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

Ups...

5. Drift Away

As WWE fans, we're used to seeing large, incompetent wrestlers get pushed at the expense of their smaller, more talented counterparts, but that doesn't mean it gets any easier to sit through. Case in point - NXT opened with a bout between Johnny Gargano and "The Drifter" Elias Samson, and the unpolished Samson got the bulk of the offense. It was frustrating to watch Gargano - who simply via selling and ring positioning was able to show off his capabilities - suffer a beatdown at the hands of Samson while the announcers mentioned that "The Drifter" was undefeated, but the match had a shocking ending. Gargano slingshotted himself through the ropes, rolled Samson up, and pinned him! Granted, Samson beat down Gargano afterward until Apollo Crews made the save, setting up a match between the two men at TakeOver: Dallas. One could also make the argument that, given the fact that he's got a match on a major show, Samson really shouldn't have lost this bout. Still, it was nice to see Gargano score the much-deserved victory.