3 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE NXT (Apr 4)

1. Is This SmackDown?

NXT featured not one, but two screwy match finishes this week. Adam Cole & Kyle O'Reilly interfered in the Dusty Rhodes Classic finals early on, prompting a double DQ from the referee, and everyone involved in the North American Title ladder match showed their faces in the main event.

This is disappointing. One would've been acceptable, but two? On the same show? That reeks of main roster booking. It's something we've come to expect from Raw and SmackDown, not WWE's most workrate-centric brand, and while it's probably an anomaly, it's still worth mention.

Nobody watches NXT because they want a younger cast running through tired sports entertainment tropes. It's a genuine alternative - a smartly-booked show that excels through its throwback style - rather than SmackDown Lite, but that's what it felt like this week.

The need to keep these wrestlers strong heading into the pay-per-view is obvious, but would the thrown-together Pete Dunne/Roderick Strong really lose anything by eating a pin? Similarly, if you don't want Sullivan or Dain to fall before the PPV, why book them against each other in the first place?

Let's hope this was a one-off.