The Best And Worst Of WWE NXT 10/11/17: Static Prevails

Previously on the Best and Worst of WWE NXT: Kairi Sane dropped an elbow, Velveteen Dream dropped an elbow, and I dropped an elbow a bunch of Bad Religion references.

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And now, the Best and Worst of WWE NXT for October 11, 2017.

Worst: Cautioners

This was a weird episode of NXT. It was essentially 100 percent wrestling, which was incredibly refreshing, yet very little actually happened. I take notes as I watch the show each week, and I’ve never had less notes than this episode. Even the TakeOver leftovers episodes give me more to talk about.

So, let’s start with the only match on the show with significant storyline movement, the triple threat between Peyton Royce, Liv Morgan and Nikki Cross, with the winner advancing to TakeOver: Houston (or apparently TakeOver: WarGames now) to face Kairi Sane plus two other women in a fatal four-way for the vacant NXT Women’s Championship. WWE-style triple threats are usually never that great, as it’s the “dump one competitor out of the ring, let the other two have a one-on-one match” trope that WWE has been doing for years now.

I’m even more surprised they’re running all the qualifier matches for this championship shot as triple threats, as NXT is still very much developmental, and it showed tonight. Morgan was the weak link in this match beyond the first minute or so; once she had gone through her Rolodex of spots, she was a non-factor the rest of the time.

Strangely, I wasn’t feeling Nikki all that much in this match, either, but Peyton was top-notch, and the right woman definitely won. (I have absolutely no idea how Peyton can bend her body that much.) What I don’t understand is the run-in with Taynara Conti, who apparently was in the Mae Young Classic. Now listen, I watched every single match of that tournament, and I had literally zero recollection of this person, who lost in the first round to Lacey Evans. What a bizarre choice for a run-in — the crowd had no idea who she was and why we should care, and she has no previous connection to the Ring Of Dishonor crew (or the Undisputed Era, whatever). The whole thing fell super-flat for me.

Best: For Me This Is Heaven

After having his debut interrupted by Velveteen Dream last week, Lio Rush gets his official NXT in-ring debut against the Artist Formerly Known As Patrick Clark, and it is a doozy. For the folks who are already familiar with Rush, his impressive skillset comes as no surprise, but to folks like me, who barely have enough time to watch all of WWE’s product, let alone the wealth of stuff on the indie circuit, it’s awesome to see someone debut and live up to their buzz, even in a losing effort. Watching how fast he moved made me feel like I was playing a video game against a little kid who knows every combo move. I’d say “upstream him to 205 Live pronto,” but that might be more of a punishment than a reward at this point.

Two supplemental Bests: First, fuck yeah female ref! Jessika Carr made her debut as a WWE referee during the Mae Young Classic but before this episode of NXT had never reffed a televised men’s bout, just women’s matches. That changed when she donned the stripes for Rush/Dream, making history in the process — and better yet, WWE didn’t make a big deal about it. The revolution will be televised, just not overblown, and I can live with that.

Second supplemental Best goes to Velveteen Dream for turning his Purple Rainmaker elbow drop into a springboard elbow drop, I guess? Not sure exactly what you’d call it, but that additional flair of jumping from the second rope to the top rope before dropping the ‘bow was a nice touch.

Best: Pain

While the outcome of the match between Lars Sullivan and Jason Statham Danny Burch wasn’t ever in question, it was another good showcase for both men. Lars is a goddamn beast, and Burch always looks good in defeat. Maybe this leads to a handicap match between Lars, Danny and Oney Lorcan, which I would be all the hell in on — especially if they could actually slay the giant. (Let’s avoid giving anyone else a super-long winning streak for a little bit, okay NXT?)

My only real (minor) complaint was that this was the second straight match that started off with the babyface slapping the heel, reminiscent of how the week before, we had two consecutive segments end with huge elbow drops. I realize there are only so many things that can be done inside a wrestling ring, but can we at least space these things out?

Worst: Carry You

Street Profits face off against the team of Damien Smith (aka if Raven went as Violet Beauregarde for Halloween) and and Markos Espada, who got less screentime than Jeff Jarrett in an Intercontinental Championship history video package. Once again, it’s abundantly clear to anyone with eyes that Montez Ford is the superior half of this tag team, and Angelo Dawkins might as well start calling himself “Marty.” It’s crazy how much Ford is carrying Dawkins at this point — Dawkins has been in developmental for a half-decade! How is he still the weak link?

But the real Worst comes at the end of the match, when the Profits go into the crowd to celebrate, Dawkins grabs the mic and then does nothing with it. Like, just saying “Hey! Hey! Hey!” on the off-beats ain’t gonna give your character definition, dude. Total waste of time.

Worst: World Is Static

Our main event is a rematch between one Jonathan Gargleman and his TakeOver: Brooklyn III opponent, Andrade “Cien” Almas. Shockingly, Percy Watson actually added insight regarding Gargano’s “Johnny Wrestling” nickname, connecting it to former Cleveland Browns QB (and all-around failure) Johnny “Football” Manziel, even alluding to Manziel’s significant off-the-field problems affected his play, and how Gargano has to get re-focused. It’s a nuanced analysis of a goofy nickname, completely stomped over by Nigel McGuinness’ clumsy interpretation of “This kid loves wrestling! He’s done it his whole life!”

As for the match itself, honestly, it played out like white noise for me. Both competitors are undoubtedly talented, but with Zelina Vega’s presence at ringside, interference was almost guaranteed — and when she did interfere, it was just a variation on the same theme as before, with her wearing a DIY T-shirt. I’ll accept that the first time that happened at TakeOver: Brooklyn III, it would’ve been shocking enough to rattle Gargano, but to have it affect him in any way a second time is dumb — even to have him respond to it is dumb. Rise above hate, John.

At least we didn’t go full main-roster here with a surprise roll-up after the distraction, and it was nice to see Almas get another definitive win, but this likely culminates with a third match where Gargano finally gets the duke on Almas, which seems misguided. You’re already down 2-0 in this feud, bro. What good will a victory do besides once again halt Almas’ progression? Maybe I’m wrong and they split these two apart. I hope I’m wrong, frankly.

Next Week: We get an exclusive interview with Drew McIntyre (I wonder how they were able to score that), plus the Undisputed Era faces off against SAnitY in a six-man tag, and we get the next women’s triple threat qualifier match between Sonya Deville, Ruby Riot and the returning Ember Moon.