NXT Thread *SPOILERS*

Gargano new North American champion thanks to help from someone in a scream costume

Christ its Ciampa isn't it ?

Saw that coming from Pete Dunne

Not sure about Burch and Lorcan being in such prominent positions but I guess they're not there to set the world alight, just to take the losses for Dunne and McAfee.

Didn’t recognize Pete Dunne at first. Hadn’t watched NXT for a while and hadn’t heard anything about his body transformation. He looks great to be fair

https://twitter.com/bryanalvarez/status/1321906665130659840?s=21

Everyone is talking about Walter/Ilja Dragunov from this week's NXT UK so I had to check it out. Unrelenting physicality, I'd say this is by a distance the stiffest, most physical pro wrestling match ever presented under the WWE banner. Everything was laid in heavy, just a barrage of chops, lariats, elbows, neck bumps, all of it. It is a legit MOTYC, it'll be comfortably the WWE match of the year and should rank highly in end of year lists if enough people see it. It's distinctly un-WWE, the house style, the run of signature moves, the hard camera, the work telling the story rather than everything else but the work, moves not solely performed centre of the ring, this felt like a fight and probably belonged more so in Korakeun Hall rather than the BT Sport studio, it was like nothing you've seen before in WWE in every respect.

Finally, the wrestlers. Ilja took a beating, his selling is world class, he's a great sympathetic babyface and you were with him every step of the way. Walter reminds me so much of Tomohiro Ishii, no surprise given the role of Ishii in mentoring him, not so much in his role (Ishii excels working from underneath, Walter far better working as the dominant heel) but rather in how he drags you into his matches. The Ishii vortex is something we all know about, you know what's coming, but every time he drags you, kicking and screaming if needs be, into rooting with everything you have for him to overcome the odds. In the same way, you know what a Walter match will be (though this was different to any of his previous WWE matches) and yet you still become engrossed, you still end up wanting the opponent to beat this overconfident, overpowered final boss. The Walter vortex was on full display here. He's a master worker, the best worker WWE has and one of the best in the world.

If this exact match had taken place in front of fans I'd honestly say this was the best WWE match I've ever seen. I'm torn between ****3/4 and the full *****

Just finished that NXT UK Main event. That was stunning. I think the fact that there was no crowd there helped the raw visceral nature of it. Hearing everything, the will of the two of them to continute going without any crowd momentum. It felt like a fight, but a fight within the rules of wrestling. No punches thrown, looking for submissions. Amazing.

It would be something you could show non wrestling fans and point to why you like wrestling and they would get it

Sirsok wrote: »

Just finished that NXT UK Main event. That was stunning. I think the fact that there was no crowd there helped the raw visceral nature of it. Hearing everything, the willnofbthe two of them to cobtinute going without any crowd momentum. It felt like a fight, but a fight within the rules of wrestling. No punches thrown, looking for submissions. Amazing.

It would be something you could show non wrestling fans and point to why you like wrestling and they would get it

Without a doubt what we've seen over this empty arena era is that stiff, physical matches work best. This match or Shingo/Sho from New Japan Cup are my favourite empty arena matches.

The White Wolf wrote: »

Raquel Gonzalez is something else.

I think she could make an excellent babyface down the line. If they flipped the face/heel dynamic between her and Rhipley it could be star making for both.

She's very impressive. Can be the Brock Lesnar of the women's division if they do it right. Proper powerhouse unlike Nia's ambling style.

Shotzi really liked her tank. So much that she botched the move early on. Having the Scream costume this week was a bit strange.

PTH2009 wrote: »

I quite like Pat McAfee's group. Pete Dunne is such an English thug/bastard and should stay a heel for his whole career

McAfee has more charisma on the mic than anyone in NXT and most of the main roster

Well that was certainly unexpected

Do we reckon they could fit the war games setup inside the cwc? Because if I wanted to "counter program" omega/mox, I'd stick team pat vs ue vs breezango/dain/maverick inside the structure on Dec 2nd.......

Just like AEW this week, this was a light yet entertaining show.

The opener was fun and a nice unexpected win for Ruff. Gargano is excellent. It takes great talent to go from NXT golfrn boy mega face to winny, cunning heel. I dont mind Ruff taking the title.

Dexter Lumis had his best match to date against Thatcher. Lumis is limited but they play to his strengths and try hide his weaknesses. Grimes is very entertaining.

LaRae vs Storm was good. The womens division is so much better in NXT than AEW. We have 7 or 8 very well established talent now in NXT and anyone could eventually be the next champion.

The show clearly lacked star power with no Cole, Balor etc, but it furthered storylines well. Atlas vs Escobar was very goof for a TV match. As was the main event.

McAfee, like AEWs Kingston, is so smooth I could listen to him all day. Burch and Lornan can go and Id love to see them vs UE.

But whats up with Pete Dunnes tan. He looks ridiculously stupid.

And 2 cat sayings beforehand.

War Games on Dec 6th. Team Shotzi vs Team Candace. Likely Shotzi, Toni, Ember and someone else against Candace, Indi, Dakota and Raquel.
Also I assume UE vs Team McAfee.