2 Ups And 4 Downs From Last Night's WWE NXT (23 Sept)

2. It's All Talk

NXT only gets an hour of programming a week, unlike the main roster which clocks in at a ridiculous seven when you include Main Event and Superstars. Very often this works in NXT's favour - not over-exposing its stars, and forcing the bookers to pare down the 'entertainment' and ratchet up the 'sports'. Most weeks, NXT is able to fit five or even six matches into its tight running time. Not so this week. The card ran at a mere three matches and, considering one of those starred Eva Marie, it's hard for the majority of the NXT audience at home not to feel a little short-changed. The card was simply crammed full of talking. Segments came in from the Hype Bros, Jordan & Gable, Samoa Joe & Finn Balor, Enzo & Big Cass, Apollo Crews & Tyler Breeze; there was a long segment hosted by Kyle Edwards who broke down the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team classic, there was a lengthy video package highlighting the Bayley/Sasha Banks match; the Asuka segment was all talk and no physical confrontation. Add on top of that all of the requisite advertisements for T-Shirts and other Network programming and I couldn't help but thinking: "Yo, Goober, where's the meat?" Not every week can't be stuffed with matches, but the fans have come to expect more from NXT. Better time management, less chat and more in-ring action per minute that the filler-bloated monster that is Monday Night Raw. This is even more peculiar considering that there's supposed to be this big tournament going on. Speaking of which...