9 Ups And 0 Downs From Last Night's NXT (27 May)

8. (Universal) Credit Where It's Due*

Again, I'd love to give you a full breakdown of WWE's decision to fire Drake Maverick on the eponymous Black Wednesday last month. I'd love to tell you the precise realities of this storyline, so that we could have a thorough discussion about whether or not it's cool to channel the genuine despair for 40m+ Americans in order to promote your wrestling tournament.

But I can't because WWE have been (you suspect very deliberately) vague around the specifics with this. My personal stance is that, regardless of whether or not it's a work, it's absolutely vile and completely erodes wrestling's greatest appeal as a work of escapism, but I've been saying this the 8th of April now. All you can really do is dissect the actual match.

And, in fairness, what a match it was. Stopping short of being the jewel in the tournament's crown, the 8-minute triple-threat stormer was a fantastic showcase of what spectacular technicians Atlas and Kushida are, as well as how experienced Maverick is at sculpting an in-ring narrative.

This while story still stinks, but the quality of the match more than drowned out the smell. *Also this is a genius headline if you live in the UK so, apologies to any American readers who don't get it.