8 Ups And 2 Downs For WWE NXT (Jun 8)

1. Face-Off Devolves Into Chaos... As Usual

Did you really expect anything more from the minute this segment was announced?

After being told by General Manager William Regal that the originally planned face-off between the five TakeOver opponents had been called off on account of all the participants being hot-headed d*cks, Karrion Kross simply said "nuh-uh" to that and the stale conveyor belt of insults got underway.

Each being given a sound-bite to rip into the Champion and whoever else was standing patiently and waiting politely for them to finish, the likes of Kyle O'Reilly, Johnny Gargano, and Pete Dunne all unfortunately came out of this looking like face-less goobers in line to be fed to The Game's new favourite toy.

At least Adam Cole had the foresight to beam himself into the CWC instead of opening himself up for a pointless brawl. Then, proving to be the smartest man in the room when he eventually did arrive, it was the longest reigning NXT Champion in the brand's history who stood tall, smashing the current champ in the back of the skull with a shining wizard as the rest of the field stared at the lights wondering how this once-mesmerising main event scene lost its way so quickly.

Look, the In Your House five-way itself will no doubt be a fun-filled affair on the night, but does anyone really care? Kross will likely reign supreme, and then what? A one-on-one encounter with Cole seems like the only engaging direction after this, but even that will feel worn out by the time Sunday night is over.

What a mess.