9 Ups & 2 Downs From WWE NXT (Jul 27)

1. Cole Conquers Reed, O'Reilly Can't Let It Go

Your writer was very tempted to give last night's main event a Down overall largely due to what followed a rather enjoyable end-to-end skirmish. However, the fact that the action which preceded the tired angle was so much fun just about saved the evening from ending on an entirely sour note.

Bronson Reed is money. Simple as that. He moves like a man half his size, but can still play the "big man" role that Vince McMahon has been known to get a colossal-on for. And last night's performance against arguably NXT's finest ever performer proved once again that he can hang with just about anyone the company will throw at him. Splatting Cole with ease one moment, and believably selling a battered knee the next, it would take a monumental c*ck-up to get this guy wrong; that is a statement, not a challenge, Vince.

With Reed pretty much expected to head to either Monday or Friday nights in the not too distant future, though, it always seemed likely that the former North American Champion would be doing the job here. And on the back of missing his Tsunami splash and taking a mean-looking Last Shot from the former NXT Champion, Cole once again came away with a seismic victory.

Then, NXT regressed.

After teasing us with the idea of Cole being lined up to face a host of new faces in the coming weeks, his long-time bitter rival Kyle O'Reilly returned to the scene to bludgeon him with a steel chair. Not content with that violent act, Krazy Kyle would then return the steel steps favour, nailing Cole with a brainbuster onto the metal.

The act itself did what it was designed to do; make us realise that O'Reilly simply couldn't let go of his anger and rage at his former friend. Yet, fans have already seen the pair war for what feels like a full year and few will likely be excited about the prospect of numerous weeks of stale bickering between the two in the lead up to another TakeOver showdown.

They should've kept them apart, but Trips and HBK just couldn't help themselves.