{"id":53653,"date":"2018-01-07T01:11:04","date_gmt":"2018-01-07T07:11:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=53653"},"modified":"2018-01-07T01:11:04","modified_gmt":"2018-01-07T07:11:04","slug":"nxt-hits-misses-1-3-shawn-michaels-special-referee-main-event-adam-cole-drew-mcintyre-plus-gargano-moon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2018\/01\/07\/nxt-hits-misses-1-3-shawn-michaels-special-referee-main-event-adam-cole-drew-mcintyre-plus-gargano-moon\/","title":{"rendered":"NXT HITS &#038; MISSES 1\/3: Shawn Michaels special referee for main event between Adam Cole and Drew McIntyre, plus Gargano, Moon"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-2086726591\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p>This week\u2019s episode of NXT was their \u201cBest of NXT 2017\u201d show to where some of this year\u2019s best moments were highlighted.\u00a0 Overall, it was a very good recap that could have been better with some minor (possibly major) tweaks.\u00a0 Many stories were retold that we witnessed throughout this year that captured the highs and lows of many of the starts that we have seen week after week last year.<\/p>\n<h3><b>HITS<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><b>Drew McIntyre vs. Adam Cole with Special Guest Referee Shawn Michaels (NXT Championship Match):\u00a0<\/b>We were treated to this match as it was a replay of their battle at a house show in San Antonio, Texas one day before NXT: War Games.\u00a0 It was great storytelling as the valiant champion went up against a villainous heel with his counterparts in tow.\u00a0 Drew McIntyre looked very strong oversizing Adam Cole who had to result to dastardly tactics to keep up with the NXT Champ.\u00a0 As the Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish and Kyle O\u2019Reilly) interfered early in the match, they were ultimately sent from the ring area by Shawn Michaels, leaving it to Cole to forge forward alone.\u00a0 This is where Cole started to shine.\u00a0 He became very whiney and devious as we have seen before by being the heel that he is, taking cheap shots (even spitting in McIntyre\u2019s face) to gain an advantage.\u00a0 He even yelled at Michaels to \u201cdo his job\u201d while taunting and mocking him.\u00a0 But it didn\u2019t seem to have any avail as McIntyre countered his attack with power moves.\u00a0 Even with those moves, he could not keep Cole down as he kept pushing forward with resiliency.\u00a0 One of the highlights came when Cole hit Michaels (accidently) with his own signature move, the Superkick.\u00a0 Then the UE returned to assist Cole, but it did not help as Michaels did away with Fish and Superkicked O\u2019Reilly out of his shoes, which brought the crowd to their feet.\u00a0 It was fun to see that Michaels could still take a bump as he took several of them from both sides.\u00a0 McIntyre showed resiliency of his own as he managed to fight off the rest of the UE and hit Cole with the Claymore to pick up the win.<\/p>\n<p><b>The Ember Moon Segment:\u00a0<\/b>This segment was fantastic as the viewers really got to know Ember Moon.\u00a0 It spoke of her humble beginnings in a small Texas town, how her love for wrestling was born through intimate moments with her grandfather and her uphill battle to live out her dreams of becoming a successful wrestler.\u00a0 It also highlighted her independent wrestling life and NXT debut.\u00a0 One of the compelling stories was her rivalry with Asuka.\u00a0 Even though she took two loses to her foe, she managed to keep her head up and keep striving as she went on to live out her dream of becoming NXT Women\u2019s Champion.\u00a0 The viewer really got an in depth look at this young lady and what she is made of, leaving the viewer with more of an appreciation for not only her talent, but her as a person as well.<\/p>\n<p><b>The Johnny Gargano Segment:\u00a0<\/b>This segment was in told in excellent fashion as it went from his days in #DIY, with both the highs and the lows.\u00a0 It then focused on his road of redemption as he fought back from injuries succumb due to his former best friend and tag team partner, Tomasso Ciampa, as well as his unlucky losing streak paralleled with his frustrations of not just giving it his all, but to become victorious. He spoke how he needed to become himself again as he went on basically a soul-searching mission to become the wrestler that not only he believes he can be, but the fans as well.\u00a0 It was seen later how his luck would change as he managed to fight his way back into relevancy with a major victory in the Fatal 4-Way Match that resulted in him becoming the number one contender to the NXT Championship.<\/p>\n<h3><b>MISSES<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><b>Johnny Gargano:\u00a0<\/b>As mentioned above, the segment on Johnny Gargano was excellent, but unfortunately, he wasn\u2019t.\u00a0 This was mainly because he showed no emotion whatsoever as he discussed his past year.\u00a0 His tone remained the same from the beginning to end, and one would expect more emotion as he discussed the breakup of #DIY and the beatdown that he received from his former best friend.\u00a0 How could someone who was distracted twice in his matches with the future NXT Champion with a vintage #DIY shirt remain so nonchalant when speaking of his former partner and the situation?\u00a0 In addition, he remained in the same mood as he spoke of his battle back to relevance and becoming the number one contender. No change in emotion in any way as the average person would have shown delight, etc.\u00a0 It is obvious that Johnny Wrestling is amazing in the ring, but mediocre in speaking and promos.\u00a0 Honestly, it is the only thing that is holding him back from reaching the upper echelon that he is so desperately seeking.<\/p>\n<p><b>The Sequencing of Segments:\u00a0<\/b>Overall, NXT did a great job in the telling of last year\u2019s past events, but the order that they were told just seemed off.\u00a0 For instance, there seem to be a lot of jumping around from one wrestler\/situation to another only to come back to that same wrestler\/situation.\u00a0 The beginning was fine as it spoke of Bobby Roode and Shinsuke Nakamura, but it then bounced around from Drew McIntyre to #DIY, then back to McIntyre capturing the NXT Championship, then to the Undisputed Era.\u00a0 It then went to speak of the tag team division to the rivalry of Aleister Black and the Velveteen Dream. Then back to McIntyre and his rivalry with Andrade \u201cCien\u201d Almas to the house show that he had with Adam Cole.\u00a0 After that, it went back to the rivalry and loss of his title to Almas. The tribute to Asuka was nice, but then the women\u2019s division was highlighted, but mashed together with no real separation of the Mae Young classic, just some vignettes of the contestants.\u00a0 It then goes back to Gargano and ending with Ember Moon.\u00a0 There were also some spots left out, like Sanity.\u00a0 How important were they this year?\u00a0 Very much so but it was not highlighted of how they captured the tag team titles from the unstoppable Authors of Pain (who were not really discussed that much as well).\u00a0 Roderick Strong and his story was not told either as he had a very decent year.\u00a0 Overall, it just didn\u2019t seem to flow, like it was not correctly pieced together chronologically or properly.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>NOW CHECK OUT THE PREVIOUS COLUMN:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2017\/12\/29\/nxt-hits-misses-12-27-ember-moon-defends-sonya-deville-lars-vs-gargano-vs-aleister-vs-killian-dane\/\">NXT HITS &amp; MISSES 12\/27: Ember Moon defends against Sonya Deville, Lars vs. Gargano vs. Aleister vs. Killian Dane<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-3482640839\"><div id=\"pwtor-1587338584\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>This week\u2019s episode of NXT was their \u201cBest of NXT 2017\u201d show to where some of this year\u2019s best moments were highlighted.\u00a0 Overall, it was a very good recap that could have been better with <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2018\/01\/07\/nxt-hits-misses-1-3-shawn-michaels-special-referee-main-event-adam-cole-drew-mcintyre-plus-gargano-moon\/\" title=\"NXT HITS &#038; MISSES 1\/3: Shawn Michaels special referee for main event between Adam Cole and Drew McIntyre, plus Gargano, Moon\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49735,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-specialists_hitsandmisses","category-specialists"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2017\/10\/McIntyreDrewJustinJames_3x2_600.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53653"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53653\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53654,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53653\/revisions\/53654"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}