Open challenges are nothing unfamiliar to fans, but NXT took a different approach to what commonly happens on WWE television.
The September 29 episode of WWE NXT saw Grayson Waller issue an open challenge for the NXT Championship after Will Kroos was revealed to not have medical clearance to compete.
It would be EK Prosper who would step up to the challenge, but not in the way that many WWE fans would perhaps expect:
The usual open challenge story
It’s a trope fans have seen many times before: an open challenge is issued, there’s a moment of silence, then an entrance theme plays, a star comes out, and the match begins.
It works because, for that moment, fans have no clue who may be about to make their presence felt and, hopefully, it’ll be someone they can get behind, even if the odds are stacked against them.
Sometimes, depending on the circumstances and company, a challenger will be named in the run up to the open challenge match itself, which kind of takes away from some of the anticipation, but each to their own.
What NXT did differently
The September 29 episode of NXT saw EK Prosper answer the challenge, but he wasn’t the only one.
Before he would emerge to face Grayson Waller for the NXT Championship, we’d see everyone in the men’s locker room attempting to be the one to answer the open challenge, starting with a clearly confident Brad Baylor. Cut to elsewhere backstage and other NXT stars would answer the call, although perhaps a touch slower than you’d imagine, given it was somewhat time sensitive.
Everybody brawling near the entrance led to Zilla Fatu and Cruz Montana in a face-to-face, dragging each other from the ring before chaos ensued thanks to DarkState and BirthRight, with EK Prosper sneaking into the ring at the last minute to kick off the NXT Championship match, only to be unsuccessful in the attempt.
Did it work?
On a roster of challengers, EK Prosper perhaps wasn’t on anyone’s bingo card when it came to this open challenge.
Zilla Fatu and Cruz Montana certainly have all the potential in the world to be future NXT Champions and will no doubt get their opportunity down the line.
The sight of a large proportion of the men’s NXT roster all charging from backstage to the entranceway was a fun moment, although there was a distinct lack of urgency from some involved. It also offered an inadvertent story where some stars have an eye on the top singles title, despite their affiliations elsewhere, as was seen with Baylor asking the other members of Vanity Project to hang back.
In other circumstances, a change to the lineup of the show could have seen a battle royal to determine Waller’s opponent, with Prosper victorious through sneaky means that saw him not worn down by the in-ring action, scoring a shock elimination, and leading to a new feud for the star.
An NXT Championship match had been announced for the main event, and one was certainly delivered.
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