7 Ups & 2 Downs For Last Night's NXT (May 20)

7. Krossing Swords

NXT's been a thing on television for long enough now to have its own little trademarks. A lot of these are good, but, naturally, some are also Quite Bad, Actually. Never quite pacing the build right for big feuds is becoming a bad habit, progressing every major story with a series of mass brawls was (prior to social distancing) a pandemic all of its own, so credit where it's due here for getting a lot of the Kross debut right.

A few weeks of intriguing promos, the odd sighting off-camera, all leading to a backstage attack and, finally, one of the most talked-about ring entrances in ages and an eye-catching squash match. This has all felt like a bit big deal and, thus, so has he. NXT's bad habits suggested we'd get these squashes for weeks though, so it's a relief they've limited them to just two.

Tomasso Ciampa laying down the challenge to him was perfectly timed this week. Kross is still a monstrous novelty and we haven't been allowed to tire of watching him pulverize men half his size, so striking while the iron's hot is a smart move. The next step is making sure Kross vs Ciampa is a banger, then the sky's the limit for him.

Shoutout to Liam Gray as well, who was also there!