9 Ups & 1 Down From WWE NXT (Feb 12)
Daddy's *actually* home, this time.
So close.
In my entire time writing this column and presenting the video I have never been able to award NXT a clean-sweep of Ups but, for about an hour and a half this week, it looked like it would finally happen. It's a flawed system, sure, as overall B+ shows can actually pull out massive scores despite nothing brilliant even happening but, still, it would have been nice.
Not to worry though because even with one small negative this week, NXT heads into TakeOver: Portland on the back of a really, really strong episode of TV. Champions were pushed to their limit, new rivalries had their seeds sown and (almost) everyone who needed one last jolt of momentum actually got it. Plus, this just handed a camera to Matt Riddle and Pete Dunne and told them to just do whatever they wanted. The results were magic.
Still though, it was a high-pressure situation. Portland is NXT's first real standalone PPV, and won't benefit from any underwhelming main roster follow up to make it look better by comparison. It stands alone this Sunday, but who would be standing tall heading into it? Let's find out.