4 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE NXT (Jan 24)
2. Combustible Elements
After cutting the best promo of her NXT run on last week's show, Women's Champion Ember Moon was thrust into another character-driven segment this week, as she and Shayna Baszler conducted a sit-down interview with Percy Watson. Did it deliver? Absolutely.
Though her expressions still feel a tad over-the-top, Ember came off well. Playing her up as a fiery babyface determined to hold her spot against the cold, malevolent 'Queen Of Spades' is smart, and shows Moon in her best. Here, she criticised Shayna for shortcutting her way to the top, contrasted this with her own arduous journey, then promised to thwart the division's new menace.
Baszler was on another level, though. Her NXT run has proven divisive thus far, but in our eyes, she came off exactly like the uncaring badass she's supposed to be throughout this pre-taped segment. Shayna doesn't care about Ember's dreams, nor her journey. All she wants is the glory, and if the NXT Universe don't like her, they're just going to have to get used to her.
We could've done without the daft B-movie soundtrack music in the background, but this was a complete success in furthering both womens' characters ahead of their TakeOver bout. Let's hope it delivers.