7 Ups And 1 Down From Last Night's WWE NXT (May 25)

With two weeks left until NXT TakeOver (which has now changed its name from "Revenge" to the more-than-a-little-ominous "The End"), there was pressure on the brand to make some more matches for the live WWE Network special. They delivered, announcing two more huge bouts for the program to stand beside Samoa Joe and Finn Balor's cage match, and the Tag Team Championship rematch between American Alpha and The Revival.

The show built up to TakeOver: The End, but it was also a strong offering in its own right. For the second straight week, NXT delivered a show that offered some great in-ring action - and this week, they did it without putting Joe, Balor, Shinsuke Nakamura, Austin Aries, Bayley, Asuka, or American Alpha in action. Even though there have been a lot of main roster call-ups in the wake of WrestleMania, this show was a testament to how strong the brand's talent lineup still is.

With all the talk of the upcoming brand split, there's a lot of uncertainty about what NXT will look like. Will the roster be preserved, or will it be gutted and restocked? Either way, the aesthetic of the brand means that the product will remain strong. Here are 7 ups and 1 down from May 25's episode of NXT:

The sole weak spot on this week's episode of NXT was a match between No Way Jose and Jonathan Ortagun. While it wasn't a truly bad bout, it paled in comparison to the other two contests on the show and it hammered home what No Way Jose is all about - he's a gimmick, not a wrestler.

That may not necessarily be a bad thing - NXT crowds really like him, and if that translates to the main roster (and, in turn, good merchandise sales), Jose will be set. The idea of emphasizing the sizzle over the steak - especially in today's WWE, where the company has the strongest roster it's ever had - just doesn't appeal to me. It's possible Jose is a strong worker, but the creative team has had no interest in having him show it.

Jonathan Ortagun didn't get to show much, but what he did show looked like a bad ripoff of Marty Scurll. UK star Scurll is one of the most exciting up-and-comers in wrestling, and Ortagun looked to be emulating him with his beard and hair. Even his trunks, which read "Vandal" on the back (Ortagun wrestles as Johnny Vandal) were reminiscent of Scurll's, which say "Villain." There are certainly worse guys to copy, but this came off as low rent.