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

2. Matt Riddle Is Da Man

Matt Riddle Jackhammer
WWE.com

An MMA fighter, NXT honoured the strategist by having him immediately scout Cameron Grimes’ over finish.

The match soon erupted into a beautiful exhibition of Riddle’s technique and personality alike; that Jackhammer spot—deployed so arbitrarily as to be a complete bantering off—was impeccable character work that popped the Full Sail crowd huge.

Cameron Grimes caught Riddle with a superbly-timed flip-into-a-German-suplex, Fénix-like in its smooth execution but adapted in a way that was congruous to this modern North American-styled fight. The exchanges at the finish were electric—the usual sort of modern counter-driven fare deployed believably and with real intensity—but was Grimes the best opponent for this latest (excellent) Riddle sprint squash? NXT has spent a decent amount of time building him as a player with the ability to chew through the completion with one bite.

It was a bit wasteful, but his finish wasn’t buried at least. The word “burial” belongs nowhere near this result.

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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!