6 Ups And 2 Downs From Last Night's NXT (16 Sep)

5. It's Clean, Austin! It Was Clean All Along, Austin!

Yeah, fair play here, I'd already started writing the Down for this match when the finish arrived and popped it in the bin.

You see, quickly glancing into what I believed to be an inevitable future timeline, I didn't understand why you had to put this match together only for Bronson Reed and Velveteen Dream to both get involved and regress it into a mass brawl. Sure, the heels vs faces tag match we got next week might have been good, but Dream pinning Reed after shenanigans just felt like a really, really lazy way to keep both of these stories rolling on.

So, credit where it's due here. NXT actually giving us an honest content, in a good spot on the card, with enough time to showcase both men, AND a clean finish that hints on some character development is a hell of a swerve. Theory lost but still carries his swagger, and Kushida appears to have unlocked a more vicious side to himself.

That's a far more effective way to protect your talent than screwy finishes.