9 Ups And 3 Downs From WWE NXT Takeover: Brooklyn

6. Hug It Out

Some will say that the extracurriculars after the NXT Women€™s Championship match was a huge break of character and protocol. If you missed it, Sasha Banks re-entered the ring moments after losing her title to Bayley. The new champ already was celebrating with Charlotte and Becky Lynch. Banks walked over and hugged her bitter rivals, the four embracing and raising each other€™s arms. If you were watching for the first time, you€™d be hard-pressed to realize that they aren€™t supposed to like each other. But to those who think this is a €œdown,€ you€™re flat wrong. Mutual respect is something that even heels can show to their opponents. It doesn€™t have to be face-versus-face matches where there€™s a respect handshake or hug afterward. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkn8XgWxJdA There€™s no rule, written or otherwise, that says a villain can€™t respect their opponent. If anything, it helps a character be more complete. Banks showing respect doesn€™t €œexpose the business€ or any foolishness like that. It shows that she€™s not a one-dimensional heel. Yes, there are bad guys who would never shake their opponent€™s hand (Kevin Owens immediately comes to mind), but that doesn€™t mean no one can. Besides all of that, this was a pure, emotional moment, something WWE couldn€™t manufacture on its best day. That makes it even more special.
Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.