6 Ups & 2 Downs From Last Night's NXT (July 22)

2. Thatcher Defeats Lorcan

Now I'll hold my hands up here and say, yes, I did not want Timothy Thatcher to have a match like this anytime soon. I wanted him to squash his way through the brand, taking on opponents of varying style, size and substance, until finally putting him in a feud that had all three. I didn't want another match with Oney Lorcan (yet) and I definitely didn't want him to win with a scrappy pin and a handful of tights.

But I am an idiot and, frankly, what do I know.

This was brilliant. From Lorcan putting on his best ever NXT match, to Thatcher visibly withering in front of our eyes as his ability to lock in submission holds was taken away from him, this was an incredible follow-up to their instant classic 2 weeks ago. Both that match, and all of Thatcher's training camp video packages, were referenced at some stage here.

Thatcher getting the win still keeps his momentum rolling and, arguably, expands his character in a way that another squash wouldn't have been able to. Lorcan, for his part, now looks to be wasted in his tag-team with Danny Burch, although where he fits in as a singles guy (beyond this exact feud) isn't immediately clear. I don't know how they'd justify it with Thatcher at 2-0 here, but I've gone from not wanting to see a second match to on the verge of starting a petition for a third.