CRYSTALIZED WORDS

The Voice and Soul of NXT respectively, Vic Joseph and Booker T always do a fantastic job of elevating NXT characters. Most of the NXT roster is still in a learning phase, so they may fail to properly convey some of the story beats TV-ready wrestlers easily can. This is why commentary is so important, and both Joseph and Booker understand the characters to a fundamental degree.

By presenting these characters as caricatures or simple archetypes—grieving mother, failing writer—instead of actual people for most of its runtime, the movie misses out on the story beats that make the audience feel a connection with the characters and the performers that portray them. These moments are simply acted out–like a play performer mouthing words without emotion–but they don’t hit. There are scenes where they’re more than that though, but those scenes are so infreq

But then we wouldn’t get him at his full potential. To win championships, Ciampa must tap back into the Psycho Killer. For a guy whose latest theme song echoes the words “My shadow knows my story”, this is a welcome return to roots.