Greetings, everyone. Welcome to your weekly NXT review. Each and every week, yours truly (Eron Ramadanov) will be bringing you a review of NXT. It won’t always be in the same form or fashion, but it will be something to keep your eyes on.
So, on the heels of NXT Takeover: Chicago, the best weekly wrestling show has new direction and new stories. Here’s three things we learned from this week’s episode.
“Takeover: Chicago was my moment…”
Going into this episode of NXT, most already knew that Tommaso Ciampa was legitimately injured and will be out of action for some time. Although his timeline is still a question, Ciampa delivered a great promo this week on NXT and let us in on why he did what he did.
At first, it felt like Ciampa’s reasoning was a bit of a reach, but it all made sense. As someone who runs a wrestling website, I was well aware of the rumors and speculation of a replacement for Ciampa. I think it was incredibly smart to include that piece into the story and I can’t wait until Ciampa is healthy and back.
What we learned: Tommaso Ciampa is better suited as a heel and his feud with Johnny Gargano is going to be the feud of the year.
Uno Mas!
If you haven’t noticed, NXT is filled with top tier talent that sometimes are just floating around in obscurity. One of those talents is Andrade “Cien” Almas. Since his debut, Almas has missed something. But turning him heel was a great move and has really paid off for him.
Now, the current storyline behind Almas is very interesting and something we haven’t really seen in the current incarnation on NXT. The story of Almas being unfocused and thinking he’s almost too good for what he’s doing is an interesting twist to his character and I’m interested to see where it goes.
What we learned: Well, maybe this one should be “what I learned,” and that is “Cien” Almas is an incredibly talented wrestler and finally has a storyline I care about.
“We Want Roddy!”
NXT is known for their lovable babyfaces: Finn Balor, Sami Zayn, Seth Rollins, etc.
And it appears that NXT has found another one in Roderick Strong. When first debuting in NXT, Roddy definitely had a long way to go before connecting with me and the Full Sail fans. Of course, we know his work in Ring of Honor, but NXT is a different place and he has certainly proven himself to be worthy.
I always complain about WWE’s lack of storytelling on the main roster, but NXT always does it right. The video packages about Roderick Strong was the first step into buying into him as a top babyface and his win against Eric Young at NXT Takeover: Chicago cemented that for me.
It’s just a matter of time before Roddy is fighting for the NXT Championship in…. Brooklyn? We’ll see.
What we learned: Roderick Strong lives up to his hype and is next in line to challenge Bobby Roode for the NXT Championship.
Thanks for reading, everyone! Join us next week for another review of NXT.
For more news, rumors, videos, podcasts and exclusive articles, follow us on Twitter @PWPNation.
