7 Ups And 3 Downs For NXT TakeOver XXV

Downs…

3. Shots Fired

NXT TakeOver XXV Commentary Team
WWE Network

Ooooh, look at WWE! They’re being edgy!

First Sami Zayn name-dropped “AEW” and there are conflicting reports about whether it was scripted, or whether Vince McMahon was pissed. Then on Saturday, Nigel McGuinness opened TakeOver by declaring that the black & gold brand is the “true alternative in sports entertainment.”

That’s an indirect reference to AEW, which has billed itself oftentimes not as competition to WWE, but an alternative to the wrestling juggernaut. There really wasn’t much doubt that Nigel’s comment was meant to be a jab at AEW thinking it could position itself as a change of pace for WWE fans, when the company has its own change-of-pace brand in NXT.

Regardless, it’s just dumb. If you’re going to go to war and call out the competition, do it. But at the same time, it’s a little hollow when it comes in the midst of a creatively bankrupt period for WWE and just after a devastating podcast interview with Jon Moxley eviscerated the company’s creative process.

Maybe just focus on improving your own main roster product before taking jabs at opponents?

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Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.