7 Ups And 4 Downs From Last Night's NXT (April 15)

1. Killer Kross

Just to further illustrate my point about Timothy Thatcher, if you absolutely must debut a new star under these circumstances then do it in a way that makes the best of what you've got to work with. Kross attacking Ciampa after a match at TakeOver would have elicited one of the biggest crowd roars NXT had ever seen but, if you can't do that, don't give us a pale imitation in an empty room.

Instead what we got was a short, sharp, impactful backstage assault during a promo which, given the content of what Ciampa was saying this felt like a tiresome rehash of a feud that was supposed to be finished. But, shot in near horror-movie found footage style, Kross attacked him and stood leering and snarling over his adversary's broken body. Tick tock, he muttered.

In total this segment ran for less than 90 seconds but it carried more weight than the countless promos and verbal tirades Ciampa and Gargano have been afforded over recent months. Things needed mixing up here, and Kross has done just that.