4 Ups & 7 Downs From NXT Spring Breakin'

6. Learning On The Job

It’s tough at times to be outright critical of NXT 2.0 and its superstars. You have to grade on a curve and give some leeway because many of these wrestlers are just starting out with their careers and were thrust onto TV before they were ideally ready. And that’s an indictment of the process, not the performers.

But the Spring Breakin’ women’s tag match pitting Nikita Lyons & Cora Jade against Natalya & Lash Legend was just something that wasn’t ready for prime time. The match wasn’t abysmal, but it definitely dragged a few times and exposed shortcomings among the superstars. Legend clearly isn’t ready to be on TV and is actively being hurt by being sent out there to throw unconvincing knees and stumble around the ring.

Cora Jade certainly has her appeal, and she’s still very young, but she’s also very green. Believe it or not, Nikita Lyons actually seems to have the most potential of the bunch. Maybe it was a credit to Natalya for pulling the best out of her, but when the two were in the match, Lyons looked crisper than she has at any point and showed some fire with her offense. Given time, reps and more training, NXT could have something here.

But overall, this was the kind of match that should be performed 3-4 nights a week at house shows, not once on TV in a 12-minute match.