4 Ups And 3 Downs From Last Night’s WWE NXT (July 1)

1. Baron Corbin, Again

Baron Corbin will stop appear on the down part of these lists when he stops being so damn BORING. Nearly every week it's the same and it's hard to grasp what NXT's long-term plan is here. Normally, NXT have proven that they always have an end-goal in sight, but in this case they seem to be depth-charging Corbin's career. This is not a condemnation of squash matches. Far from it, the monster squash match has a definite place on weekly wrestling TV. Take a brute, feed him full of quick wins, and build up and up and up. It worked gangbusters for Rusev in 2014 and established Ryback as a force to be feared in 2012. The purpose of squash matches is to create a juicy undefeated streak and anticipation for seeing the brute fight bigger and tougher foes. The problem is, Corbin has already lost (on TV, not even a TakeOver special) to Adrian Neville in January, and Finn Balor in March. He's not preserving a streak with his wins. There's no big sense of occasion to be got when someone pins the Lone Wolf. Likewise, he's already wrestled longer matches against Rhyno and Bull Dempsey and looked uncomfortable on both occasions, so there's no building anticipation for those either. It's just meaningless win after meaningless win, and the fans have almost entirely turned on him now. As previously stated, NXT often have a long-term goal in regards to booking. Perhaps they're counting on the audience become bored by Corbin, hoping that this toxic reaction he's started to get translates into useable heel heat, but it's a dangerous gamble. There's a difference between 'I love to hate this guy' heat and 'I just want this guy to go away' heat, and Corbin's currently on the wrong side of that fence.