6 Ups And 1 Downs From WWE NXT (Dec 16)

Ups...

6. Kushida And Leon's Ruff Night

After his initial partner Damian Priest Krossed the wrong Karrion during last week's show, Leon Ruff instead found himself teaming with NXT's man-in-form KUSHIDA in a match against NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano and Austin Theory of The Way.

As expected, all four men worked their asses off here. Ruff in particular showed off his distinct style off offence in the form of his usual creative evasion tactics and a smooth kip-up kick to Gargano's smug face. Yet, his night admittedly took an unfortunate turn during a springboard to the outside spot that saw him slip off the top rope and land awkwardly.

Ruff and KUSHIDA would continue to valiantly fight back against their more in-sync rivals, with the latter producing a rather entertaining explosion during his hot tag sequence. However, the plucky faces ultimately weren't able to overcome The Way on this night. Theory eventually blind tagged his way into the bout and nailed the former North American Champion with a pump-handle flatliner-thing for the win.

Though this puts Ruff in a tough spot so soon after losing his belt at TakeOver, handing the victory over to the cocky heels was definitely the right call here. Theory halts his losing streak in his first match by Gargano's side, The Way now has even more reason to puff their chests out on Wednesday nights, and KUSHIDA, who didn't eat the pin, still looks like a credible challenger for The Gargandalorian.