Last month WWE opened up its subscription-only WWE Network to the world for free, presumably adding tens of thousands of possible viewers to its annual fall-tradition Survivor Series. In a sport where every success and failure can make or break a performer's career and perception is everything, this was extraordinary pressure.
Luckily the crew delivered in a big way with an excellent show.
This month it's back to paying customers only—but the pressure to deliver is still there, with competition rearing its head in the most unexpected place.
On Thursday developmental wrestlers in NXT, newcomers still learning their trade at the WWE's cutting-edge Performance Center in Florida, put on an astoundingly good show for a worldwide audience on the Network. The fluid wrestling, coherent plots and big league performances, frankly, put what fans normally see on WWE's flagship television show, Raw, to shame.
WWE superstars are athletes with a lot of pride. After their understudies put on such a great show, rest assured they'll be looking to do the same. I fully expected Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Dolph Ziggler to do everything in their power to reassert their status as the hardcore fans' favorites.
Instead, despite some outstanding moments, there were no truly outstanding matches. John Cena earned a match with Brock Lesnar at Royal Rumble. Roman Reigns returned and looked great in the ring and terrible on the mic. Ambrose and Bray Wyatt destroyed their bodies for tepid applause. It was a show fans will instantly forget.
If you're scoring at home, it's WWE NXT 1, WWE 0. The future looks bright. The present? Less so.
What follows is our trademark instant analysis and letter grades for every bout on the show. Matches are graded not just in comparison to each other, but they're also based on how well they live up to their potential and to fans' expectations.
Disagree with our assessments? Feel free to sound off in the comments.
Source http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2299907-wwe-tlc-2014-results-winners-grades-reaction-and-highlights
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