3 Ups And 5 Downs From Last Night's WWE NXT (Dec 9)

3. Nia's Pairing With Eva

This is a gamble. Nia Jax is a relatively hot young prospect that some could argue has been pushed to a title shot before she's ready. This isn't to imply that she's a bad worker; she's an effective monster heel with a slim but decent set of debut moves, a distinctive look and a bundle of sadistic charm. However, pairing her with Eva Marie could potentially ruin her image. I've made no secret of the fact that I'm fascinated with the Eva Marie story. The boos were deafening in Full Sail last night, drowning out any opportunity that All Red Everything had to talk. It's warped and compelling television, watching the white-hot hatred pouring from out of the crowd. I'm genuinely not sure where they're going with it, and that's fun, but NXT have to be careful not to tar Jax with the same gimmick. Eva's whole thing is that she's a terrible worker and talker who's somehow still got a wrestling career. That's a difficult label to cast off and, while WWE can find a way to make that work for Eva, putting Jax next to her may end up making fans chant 'You Can't Wrestle' at the Samoan newcomer. When Eva handed the mic over to Nia last night, the fans booed her promo out of the building, rendering it much less intimidating than it was supposed to be. Creative have to tread very carefully to make sure they don't cut the legs out from under Jax's gimmick. That being said, imagine if Jax beats Bayley for the title and then just gives it to Eva Marie, a la Andre The Giant and Ted DiBiase. The fans will burn London down. Worth thinking about...