she battered Asuka too, flooring her with a top rope dropkick. She represents an escape route from the diminished return that is the Asuka Vs. Billie Kay and Peyton Royce rivalry. Even if it is with crossed fingers, the loon has finally given fans a reason to care about the moribund Women’s division.
Shinsuka Nakamura’s sit-down interview with Tom Philips, in which the NXT Champion was handed Bobby Roode’s used TakeOver: Dallas ticket stub, was odd. Surely Roode was there on the company dime. In any event, it provided an inscrutable hook on which to hang next week’s contract signing.
Episodic wrestling television is also meant to feature within it, you know, wrestling. In that regard, it offered very little in the way of excitement...