Santana Garrett and Taynara worked a less-than-passable mid-show match as NXT's first hour excitement screeched to an alarming halt, and though very little in the match could be criticised too harshly beyond some of the fresh air strikes, there was equally little worthy of praise.
This, regrettably, was everything the laboured and lazy criticisms of NXT's in-ring output point towards. Some kicking, some punching, some predictable narrative beats followed by a winner who was blindingly obvious from the entrances going over with a move presented as a finisher even if it doesn't always look like one. As token jobber in question, Santana Garrett made herself more than a warm body for Taynara, but not much more.
Mechanical to a fault and and at the expense of either performer truly getting over, the announcers tried to add sizzle to bone dry steak by noting how the contest could have WarGames implications. If based entirely on this routine squash win, team captains Shayna Baszler and Rhea Ripley would be discredited by picking either. But speaking of that...
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
