7 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE NXT (Oct 23)

3. Another Contrived Match: Made

Cameron Grimes
WWE.com

Following Matt Riddle’s win, Cameron Grimes refused the fist bump.

Tyler Bate, standing at ringside like a magnet for contrivance that trope is, appealed to his sense of sportsmanship. Grimes, uninterested, shoved him away. Bate responded with a punch, setting up a match between the two of the sort that Mauro Ranallo will inevitably frame as Bate’s quest to “make a name for himself” at Grimes’ expense.

Very good match, dry build: that is very much the latter-day NXT story, one the lack of a competitive sporting framework apparently makes inevitable. NXT is trapped between two worlds: the scripted nature of itself and the competition-matters ethos it spouts without really qualifying.

So it’s all very much “Looking to make a name for himself” and it’s very much dry.

Advertisement
Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!