9 Ups & 5 Downs From Last Night's WWE NXT (Sept 18)
1. Is This It?
WWE.com
The lack of a major angle for the show's climax continued a tacit trend that this wasn't really a brand new NXT after all, but more of a soft-launch of the one kicking off in a fortnight's time.
One senses that the black-and-gold brand will be more than ready for the impending Wednesday Night War by then, and may well be saving a talk-of-the-industry angle or surprise for one of those major shows instead of during an unopposed episode or Network-exclusive second hour.
That frustratingly resulted in a show built around revolution and change instead ended with an air of familiarity. Some good, some bad, but very familiar. Whilst the wrestling world (and specifically the "WWE Universe") will have been extremely satisfied with two great hours, tectonic plates didn't really move when an earthquake was required.
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
