9 Ups & 1 Down From WWE NXT (Feb 12)

8. The Boys In The Back

Strong Reed
NXT

NXT's so great at this exact moment, but starting to think about what the future might hold does bring some cause for concern. One the one hand there just simply isn't enough TV time for the depth of the roster, and from the upper-midcard down there's a logjam of directionless stars whose development will surely suffer. But on the other, the company has just rattled through four solid NXT Championship challengers in the space of two TakeOvers.

After WrestleMania (and arguably in the run-up to it as well) NXT needs to start providing up with fresh new angles and matches, which don't merely revolve around Ciampa, Gargano, Balor, or the Undisputed Era. Thankfully though, this week's episode showed why that should, in theory, be easy. Despite having no feud to speak of, or any spot on the upcoming TakeOver card, Bronson Reed and Cameron Grimes both emerged from the evening's show looking like stars.

For Reed his Big-Man-Little-Man dynamic with Roderick Strong was a thrilling opener that did as much for his as it did for the story he was interrupting, and Cameron Grimes showed why management has so much faith in him by putting on one of the TV matches of the year with Johnny Gargano. In Austin Theory, Danny Burch, Joaquin Wilde, Mansoor, Raúl Mendoza, and Tyler Bate, the rarely-seen elements of the roster should all have nig chances this year. Here's hoping they take them.

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Managing Editor

WhatCulture's Managing Editor and Chief Reporter | Previously seen in Vice, Esquire, FourFourTwo, Sabotage Times, Loaded, The Set Pieces, and Mundial Magazine