5 Biggest Takeaways from NXT 2.0 (September 21, 2021)
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Week two of the NXT 2.0 is getting more praise from the internet community, and looks to be a hit. They kept up with the theme of last week, new talent, and continued to pump out new names while highlighting those of which showed up last week. From top to bottom, last night’s episode had something for everyone and it didn’t slow up throughout the night. They were able to kick the start the show with a promo that ended in a brawl amongst most of the locker room. The show ended once again with a Ciampa/Breakker face off. Everything in between came at you at 100 MPH. If you blinked, you missed something.
With so much that happened, I would urge you to go check out the show if you missed it. The amount of material that was crammed in to those 2 hours last night would make a difficult task to try and pin down into one article. So check out the 5 Biggest Takeaways from NXT and then you can go check out the latest episode to see what you have to think about it.
#5: Toxic Attraction
Mandy Rose has felt more important since her return to NXT than she ever did in her WWE run. Her debut was mysterious as it didn’t give us any indication as to what her plans were. After watching talents over the next few weeks, she found what it is she was looking for. Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne. With the girls by her side, the wheels to her plan can now start in motion.
Mandy issued a warning to the rest of the NXT Women’s roster that they were there to take over and dominate. After letting it be know that “this” was the future of the division in NXT, Dolin and Jayne challenged Io Shirai and Zoey Stark for their Tag Titles. That match will take place on next week’s show and the first step in Fatal Attraction’s plan will take place. If they are succesful, you can expect to see Mandy setting her eye’s on the Women’s title to complete their takeover and validate their statement.
#4: Golden Diamond Mine
When Roderick Strong returned to NXT over a month ago, he set his eyes on Kushida and the Cruserweight championship. Since that return, the Diamond Mine has lost a member and then doubled in size. To lead that much youth, Roderick was going to need to fulfil his promise of dethroning the champ. After a several week hiatus that saw Kushida off television, we finally got the match up we’ve been waiting to see.
Roderick was able to find himself victorious after help from each member of the Diamond Mine faction, including a superman punch off the steel steps from Ivy Nile. Roddy was able to stand their before his peers, holding the title up high giving this faction a sense of validation. With a young tag team and a woman now following the Cruserweight champion, you can expect them to look at the same path of Fatal Attraction and set their eyes on the titles within their respected divisions. Roderick Strong was a part of one golden prophecy, so it will be interesting to see if he is able to replicate that success again.
#3: Stand Back, There’s a Superhero Coming Through?
It is very easy to see that the biggest focus on this new NXT 2.0 is characters. Between last week and this week, we are at double digitis with new characters being introduced. Last night there was tease of yet a new character.
Trey Baxter has had a few matches already in NXT and has looked impressive. He lacks character though and during the few times I saw him I could tell there was something missing from him. You can have it in the ring but if you’re not connecting with the audience, it won’t matter. Last night, there was a tease that they will be turning him into a superhero.
After feeling disappointed in his showing against the debuting Dante Chen, he was approached in the locker room by Cora Jade, his real life girlfriend. She gave him a pep talk to encourage him to not feel so bad and referenced Trey being like a superhero. She gave him a kiss and walked away, all the while Trey looked intrigued about the possibility of actually being a superhero. With Nikki A.S.H. having a small amount of success with her gimmick, I can see them trying to duplicate that on another show with a male this time and with Trey’s in ring ability, it could make for a dynamic change up for himself.
#2: This is NXT 2.0
If you haven’t caught on to the shift made from the previous version to what we have now, allow me to point out what has changed so far. We’re not watching a dim lit prison yard with a ring placed in the center of it anymore. We have lights shining from every direction on to the vibrant entry way and ring, and topped off by a nightclub looking atmosphere throughout the rest of the arena. Even the ring posts are covered with graffiti. We have an influx of new and young talent showing up on the tv every 5 minutes through in multiple ways. Those 15 minute matches that became synonymous with the brand are long gone and we are getting a more polished WWE style of in ring work that leads to shorter, less exciting matches but allows more focus on their character work.
With the shift to focus on characters, the show is very heavy on the vignette’s/promo’s/backstage segments that are allowing the fans to get to know all of these new names. Whether it be Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams crossing paths with Fatal Attraction during an interview, Tony D’Angelo & Andre Chase showing off their gimmick’s through pre-taped vignettes or just having these young and hungry guys comes out and make their presence known like Grayson Waller, NXT is sprinkling in these fresh faces throughout the entire show. They even found a way to put a video out of Ikemen Jiro and his wonderful jackets.
A big change up from last week to this week was attitude. There was plenty of attitude on display with some of the talent showing edge to their characters within their promo’s. Bronn Breakker even got to channel his inner Scott Steiner and challenge those bitches to grow some balls. If you weren’t sure what to expect, I don’t think you need to wait any longer. The blueprint is there for us all to see and we can clearly see the direction NXT 2.0 is now going. Are you a fan or no? Are you giving it a chance to grow or have you made your decision? Let me know cause I am fascinated by this whole change and would love to hear your thoughts.
#1: Goat Ciampa
There are many names that have come through NXT that could make the claim as the face of the brand. Adam Cole. Johnny Gargano. Finn Balor. Asuka. All of those are worthy of the title but I think the name Tomasso Ciampa needs to start getting more respect. Whether it be the work he does on the microphone, in ring, putting people over or carrying the show, Ciampa has always delivered. While doing that, he has also taken up for his locker room and is now leading the charge with this new NXT as champion. He is telling everyone to give it time and within a few months, NXT will be the A show. My respect for Ciampa and the work he puts into everything is telling of how much he loves this brand. He is the definition of ride or die and his promo last night was more evidence of the fact.
Instead of resisting change and being intimidated by younger talent, Ciampa opened the show last night by delivering his promo while embracing these talents. They stood behind him as he addressed his journey back to the top and what is to come in the future. When things broke down, it was Ciampa who fought side by side with the young talent and was left standing tall alongside the chosen future, Bronn Breakker. Our main event saw those two team up and score a victory over Pete Dunne and Ridge Holland as well.
Ciampa has always delivered and he will continue to do so. He will evolve, as he always has and be that familiar face to help guide the doubters down this path of change as we move further into the new era that is NXT 2.0
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