7 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE NXT: New Year's Evil (Results & Review - 2 Jan)

DOWNS…

4. What’s The Play Here?

Devoting a sit-down interview to Ridge Holland to better explain himself after inadvertently putting Ilja Dragunov on the shelf wasn’t a bad idea, but the conversation only served to confuse the story more.

Heading into Tuesday, the story seemed to be that Ridge has had a black cloud over him when it comes to his opponents getting injured: Big E, Elton Prince and now the NXT Champion. The tactic of leaning into two real-life in-ring accidents was interesting, but it was worth giving them some latitude.

Holland’s New Year’s Evil interview instead focused on his personal journey and the injuries he’s sustained in the ring, including a gruesome one in 2020. However, they completely ignored the Big E and Prince accidents, making it weird when they suddenly zigged into the Dragunov injury. Ridge insisted there was no malicious intent and said he was back in NXT to prove who he is.

So, who is Ridge Holland? They wanted to play off his in-ring mishaps, but then sidestepped them completely at the most appropriate time. It’s one thing to want to show both sides of the coin, but that doesn’t mean you forget the obvious suddenly. It felt very disjointed and fake, when it should have been a great balancing act to leave things a bit nebulous.