5 Ups And 3 Downs From Last Night’s WWE NXT (Mar 16)

Downs...

3. Swann Dive

Rich Swann was one of the top independent wrestlers in the country prior to being signed by WWE last autumn. After a few months of wrestling non-televised matches for the NXT brand, he made his TV debut in a losing effort against Baron Corbin. This week he made his second appearance, falling short in a contest with Finn Balor. While there's no real shame in losing to two pushed wrestlers (one of whom is the group's champion), Swann's use has been without fanfare and threatens to paint him as a wrestler stigmatized by losses. Swann deserved to be the focus of promotional videos prior to a huge debut and push, but instead, he's being used like he's not even under contract to WWE. Swann did get a chance to show a bit of his ability in the Balor match, but too many losses while "looking good" will just make him NXT's version of Neville. Well, Neville was NXT's version of Neville, but I mean... you get the idea.