Wrestling Thursday: More About Hogan

So I've been deliberating on the best way to handle Hulk Hogan being reinstated to the WWE Hall Of Fame, and this is what I've come up with: Out of this week's WWE content, I will only talk about the triple threat for the #1 contender to the NXT Women's title. That match must get its props. Apart from that, I'll highlight the responses made by black members of the roster to the WWE's decision. This is Wrestling Thursday, let's get into it.

The Responses

Two main responses were by black WWE talent in regards to the reinstating. The first response was made by New Day, on Kofi Kingston's twitter account. New Day are WWE's biggest black stars at this time, huge merch sellers, and a force to be reckoned with. As such, their response is critical. I will put their statement here, in full, as well as link to it.

Next comes the statement from Titus O'Neal. Unlike New Day, Titus is not in position to rock the boat quite as much, as evidenced by his suspension for touching Vince McMahon on screen, after which he never really got any kind of serious push. Even with these circumstances, O'Neil made a strong statement.

The Triple Threat

WWE TV had three triple threat matches this week. The first two were on Raw, one of which was very good. The third was the main event of NXT, and it was spectacular.

It can be a tricky thing to have a match with no heel. All three women are tremendously loved by the NXT crowd, and received great support from the audience during the match. But it wasn't a problem, as the match was just so good that the crowd defaulted to chants of "NXT! NXT!" and "This is awesome!" for much of it.

This was the first time in a while where we got to see Kairi play down the "pirate princess" elements of her character, and it was a blessed change. In this match, where everything was turned to 11, there was no room for "walking the plank." Candice got to show off both her athleticism and her incredible selling and ability to take a ton and come back. These are the things that made her so famously tough.

And Nikki... Nikki Cross' character work is on another level right now. From her joyous response to seeing Shayna show up - a delighted smile and wave - to her work in the match itself, the Scott is just doing a tremendous job right now, and was rewarded by a rapturous reaction from the crowd.

I will say Shayna remains very limited on the mic, and her "she wears the pants" crack at Candice was uncalled for. But she does exude the confidence essential to her character.

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