Last week, I gave the “NXT” production team, Trick Williams, and Carmelo Hayes their flowers for their documentary-style Prime Target segment. This week, the brilliant minds behind the camera and in the writing rooms of “NXT” decided to simultaneously take it up a notch, and bring it back to form. What resulted was a beautiful compromise between this era’s new wave of cinematic storytelling, and the tried-and-true method of putting two guys in a room and letting them talk.

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The segment started off very much aligned with the new trend of film-adjacent segments. There are many things to sing praises about in this segment, but I wanted to specifically talk about the lighting. The lighting in this segment did a significant portion of the mood-setting, which itself did a lot of the heavy lifting for Tony D’Angelo’s legitimacy — more on that later. The difference in lighting between NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov and D’Angelo’s lackeys is a subtle contribution to their characterization. When D’Angelo’s goons are cloaked in darkness, it is a reminder that — however stereotypical they may be — they are intended to be seen as threats. They are draped in darkness because they’re supposed to be the demon hiding in your childhood closet, or the monster hiding underneath the bed of your childhood home. Conversely, Dragunov is not exactly bathed in light outside of the scene of him in the back seat of the car. He is well-lit compared to the goons he runs into, but objectively, his face still has parts obscured in shadow, especially as he enters D’Angelo’s garage. It makes sense: Dragunov is the face in this feud, but he is not all smiles and sparkles in his goodness — he is a ruthless fighter who is not afraid to hit hard. Since this lighting is building off of character choices that are already pretty apparent, this whole observation may feel like a no-brainer. However, I do think that taking note about these subtle methods of storytelling is part of the fun in watching these new, movie-like segments.

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Once D’Angelo and Dragunov actually came face to face, the spotlight shone down upon them in an unnatural way. Where most of the lighting was cool- or neutral-toned, this light was a bright, slightly warmer tone — almost like a stage light. This distinguishes it from the mood-lighting observed up until that point. Once the two start talking, it reads like a classic professional wrestling promo. Both their words and their deliveries of them are different from the way people would talk in movies or in real life; the way they talk is distinctly wrestling-coded. Allowing Dragunov and D’Angelo to speak in the traditional cadence of professional wrestling promos distinguishes this feud from the Hayes and Williams feud that is happening simultaneously — where Hayes and Williams’ bad blood is presented as incredibly personal, the tensions between Dragunov and D’Angelo are, as “The Don” said, “nothing personal, just business.”

Dragunov’s incredibly red face when D’Angelo crushed his hand was amazing, no notes on that. I would like, instead, to bring attention to just how much of a threat D’Angelo looks right now. D’Angelo has evolved from this cartoonish caricature of an Italian mob boss into a believable challenger for the “NXT” Championship. Whether or not you believe he actually has a chance at dethroning Dragunov, he has taken deliberate measures to sell you that fantasy. This could partially be credited to the increased production he’s had in his segments: where he was once meeting in an Olive Garden with The Family, he is now hosting Dragunov for dinner while surrounded with goons proficient in drills, buzzsaws, and veritable mean-mugs. D’Angelo is surrounded by this murky mood that signals to us, whether you recognize it or not, that D’Angelo is being pushed to be not just a mainstay on the “NXT” card, but as a legitimate heel with danger exuding off of him. What is especially interesting about this presentation, however, is that despite increasing in street cred, D’Angelo has not lost that sort of whimsical Italian flair to him. He is still a sort of caricature, but in a way that feels grounded and legitimate, rather than a static stereotype. It is very impressive for D’Angelo to ride that fine line between absolute buffoon and dynamic character with a quirky presentation, in addition to the pressures he must be feeling just days before his performance at Stand and Deliver.

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“NXT” programming has some of the finest storytelling segments in mainstream professional wrestling. If they keep hitting home runs with some tastefully placed cinematic segments post-Stand and Deliver, then their product will surely rise to be the must-see show of the week.

Written by Angeline Phu