5 Ups & 2 Downs From NXT: The Great American Bash
Or 'The Great American Sash', as we'll be calling it.
In 1985 Dusty Rhodes created what he thought would be a pillar of pro-wrestling's future. A patriotic platform designed to celebrate the best of North America's talent, providing a stage in the industry that would ensure the legacies of talent for generations to come. Despite spanning decades and survived the collapse of two major promotions, it looked like it had been forgotten.
Until now. Because NXT put some balloons up.
Right, there you go, that's it out of my system and out of the way. Any cynicism I had over this being a shameless slice of counter-booking is entirely offset by how mouthwatering the evening's card is. An enthralling Fatal-4-Way, an out-and-out fight, a strap match, a dream main-event and, best of all, Robert Stone potentially getting his knackers cut off.
If anything, the only real worry going into last night's show was that it might not live up to the lofty standards fans were rightly expecting, but - and slight spoiler alert here - we needed have worried. In-ring this was as strong an episode of NXT as we've ever seen, even if thematically it left something of a sour taste. Anyway, regardless, 'MURICA!!!