5 Biggest Takeaways from NXT 2.0 (October 5th, 2021)
I like to keep things as positive as possible.
I like WWE.
I like AEW.
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NXT 2.0 has now reached it’s turning point. Instead of spending the night introducing new character after new character and giving us a hundred short segments that don’t really take us anywhere, the show has begun to make sense again. With characters now becoming familiar to the audience, they have allowed them to spread their wings a little bit and be thrown into matches and/or angles. And while there was still a lot that was put on our plate last night, there still was not a whole lot to take in as any kind of importance.
Sportsmanship is a beautiful, and at times uncomfortable, thing. @JoeGacy defeats @ikemenjiro_wwe on #WWENXT! pic.twitter.com/249o9umTRo
— WWE (@WWE) October 6, 2021
We have officially kicked off the Bronn Breakker vs Ciampa feud that will now reach its conclusion at Halloween Havoc at the end of the month. Bronn gave another above average performance with his promo and continued to look like a man that belongs in the same ring as Tomasso, which is no easy feat for a rookie. Toxic Attraction continued their dominance on the screen as Mandy was able to have a good match with Ember Moon, and followed it up later in the night with Gigi and Jayne as they had an encounter with Raquel and the tag champs, Io & Zoey. A few more matches sprinkled in on the show and it was the most complete 2 hours of a professional wrestling show that we have got since NXT 2.0 was presented to us one month ago.
This week I am going to go in a bit of a different route. Instead of focusing on the 5 biggest takeaways from the show itself, I am going to focus on the 5 stars with the most potential thus far. I am going to exclude the obvious name, Bronn Breakker, as not only has everyone and their grandmother realized his star quality already but he has a NXT Championship match set in place so his potential is already being displayed.
Honorable Mention: Andre Chase
With the little bit of tv time Andre has had, he has made it very clear that he is capable of entertaining the masses. His character is arrogant, delusional and his delivery has been nothing short of amazing. Whether it be his one liner at the Index wedding, his in class vignette where he lost his cool or breaking up interviews in the back. The man has delivered. The reason for him only getting an honorable mention? This kind of character usually doesn’t come with in ring success. His TV time will increase and he will always find himself in the best feuds, but this heelish character works best when he is constantly being foiled. Andre Chase is tailor made for Vince’s idea of sports entertainment. As long as he can keep the momentum and make the masses laugh, he will do just fine though.
#5: Harland
What do we know about Harland? Nothing. Nada. Zilch. His on screen debut happened last night and he looked… different. The “Next Big Thing” Brock Lesnar ripoff has been repackaged as anything but the next Brock Lesnar. With a clean shaven head and an outfit that looks like it was taken straight off of Jason Voorhees, Harland looks like a real problem for everyone in NXT. He looks no nonsense, and his brief stare down with Joe Gacy let’s you know this.
As the most hyped from his performance center class, Parker Boudreaux has the most to prove. Some chatter online had people already soured on the character and you would have to believe that comes from fans wanting him to be a big deal. I look forward to seeing where this character takes him and it is definitely intriguing that they have altered his look and delivered him in a way that nobody expected. Whether he feuds or aligns himself with Gacy, there is something there that we will surely see unfold in the next few weeks.
#4: Creed Brothers
NXT and Tag Teams are a match made in heaven. When we have a tag division, NXT is phenomenal. When the tag division is in the mud, NXT is clearly missing something. Last night we saw a mixture of the new and the old in a 4 way Tag Team title elimination match. We already know about MSK and how great they are. Grizzled Young Veterans? If you’re not a fan, I don’t know what is wrong with you. Their promo work is annoying, which is the point and they can go with anybody in the ring. They should be featured more. Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams might not be a tag team for long but with a talent like Hayes, getting him in the ring in any way, shape or form is a good idea. Jensen and Brooks are a new team that have size and great chemistry. They will help the tag division in NXT 2.0 re-capture some of the glory it lost. We even still have Imperium. Nothing needs to be said, we all know they are fantastic.
Above all of those teams though, we have the Creed Brothers. They have size, fire and are a part of the current most dominant faction in NXT, Diamond Mine. They are amateur wrestlers that look like they want to hurt you. They have suplexes for days that give you some Steiner Brother’s vibes. They don’t talk much and they don’t need to. Much like Harland, they are very no nonsense and I look forward to seeing them dominate the tag division for a very long time. Their battles with Jensen and Brooks will be something that will really help bring eyes to the ring with all four of their size and brute strength.
#3: Cora Jade
She is young. She is very talented. And she rides a skateboard.
That last one probably isn’t as important but it does make her standout from the field. In WWE/NXT, the best women’s roster on the planet, it is very important that you can distance yourself from the rest. In one night, Cora has done that. What else did she do? Picked up a victory over Franky Monet, which is just as big of a deal. The women’s roster continues to get richer with all the talent they continue to amass. Her victory was a fluke and came due to Franky’s arrogance but it is an indicator to how they view Cora’s talent and future within the company. Personally, not a fan of pairing her with her real life boyfriend on screen, but I’m willing to see where it goes and how it will impact her moving forward.
#2: Joe Gacy
Arguably, the best new character in NXT 2.0. He lost his debut, got canceled, uncancelled and now finds himself in a main event match next week with Tomasso Ciampa. If he wins that match, he thrusts himself into a triple threat match with Ciampa and Breakker at Halloween Havoc for the NXT Championship. That’s one hell of a roller coaster ride for Joe. Now we add in the fact that his stare down Harland could either lead to a feud or a partnership, and you have many layers with Joe Gacy already.
The character continues to find fans online intrigued. People either really love it or they really hate it. There is no in between here and that is a good indicator that the character is going to work. Obviously they have found a way to throw him into the NXT Championship scene and in my opinion, he is the most likely to be walking out of Halloween Havoc with the title. Ciampa is a transitional champion, he won’t have Goldie long. Breakker is the obvious choice and sometimes obvious is not the way to go. Gacy is the one gaining attention outside of the wrestling world. Gacy is the one that can take that title and do something special with it. On top of all of that, he is the best promo of the young bunch by a mile.
#1: Tony D’Angelo
A surprise to me, Tony was very much over with the crowd last night. Those pre-taped vignettes proved to be very beneficial as it gave the audience time to see the character, get to know him a little bit and connect with him before his debut. And whereas his character is very “retro,” his in ring work was not. He was brutal and he stood out from a lot of other talents. Coming out in the jumper and then trying to bribe the referee before the match worked very well and further allowed the fans to understand what we can expect from him in the future. I would have preferred he had more of a squash match in his debut, but it allowed him to come back from a little bit of adversity which isn’t a bad thing. My only question about Tony: is he face or heel? With the way the fans reacted, I can see them pulling the trigger on him playing up to the crowd a bit but it will be a hard sell in the long run. I can see D’Angelo being a big time fan favorite for the foreseeable future.
Take all that talent, add in the likes of Odyssey Jones, Carmelo Hayes, Zoey Stark and Duke Hudson and you have a roster full of guys and gals that can really grow and become the future of WWE, fulfilling the mission that the rebranding was done for in the first place. I can easily see each of the names listed here transitioning to Raw or Smackdown and having success without having to be repackaged.
Agree with the list? Disagree? Let me know what you think. For the first time in a month, I am actually excited about NXT again and would love to hear what others think about the direction NXT 2.0 is moving in and speculating on how big an impact some of these characters will make within the next 5 years in WWE.
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