The NXT new era has begun! How does Brad feel about it? He probably hates it, right?

6. If this show is an indicator of the rumored NXT overhaul, I’m not impressed. Almost everything about this week was RawDown ass trash. It started with an 8-minute promo by Cameron Grimes that went nowhere and did nothing. I could see the life fleeing from the momentum he’s worked so hard to build. It was sad. Then we get a commercial break and 12 minutes later, our first match. One match over 7 minutes. Only one match worth watching. This is why we can’t have nice things. At least we got a new logo. That makes up for two painfully long hours. 

5. A wedding angle? I can count on my middle finger all the entertaining wedding angles in wrestling history. I hope Dexter Lumis is enjoying this, because I am not. This was actually worse than Kay Lee Ray’s disappointing debut and Boa’s puzzling loss. All of it was RawDown ass trash.

4. Samoa Joe brings zero energy to the Championship title. It’s gonna take a lot of pyro to make me care about his third reign. He is clearly not the Joe from 5 years ago. RawDown lives in the past and pretends nothing ever changed. NXT should be about the future. And who is his next challenger? Let’s stuff the ring with anyone we can think of. That’s what they do on RawDown.  

3. Carmello Hayes has his new moniker: The Overdog. He’s clearly very talented and not a bad choice to win the Breakout Stars Tournament. Odyssey Jones should not have been anywhere near the ring. He’s more green than spinach and not as tasty. Overall, it is discouraging how little they have used the Breakout Stars. Joe Gacy is AWOL. Trey Baxter, Ikemen Jiro and Josh Briggs are jobbers. So much for breaking out. Needs more Goldberg.  

2. The highlight of the night? A too-short segment between William Regal and Johnny Gargano. Where there’s a Will-iam, there’s a Way. Golden. Everyone deserves better, but Gargano in particular should not be shackled with the burden of being demoted to NXT RawDown. He’s been too good for too long. In fact, I would even call him elite. 

1. A one-match show. I’ve never typed that. NXT used to be where I went for wrestling. That’s over. Now I’ll endure countless interviews & boring promos so I can be “rewarded” with a gem like Legado Del Fantasma versus Hit Row. Great action with an absolutely perfect repackaging. Hello Electra Lopez. Say nothing. Crack B-Fab with a lead pipe. Stand on the ramp like a Bulla. I’m excited to see more of you…unless next week you turn on Legado, elope with Swerve Scott and reveal that Wade Barrett is your long lost daddy. It’s the RawDown way.