8 Ups And 3 Downs From NXT TakeOver: Portland

UPS…

8. NXT Mixes Up The Set

NXT TakeOver Portland set
Twitter, @TheArcherMW

Kudos to the people who make decisions about the layout of the stage, because in an era where everything looks homogenous, NXT managed to look unique by stripping things down.

Gone were the excessive LED walls and flooring that dominates WWE programming. In their place were two side panels and an overhead LED board, while the entranceway was flanked by lighting scaffolding and LED lights shining every which way. It looked like some of the early 2000s PPV stages, when they’d design unique sets that reused some of the same materials, just in different setups.

Here’s hoping this becomes a regular thing – different sets that don’t rely on excessive LED panels. It gives NXT a unique look despite being a WWE property, and that’s part of what makes it fun to follow.

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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.