9 Ups & 5 Downs From Last Night's WWE NXT (Sept 18)
5. Shock The System
WWE.com
A terrific lingering programme reached its apex on NXT's maiden USA show with a match that fell just short of TakeOver standards but still took honours as one of the best WWE television matches in recent memory.
Hard to gauge if this was a great introduction of both men to the wider channel-hopping audience than the firecracker opener, Velveteen Dream's inexperience showed itself slightly to those within the bubble, but the pair worked so incredibly hard that the final five minutes captured all the excitement of a contemporary WWE classic.
The arrival of the Undisputed Era late on crafted an incredible false finish after Dream survived their interference, but - as with their other recent victories - Strong's actual victory was earned at the second attempt. And, speaking of the best act in the entire company...
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
