6 Ups And 5 Downs From WWE NXT 2.0 (Dec 14)

3. 2.0 Jumps The Jade Shark

There's no denying that Cora Jade has picked up her fair share of momentum in recent weeks after scoring a number of flukey wins over notable names and even doing the business at WarGames. But last night felt like the moment 2.0 ran her roll-up underdog schtick into the ground, in all honesty.

What made those first cheeky victories so enjoyable to behold was the fact that they genuinely felt like shocks and not the least bit predictable (for the most part). When it came to a recently medically cleared Jade taking on the increasingly deranged (and not quite clicking) Dakota Kai, though, few honestly felt as though the latter stood a chance against the 20-year-old, and even less of those few NXT supporters could see past another roll-up being the finish.

Sure enough, that's precisely what we got after a bout that saw Kai expertly isolate the youngster's battered left shoulder. Feeling the need to send a message to old pal Raquel Gonzalez instead of picking up a statement win en-route to perhaps a shot at the gold, Kai reached for her trusty shovel, only to have that weapon yanked from her person by the ref. A chaotic pinning sequence followed an often chaotically choreographed throwdown, only for post-match beatdowns to overshadow the foreseen finish.

Kai was chased off by Big Mami Cool (setting up a Street Fight between the bitter enemies next week) before she could inflict further punishment on Jade, but that didn't stop Mandy Rose from getting one last shot in on a performer she stated wasn't even a threat to her a week ago.

Is Jade ready for the NXT Women's Championship spotlight? Last night's showing suggested otherwise, but it's hard to look past the skateboarding babyface being next in line, as of writing...