NXT HITS & MISSES 3/19: Ciampa and Gargano talk about their rivalry at length, Phillips with whacky Triple H, the Rise of Ripley, Finn Balor feature

•NXT From Stamford Connecticut – HIT, Under The Circumstances: With the COVID-19 outbreak running rampant across the globe, wrestling as we know it is put on hold for the indefinite future. That’s a scary thing to think about. Not because our favorite form of entertainment is essentially put on hold, but because this is the reality we are currently living. When the stubborn Vince McMahon’s live show can’t go on, it shows how serious this is. For not being able to have a wrestling or live performers on a wrestling show, I think they did the best with what they could do. Character development and in-depth looks at these wrestlers can only help them. However, I don’t know how long they can do this and have the show stay interesting enough to hold an audience for months on end. Under normal circumstances, I would have been clamoring for a live show and cursing them for putting on a show full of nothing but video packages.

Who am I kidding? I still am. I, too, miss normalcy.

•Triple H & Tom Philips Kick Off The Show, Introduce A Lengthy Gargano vs. Ciampa Hype Video – HIT, Under The Circumstances: The same quirky, whacky Triple H from last Friday’s Smackdown was back in full force again tonight as Philips and Hunter bantered back and forth before throwing to a lengthy and in-depth look at the career paths of Gargano and Ciampa and just how similar their journeys to WWE were. They chronicled their path through the Cruiserweight Classic, their NXT Tag Title reign and the entirety of their 2018 feud, their injuries, on and off again friendship all the way to last week’s Performance Center brawl. Very well produced multi-segment video package by the NXT team. Both Gargano and Ciampa told their stories throughout this hour-long segment blending a perfect mix of real life and kayfabe. Genuine emotion came across from both men and they didn’t seem scripted. It seemed like they were allowed to say whatever they wanted, hit bullet points, and rely on the editing staff to put it all together. I won’t lie, halfway through of the video I did flip over to see what AEW was up to and got to see Orange Cassidy dive off of the stage to take out the Lucha Bros, so that was cool. For as well as the Ciampa/Gargano segment was produced, spending over an hour on one feud was a little excessive. I’ll be lenient here and give them the hit, because it was a very well done and in-depth look at this amazing feud. The length was really just the downfall. We tuned in to watch NXT, not an hour-long documentary on one feud.

•A Look At Finn Balor – HIT, Under The Circumstances : I’m glad they did an in-depth look at Balor after how defined down he was on the main roster. Sure, his stock has certainly raised over the last few months back in NXT. But I think there was still a little bit of a lack of development and explanation for his radical character shift between the main roster and returning to NXT. Similar to the last segment, this was an in-depth look at his original NXT run, getting drafted to RAW, winning the First Universal Title and having to forfeit it to injury, his return and why he returned to NXT. I really liked how they used the Brock match as the catalyst for having his fire and passion return for wrestling. He gave Brock arguably his best match in years and even though he lost, having to fight uphill to try and overcome this unstoppable force in Brock Lesnar. The timeline doesn’t quite line up, because he still toiled around on RAW for half a year before returning to NXT. But that plot hole aside, I dug it.

•The Rise of Ripley – HIT, Under The Circumstances : I almost feel like a broken record at this point, but this was another well executed video package that took an in-depth look into the life and career of our NXT Women’s Champion, Rhea Ripley. Her two Mae Young Classic appearances and changing her look, all the way to War Games and her title win. A lot of her story has played out in front of our eyes or has been told well over the course of her NXT run, so I almost wish that they showcased another talent here. Tegan Nox, for example. But, given her important spot at WrestleMania this year, I don’t blame them for giving her story so much airtime.

RECOMMENDED: 3/18 NXT ON USA REPORT: Wells’s report on unconventional NXT show hosted by Triple H & Tom Phillips