NXT 2.0: 2 things that went wrong on the Nov. 23 episode

The card for the Dec. 5 NXT WarGames pay-per-view fell into place on this week’s episode of NXT 2.0. Sure, some of the matches feel a little rushed and forced, but given what the announced matches are, there’s a fair chance that it will be an entertaining show.

As for this show, WWE gave fans the usual mix of good and bad, as is to be expected on a show filled with random GIMMICKS. We’ve already discussed the positives, so let’s take a look at the negatives.

These are two of the things that went right on the Nov. 24 episode of NXT 2.0.

Honorable mention: Ladder Matches to determine the WarGames advantage- Of course WWE would ensure that the most unnecessary part of the WarGames build would make it through to NXT 2.0. Why would you put wrestlers in a dangerous match days before putting them in another dangerous match? Also, this opens the door for the babyfaces to have the advantage in one of the WarGames matches, which is dumb for reasons that should be obvious. Just do a coin flip.

Honorable mention: NXT Women’s Champion loses non-title match- No matter how you feel about Mandy Rose holding the NXT Women’s Championship, her losing non-title matches shouldn’t be a thing, especially when a distraction leads to the finish and the loss comes to someone who hasn’t been built up as a legitimate contender.

Sigh…..Joe Gacy

If you’re in the large contingent of fans who do not care for this Joe Gacy fellow (or, more specifically, his gimmick), this week’s NXT 2.0 wasn’t the show for you, as Gacy took part in multiple segments on the show, including:

• interacting with LA Knight
• cutting his usual promo directed toward Knight before their scheduled match
• sitting in the ring and using all the buzzwords after the match with Knight was thrown out (thanks to Grayson Waller)
• interacting with Diamond Mine (thank goodness for Malcolm Bivens

Look, WWE likely thinks that its latest attempt at lampooning left-wing politics (while mostly using terminology that’s only unironically used by right-wingers) is getting Gacy the desired reaction, but everyone knows that this is only generating heat for the company for devising such a character.

Also, if Gacy is so opposed to violence, then why is he a pro wrestler?

Anyway, having Gacy challenge for a title that he called “divisive” (see, because, as Gacy would explain, weight limits are comparable to segregation) shows how little effort WWE has put into the cruiserweight division (surely, that has nothing to do with Vince McMahon and Bruce Pritchard overseeing the brand).

The janky build to the men’s WarGames match

In a vacuum, the men’s WarGames match has the potential to be a fun one. How they got to this match, however, can best be described as uneven.

For one thing, none of these intertwining feuds have reached such a temperature where WarGames would be necessary, but that’s unfortunately how WWE does things these days. Also, the random face/heel turns from Bron Breakker, Grayson Waller, LA Knight, and Pete Dunne have contributed to the rushed feeling that this build has.

It makes sense that WWE would want to build to an “old guard vs. rising stars” match, and, to be fair, the company had begun planting seeds for this over the last few weeks, but to go from a slow and steady discontent to WarGames feels way too forced.

This is why you don’t pre-schedule gimmick matches for PPVs.