6 Ups & 1 Downs From Last Night's WWE NXT (Jan 17)
Downs...
1. Growing Pains
This week brought a couple of significant developments in the women's division. We'll get to the title program in a bit, but for now, let's shine a light on Lacey Evans.
A non-factor in the Mae Young Classic, she was reintroduced as a heel last night, and grappled her way past Aliyah in our second bout. The match wasn't terrible, but it didn't quite hit the mark. For all her promise, Evans was visibly uncomfortable during her control segments, and while she worked with greater intensity than usual, it's clear that she still needs considerable seasoning.
Aliyah, meanwhile, is a capable enhancement wrestler, but hasn't shown much progression since debuting in 2015. Maybe she has grown, and the company just haven't given her an opportunity to show it, but it feels like she should be further along her development curve.
It's hard to be too critical on Evans and Aliyah - they're in NXT to learn, after all - but their brief singles bout fell flat. Lacey's post-match promo was misplaced, too: this was literally her first NXT victory, but she's already calling out Ember Moon and Shayna Baszler. What part of that makes sense?