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

3. Some Fun And Excitement

Swerve Scott
WWE.com

Breezango and Isaiah ‘Swerve’ Scott brought welcome reprieve from the grizzled, serious business that made up most of the first hour. Tyler Breeze and Fandango are quietly crucial to this televised NXT revamp: it would all be a bit po-faced without the fun and light comedy they bring to it.

Breeze was good value early; his repeated, boneheaded insistence on engaging in a test of strength with Jaxson Ryker was funny character work, and where it’s normally impossible to care about the Forgotten Sons—what an absolutely stupid, fatalistic act that is—here, they acted as a blank (bland) canvas on which the babyface trio showcased their stuff.

Scott was the obvious star here, and the match layout recognised that—but before his electric cameo, another welcome appearance from Fandango’s reinvented super-worker-adjacent character ignited the crowd. He is working his a*se off.

Scott bumped huge and selflessly for a pointless cause. He probably sold too much, without first mounting a shine, but the way he jumped around and off—and systematically took out the Sons—was tremendous.

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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!