NXT: Stand and Deliver

[heatwillbeback]

Main event was a spot fest, but an excellent one. NXT events just deliver.

[WRau1]

Gargano is a very, very good professional wrestler.

[Stanford]

I was not into the main event.

Thought WALTER-Ciampa and the women's title match were the best matches of the two nights.

[Coach Smiley]

went out of my way to watch Walter Ciampa, love that style although could've done without that weird rope running sequence by Ciampa.

Also WWE just feels so clean and rehearsed in it's presentation, I can't get into things like I used to anymore, sigh.

[Stanford]

went out of my way to watch Walter Ciampa, love that style although could've done without that weird rope running sequence by Ciampa.

You're insane.

[Coach Smiley]

you're right I've only been watching wrestling since I was 4, thanks for reminding me why no one posts in here

[Stanford]

you're right I've only been watching wrestling since I was 4, thanks for reminding me why no one posts in here

You okay, man?

[Ruzious]

went out of my way to watch Walter Ciampa, love that style although could've done without that weird rope running sequence by Ciampa.

You're insane.

?

[Stanford]

went out of my way to watch Walter Ciampa, love that style although could've done without that weird rope running sequence by Ciampa.

You're insane.

?

I loved the spot

[Dr Positivity]

Night 1 thoughts

Pete Dunne vs Kushida - disappointing and too short and made me worry about this being on TV leading to weaker matches (a worry that was unfounded). Kushida has gone disappointment (Velveteen), MOTY contender classic (Gargano), disappointment (Dunne). How good is Gargano?

Gauntlet Eliminator - this was fun, nice to see Swerve Scott looking good in non cruiserweight division, and Lumis and Grimes were used well. I'm a fan of Bronson. Big Boy Season!

Ciampa vs Walter - very good, told storyline well with Ciampa career comeback and Walter injury, would have liked to see more than a chop needed to end it with the storyline of Ciampa's heart. Ciampa looks like one of the oldest 35 year olds I've ever seen. I can't imagine having grey hairs in like 5 years.

MSK vs Grizzled Young Veterans vs Legado Del Fantasma - Fun triple threat tag, right winner. Despite being the 3rd wheel LDF looked good to me and I wonder if they're sleeper choice to get called up and be given them those Lucha House Party/Los Matadores/etc. jobber matches.

Io Shirai vs Raquel Gonzalez - I wasn't sure if Gonzalez was good enough for this match at first but Io worked her ass off and her jumping off the skull really took to another level. This feels like a Drew McIntyre type champion where she's a top main roster prospect being warmed up, I can see a quick reign with babyface Dakota Kai possibly going over and the crowd really getting behind her like Gargano and Bayley.

[Dr Positivity]

Walter should be one of the biggest stars and draws in WWE today. Everything he does is fantastic.

Incredible NXT run for him, but WWE needs to cash in.

I had the theory for a while that NXT call ups are struggling due to the size difference (It's easier to look big when you're next to the Gargano/Cole/Ciampa/etc. generation), people like Roode or EC3 can't do the larger than life thing as well, ones like Ricochet seem smaller, Jackson Ryker (who sucked anyways) goes from scary enforcer to oh.. he's shorter than Elias. So my first instinct was to be concerned that Walter might not be as much of a monster when compared to main roster big guys, but for some reason Keith Lee seems bigger on the main roster, so maybe being fat helps. Lee and Walter standing next to each other seem relatively similar physically. I think Karrion Kross would be an example of a guy who's intimidation level diminishes in main roster when he's not really that special physically compared to half the roster.