Moore’s NXT TV Hit List: Street Profits vs. Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly contract signing for the NXT Tag Title match at Takeover, Shane Thorne vs. Joaquin Wilde

By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)

NXT TV Hits

Street Profits and Undisputed Era contract signing: Strong verbal performances from all four men. Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly were their usual playful selves, but Fish stood out in a good way in his interactions with the crowd. The Profits did a good job turning on the serious switch with Montez Ford in particular showing nice serious fire for a change from his usual happy-go-lucky self.

Shane Thorne vs. Joaquin Wilde: This match was set up at the beginning of the Breakout Tournament with Shane Thorne voicing his displeasure of eight new wrestlers getting TV time while he’d been left off TV. This was just a fun match for the only match of the night. Wilde’s a treat to watch and Thorne got to look good in his new single’s heel persona.

Killian Dain: While it was a bait and switch from the advertised match, I liked that they didn’t just tear through the Dain vs. Matt Riddle feud quickly on television. If done correctly, they can carry this feud over to the War Games show.

NXT TV Misses

Overall Show: The video packages on the show were really good, but the huge downside is all these videos are probably going to be rebroadcast during the pre-show and then precede each Takeover match. The Adam Cole and Johnny Gargano stuff was well done with the nice touch of the WWE legends giving their thoughts on the match to give the match the big match feel. The Miss comes from the material being pulled straight from the Gargano and Cole WWE Network special that aired right before this week’s NXT. Essentially, this episode came off like they ran out of first run television so they aired a lot of recycled pre-tape.

Joaquin Wilde: Again, Wilde continues to keep Bro Mans alive with his love for the “ba ba ba baughhhhhh”. It’s not just that, but it feels like he hasn’t evolved his character since 2015. The guy’s really talented. He’s a good talker with a good inspirational story. Wilde also showed promise as a heel before Bro Mans when he had an afro and hair spray can. Hopefully at the next set of tapings, we can finally see the last remnants of Bro Mans put to rest.