8 Ups And 1 Down For WWE NXT (May 4)

Down...

1. No Direction For Doomsday

Before he could take to the ring and captivate the NXT faithful with his typically enthralling entrance, it was announced earlier in the night that Karrion Kross would be taking on Austin Theory next week on the back of The Way protégé making a point out of checking out Scarlett's huge... nails. He's a child. And one which is likely to be eaten next week.

Away from that announcement, the NXT Champion made it known that he was tired of waiting for someone to step up. Queue every contender and his cat making their way to the ring to stake their claim for a shot at the top belt. Before long, the squared-circle was overflowing with the likes of Kyle O'Reilly, Pete Dunne and Finn Balor, leading to the unavoidable explosion of egos and an all-out brawl.

Proving that he's still a cut above the rest of the field, though, Kross successfully held the ring. Well, that was until Johnny Gargano and Kross' opponent next week hit the scene. A double superkick and North American title shot to the skull later, the Bringer of Doomsday was left lying.

So in the end, what could've been a real statement of intent for the brand's top title, marking out what the future would hold for Kross and his first programme post-title victory, soon devolved into an overloaded cliché of a filler segment. Theory being fed to the beast next week will undoubtedly be entertaining, don't get me wrong. But it's hard to imagine The Way being fully thrown into a feud with the big man at this moment in time, so this stinks of NXT playing for time until they figure out their next move for the top guy.