NXT Minus 6: Second Chances

Bradley Jay is back with a look at NXT 2.0–is he glad he came back? Will he be back for more?

Been a long time, but I’m back. I decided to give NXT a second chance.

6. Let’s jump right into it. The paint splatter decor is a total mood killer. I don’t want to watch people fighting in a party room for a 6 year old. This isn’t nitpicking. Atmosphere matters. Next time you take your spouse to a fancy romantic dinner, ask the restaurant to play some Scandinavian death metal and tell me I’m wrong.

5. Speaking of 6 year olds… The camera man must be a first grader on a pogo stick with a Gopro strapped to their head. I miss so much action because someone thinks frantic camera cuts are edgy and hip. Maybe I’m not edgy and hip, and maybe small children shouldn’t be playing with a pogo stick.

4. WTF did Dakota Kai do to deserve this? For some reason, she randomly loses her mind. And her partner falls asleep in the ring? Wearing a onesie? The first grader cameraman must also be their head writer. What if Dakota Kai rides a kangaroo to the ring and her partner shouts “poo poo farts” every time she hits a move. That would slap. Poo poo farts.

3. More time was slotted for b.s. prerecorded promos than the championship match. If you need any more evidence of what matters in 2.0, there it is. I’m not sure how many times I’d need to be kicked in the head before I found Lash Legend entertaining.

2. You can make fun of his name. You can criticize how he’s been used. Put all that aside because Dolph Ziggler is really good. Despite the fact that it makes no sense for him to be in NXT, Ziggler makes it work. The triple threat championship match had some solid action that avoided the “third guy plays dead on the outside” cliche. It was a good Tuesday night match, not a great special event match. That’s as much as I can expect from 2.0.

1.  No surprise, the match of the night was MSK versus Imperium. For 5 minutes, 5 FREAKING MINUTES, it was a reminder of when NXT cared about silly stuff like tag team wrestling and in-ring action. I don’t even mind the predictable DQ finish, because I’m hoping it turns into a triple threat with the Creed Brothers. Given the opportunity, MSK versus Imperium versus Creeds is the match that will steal the show at Wrestlemania weekend. I’m sure that will happen.