The Best And Worst Of WWE NXT 11/1/17: Reinventing The Steel

Previously on the Best and Worst of WWE NXT: We watched a dope-ass women’s battle royale, and a tag team comprised of an ass and a dope.

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And now, the Best and Worst of WWE NXT for November 1, 2017.

Worst: Clash With Reality

Right off the bat, here is the inherent problem with the Best & Worst format: It doesn’t leave much room for gray areas. Was this match between Nikki Cross and Taynara Conti terrible? Nope. Did the opening sequence feel incredibly mis-timed? Yep. Did the performers have in-ring chemistry? Nope. Was it the worst match on the show? Yep. This felt less like a wrestling match and more like a YouTube fight between two random girls — all it was missing was a shovel being chucked at someone’s head. I don’t need to ever see this pairing again.

Best: Strength Beyond Strength

Johnny Gargano vs. Fabian Aichner was awesome, full stop. From the extended mat wrestling that opened the contest to the incredible feats of strength that closed it (when Aichner chucked Gargles into the air, flipped him around and delivered a backbreaker, I legitimately yelled “Wow!” in my living room to no one), it was awesome. I love how this simultaneously helped make Aichner and also continued to convincingly push Gargano’s “Am I not good anymore?” narrative. Both his slingshot spear and slingshot DDT looked dope and could have easily been match-enders, but neither were. This appears to be laying the groundwork for a long-term storyline that could conceivably result in a Sami Zayn-esque rise to the NXT Championship, though really, this is why NXT needs a mid-card singles belt.

Tiny Worst, however, goes to Mauro Ranallo who absolutely shatters kayfabe by saying that Fabian Aichner is only the second Italian to earn a WWE contract, after Bruno Sammartino. How are you gonna punk out Santino like that, dude?

Worst: This Love

Oh goodie, a feud between two teams, each of which feature one of my least-favorite guys in NXT. Anyone wanna take a shot at what Angelo Dawkins’ “C.O.G.” headband stands for? (I assume the “24/7 Lockdown” headband is a reference to the Impact Wrestling special event he will eventually debut at once he’s given his walking papers.)

As for Tino Sabbatelli and Riddick Moss, after the way they continually referred to the Maserati as “our car,” I’m officially shipping them. Here we were thinking Velveteen Dream was going to be NXT’s first openly gay character when we have this impeccably dressed (and infuriatingly in-shape) couple parading around right under our noses.

Worst: I’ll Cast A Shadow

I’m not sure where in the taping schedule this segment fell, but man, if your champion getting jumped from behind gets zero crowd response, maybe you should reconsider the feud. Credit to Almas for trying to make this thing cook (and Time Traveler Zelina Vega using her future-gum to stick the contract to Drew McIntyre’s lapel was a nice, gross touch), but there is no heat here, brother.

Best: Mouth For War

Apparently the Iconic Duo have been taking lessons from Donald Trump’s Twitter account, referring to some of Peyton Royce’s upcoming opponents as “Crazy Nikki” and a “stupid little pirate.” But those remarks land Billie Kay in hot water as Kairi Sane silently, confidently strides in and intimidates them both without uttering a single word. This is how you correctly hide your talent’s weaknesses. Bravo, NXT.

Best: War Nerve

I admit I wasn’t as hyped for this match as I should have been, mainly because I had known for weeks that TakeOver: Houston was morphing into TakeOver: WarGames. I didn’t know this because I read spoilers; I know this because WWE itself has been pushing that information for weeks through various forms of social media. It’s one of many problems with the wrestling world being so plugged-in these days: There is little mystery about anything anymore. So I fully assumed this match would end in a Ring Of Dishonor run-in, which it did, as well as a Roddy Strong save, which it also did. The match itself was fine (Eric Young’s top-rope elbow drop is still spectacular), but I wasn’t nearly as engaged with it as I wanted to be.

But I’ll be goddamned if I didn’t legitimately get goose bumps when William Regal came out and officially announced WarGames. Hearing the audience’s excitement and seeing the looks on all three teams faces (SAnitY’s was one of bloodlust; Authors Of Pain and Roddy’s was one of steeled resolve; and the Undisputed Era’s was one of “oh f*ck, this is not what we signed up for”) totally sold me on the moment, despite WWE’s social media team doing their best to suck the life out of it weeks ago.

Roddy’s motivations here are still a bit unclear — why align yourselves with Authors Of Pain? Why not just partner up with Adam Cole and his buddies, who have done nothing but try to recruit you in the nicest ways possible? — which makes me think that maybe he will switch sides during the WarGames match and join up with BayBay’s Kids. We’ll find out soon enough.

Next Week: Billie Kay sails into the typhoon that is Kairi Sane, and presumably (hopefully) we get another Aleister Black/Velveteen Dream segment. Only two more episodes until TakeOver: WarGames, y’all!