NXT North American Championship: Wes Lee VS Tyler Bate
After a video hyping up NXT Gold Rush, Special Guest Referee Mustafa Ali held the NXT North American Championship high in the air as Wes Lee was about to defend his championship against Tyler Bate. Early on it became pretty apparent that Mustafa Ali was playing a few mind games as he counted quickly when Tyler was pinning Wes and slowly when Lee was pinning Bate. There was even a point where both men would’ve been counted out in a normal contest, but Ali didn’t even bother counting to 1 until the crowd got up to 15. The second half of the match saw Lee and Bate showcased their excellent talents and it was fun to watch. Ali also improved his refereeing skills as he started to count pins properly. However, as the count got to 7 when Lee was on the outside, Ali rolled out of the ring and started slapping the Kardiak Kid whilst saying “you can do this”. He then sort of did the same thing to Bate and this actually allowed Wes to hit the Kardiak Kick on the Big Strong Boi to get the victory. After the match, Ali lifted both men’s hands as both Lee and Bate looked quite annoyed. I thought this was a good start to the show, the in-ring action was good and you can clearly tell that the Heart of 205 Live has a plan up his sleeve.
Grade: B-
Chase University Pep Rally, Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen VS Edris Enofe and Malik Blade VS Hank Walker and Tank Ledger: NXT Tag Team Championships Number 1 Contenders Match
A video aired for Gigi Dolin as the former multi-time NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion talked about how much colours and art means to her. We then cut back to Kiana James who trashed talked Dolin and said she’s “got ambition”. Duke Hudson was then in the ring as he welcomed Thea Hail and the rest of Chase University into the ring to celebrate in a Chase University Pep Rally. Thea Hail cut a promo where she thanked everyone at Chase University as well as Drew Gulak and Charlie Dempsey for helping her get this far and she said she’s going to pick up the biggest win of her career next week. Tiffany Stratton then arrived and thought all of this was a complete joke before Duke Hudson cut a great promo about how he believes that Hail is going to win the NXT Women’s Championship next week. Stratton then said that Hail had no chance of winning or making her tap out so Chase University’s star pupil locked in the Kimura Lock which forced the Champion to tap. Thea then lifted up the championship which means she isn’t winning next week, but that was pretty obvious anyway. This was a good segment in which Duke Hudson looked like a star (I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not).
Grade: B-
Joe Gacy admitted that he’s been letting the Schism down before he praised the Dyad for being at the top of their game right now. Ava seemed a bit puzzled in the background. Diamond Mine’s Ivy Nile and Julius Creed were watching this before Brutus walked in. The 3 agreed that they needed to get the faction out of NXT (I have no idea how they’re planning to do that). Jacy Jayne then walked into the arena as Lyra Valkyria questioned Jacy on her comments last week. Jayne said she doesn’t have a problem with Lyra, but then proceeded to say “I should kick her in the face” after Valkyria had left the arena. It was then time for a triple threat match to determine who faces Gallus for the NXT Tag Team Championships on NXT Gold Rush Week 2. Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen as well as Edris Enofe and Malik Blade were clearly the more experienced teams in this contest and they showed it with some really good moves. However, it has to be said that Hank Walker and Tank Ledger are pretty entertaining to watch, mainly because they love running through people. Enofe and Blade hit a bunch of high-flying manoeuvres which always look good whilst Josh Briggs has to be one of the best when he’s on a role. Briggs and Jensen also looked certain to win at the end after they nailed Ledger with their finisher, but Edris broke up the pinfall with a dive before Malik did a dive of his own, over the referee, onto Tank to get the victory. This was a really good ending to a match that I had fun watching.
Grade: B-
Cora Jade VS Dana Brooke, Carmelo Hayes and Baron Corbin come face-to-face, The Meta-Four VS Valentina Feroz and Yulisa Leon
Gallus watched Edris Enofe and Malik Blade celebrate from backstage as Los Lotharios walked in and told them that they’re coming for the NXT Tag Team Champions. The Gallus Boys then walked off as they were going to the pub. Damon Kemp then went up to Eddy Thorpe who was DJ’ing as Kemp challenged Thorpe to a “Raw Underground” match. I’m not sure how good this is going to be. Roxanne Perez then stormed past as she flattened Blair Davenport before officials pulled her away. A more aggressive Roxanne should be a good thing. Seth “Freakin” Rollins was sitting in a locker room backstage as his old student Nathan Frazer walked in. Seth joked about having to carry the NXT Heritage Cup everywhere before he told Frazer that he was proud of him. Nathan then left as Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams walked in. We then got a cool moment where whilst both champions were acknowledging each other, you could clearly tell that Melo wants the World Heavyweight Championship. I really hope WWE does this match soon because it would be truly incredible. It was then time for another one of the marque matches on NXT Gold Rush Week 1 as Cora Jade went one-on-one with Dana Brooke. The match started off pretty evenly, but as soon as Dana hurt her leg whilst trying to do a cartwheel, Jade took control. Brooke was originally being stretched out of the arena, but she decided to fight on. However, this wasn’t the smartest decision as Jade targeted her injured leg some more before she locked in a single-leg Boston Crab. The former 24/7 Champion refused to tap out which forced the referee to end the contest meaning Cora Jade picked up the victory. Jade winning was the right call, but I could easily see Brooke winning the rematch down the line. Also, this Dana Brooke sympathy storyline clearly isn’t working because the NXT Universe was booing her and cheering Jade who’s been one of the brand’s top heels for a while now.
Grade: C+
Von Wagner and Mr. Stone talked in an empty NXT arena as Von opened up to Stone. Wagner told his buddy that the picture is from when he had surgery as a baby and how he was always treated differently by other kids and parents because of it. If WWE is trying to make Von Wagner into a likeable babyface, they’re doing a good job. It’s just strange that this wasn’t Wagner’s character from the beginning. Axiom and Scrypts asked Eddy Thorpe what he was going to do about the Raw Underground match. Thorpe said he’s going to find someone that can train him before Olympic Gold Medallist Gable Steveson walked in and offered his services to Thorpe. It’s interesting that Steveson appeared on NXT as he’s basically only appeared once since he got into the ring at WrestleMania 38. Given Thorpe’s feuding with Steveson’s real-life brother Damon Kemp, I would hope WWE would quickly turn Steveson heel and align himself with his brother. It was then time for a face-to-face confrontation between the NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes and Baron Corbin. Carmelo took shots at Corbin for his lack of Championships and his Happy Corbin gimmick whilst Corbin fired back by saying that lifestyle got him a “1.8 Million Dollar House.” This reminded me just how much I miss Corbin’s over-exaggerated watch prices. Melo then mugged Corbin off as he said “When I was 26, I was winning breakout tournaments and successfully cashing it in on Championships. When you were 26, you were being cut by the Arizona Cardinals!” Corbin then got the “last laugh” by calling Hayes insignificant. I thought this was a really good segment where both guys delivered their lines expertly.
Grade: B
Valentina Feroz and Yulisa Leon were talking backstage before Dragon Lee walked up to them. Nathan Frazer then walked into shot and thanked Feroz and Leon for helping him last week. Frazer then offered Dragon Lee the first shot at his NXT Heritage Cup. All I’ll say is they’ll do extremely well to match and/or better their previous encounter from a few weeks ago (expect that match to come up at the end of the year). Mark Coffey and Wolfgang then left the arena as Joe Coffey was too busy on the phone and this didn’t work out to well for the “leader of Gallus” as Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo arrived, put him into the trunk of his car and drove off. It was then time for a women’s tag team match as the Meta-Four took on Valentina Feroz and Yulisa Leon. Because of Yulisa Leno’s long-term injury and their complete squash on SmackDown against the Unholy Union, I’d forgotten just how good of a team Feroz and Leon are. They have some good tag team moves and they are more than happy to take some crazy risks. At one point, Leon took out Oro Mensah with a dive, but this ultimately cost her team as she was taken out before Valentina Feroz got met by a big boot from Lash Legend who scored the pinfall victory. This was the first time I’ve seen Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson as a team and they looked pretty decent. Elektra Lopez and Lola Vice also arrived during the match and it sort of begs the question why WWE feels the need to take the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships away from the brand.
Grade: C+
World Heavyweight Championship: Seth “Freakin” Rollins VS Bron Breakker
NXT was not holding around as we went straight into the main event which saw Seth “Freakin” Rollins put his World Heavyweight Championship on the line against Bron Breakker. Bron Breakker knew straight away that he had to target the ribs of Seth Rollins, but Seth is smart enough to make Breakker miss as much as possible. After a solid start, the contest really got going when Rollins hit a Frog Splash from the top rope onto Breakker through the announce table. However, it was Bron who came close to winning first as he delivered a Military Press Slam for a near fall. Rollins then hit a Pedigree which Breakker was able to kick out of before the former NXT Champion delivered a devastating Spear that nearly won him the match. However, the Visionary was once again able to kick out before he delivered not 1, but 2 Stomps to finally pick up the victory. I thought this was a great main event that is very much worth watching. Seth “Freakin” Rollins continues to prove why he’s the best in the world whilst Bron Breakker pulled out a performance that he’s very capable of producing, but doesn’t always. Just before the show went off the air, Finn Balor attacked Seth Rollins from behind before he nailed him a few times with a Steel Chair. However, he wasn’t able to hit the Coup de Grace as NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams chased him off. Please give me a six-man tag between Rollins, Melo, Trick and the Judgment Day.
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