5 Ups And 2 Downs From Last Night's NXT (April 1)

1. TakeOver: Damper Bay

This nearly, nearly, didn't work.

For what was billed as a TakeOver match in all but audience, Kieth Lee, Dominik Dijakovic and Damien Priest contested the NXT North American Championship in what the show repeatedly billed as the biggest (literally!!!) title match in its history. It was the hook on which the week's buildup hand hung its hat, and expectations were understandably high.

Yet it only got something like 10 minutes, we saw virtually nothing we haven't already seen from these men before, and whoever's decision it was to redress the set as if it actually was TakeOver wants to be taken out the back of the studio, tied to a post, and left in the rain to think about what they've done. That was so depressing.

And yet, three men with this level of talent just about made it work. The size, the athleticism, all of the raw materials that make up the way they work, it just about came together to make something worthy of a title defense. It was a long way from what it should have been, a longer way still from what it could have been, but it still delivered. As ever, the sheer scale of talent bails WWE out again.

What I will say though, is that this was supposed to be the first taste of what would have been WrestleMania weekend, it doesn't bode overly well for this Sunday...