5 Ups & 5 Downs From Last Night's WWE NXT (Dec 11)

4. Lio Rush Vs. Angel Garza BANGS

Angel Garza
Lio Rush

Watched closely enough, there was a certain 'hissy' aspect to that opening brawl, but it didn't matter at all to a rapt Full Sail.

Through Garza's sh*t-eating grin, Lio Rush's aggrieved body language, and the intensity of the melee, the two men engineered a triumph: an exciting Cruiserweight match, laced with authentic, totally absorbing animosity, that didn't rely on chemistry and technicality to get itself over. It was far more ambitious - and better - than that. It was rough on purpose early to convey the fight atmosphere, a neat, immersive touch that saw Rush and Garza tumble almost head-first out of the ring under a blur of strikes.

The crowd went apesh*t for this, hooked by the work and the story that informed it: Garza continued to burrow underneath Rush's skin, in a manner germane to the storyline, by stealing Rush's signature spots and outwitting him throughout several scintillating rope-run deception sequences. This enforced Rush to take a risk - he needed to arrest the flow of the match, and he was pissed off enough to do it - which Garza punished by getting the knees up to counter Rush's crazed frog splash to the outside. Every near-fall felt earned - the animosity and undying refusal of humiliation fuelled them - and Garza in the end put Rush away with a submission, after Rush had kicked out of the Wing Clipper. This was the final phase of a psychological plan, and it looked gruesome.

A believable, proper full-on banger of an opener - one of the best matches in the short history of the Wednesday Night Wars.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!