Blair Davenport VS Roxanne Perez
On American Independence Day, NXT kicked off with Roxanne Perez attempting to take down Blair Davenport. Roxanne attacked Blair during her entrance which seems to be WWE’s favourite thing at the moment and this match surprised me in the sense that it got a lot more time than I expected. Davenport was able to control the contest for the most part, but Perez’s heart kept bringing her back into the fight. The Prodigy wouldn’t give up against BD, but the match turned as Davenport need Perez’s face onto the steel steps. Davenport then hit a Falcon Arrow which Perez barely kicked out of before the former NXT UK star hit two big knee strikes to pick up the victory. I was actually impressed by the quality of this match and from the two proper matches I’ve seen Blair Davenport compete in, I can tell she’s got a chance to go far.
Grade: B-
Mustafa Ali VS Tyler Bate, Tatum Paxley VS Kelani Jordan
Ivy Nile was being interviewed backstage by McKenzie Mitchell and you could tell that the heart of the Diamond Mine seemed a bit worried about tonight’s “Losers leave NXT match”. Tiffany Stratton then walked in and trash-talked Nile before she reminded Stratton that everyone saw her tap out last week. However, Tiffany brilliantly fired back by saying “the Referee didn’t see me tap out” before she asked McKenzie whether or not Nile goes with the Creeds as well. Not only was that a good line from Stratton, but it was also a clever way for NXT to explain the rules/questions some people might have had. Baron Corbin then had a very cool video promo where he burnt all of his old gimmicks, whether that be Happy Corbin, JBL’s protégé, or even his Crown which was quite sad. Mustafa Ali then made his way down to the ring as he was about to go one-on-one with Tyler Bate. Ali and Bate matched one another completely in this contest as they put on a technical showpiece. It was really entertaining to watch and it was unclear as to who was going to win. The transitions were really smooth and both guys came close to winning on a few occasions. However, the difference between Mustafa Ali and Tyler Bate is the Disruptor knows how to play dirty and he used this to his advantage by dropping the Big Strong Boi right onto the top rope. Ali then hit the 450 to pick up the victory before he looked into the camera and challenged Wes Lee to an NXT North American Championship match at the Great American Bash. That match should be awesome and it’s very unclear as to who is going to win that match come July 30th.
Grade: B
Joe Gacy and Ava were being interviewed backstage and Ava kept getting angry at McKenzie Mitchell’s questions. Joe Gacy tried to calm her down before he sent an oniums warning where it was clear whether he was talking about the Creed Brothers or the Dyad. Kelani Jordan was then ready to make her NXT TV debut as she faced Tatum Paxley in singles action. I really like Tatum Paxley, I think she’s one of the best in the division, and she proved that here by completely dominating Kelani Jordan with a lot of good-looking moves. However, Jordan nailed Pax with her version of the Stunner which was enough for her to pick up the victory. After the match, Cora Jade arrived and told Jordan not to trust Dana Brooke before Kelani challenge the Resident Mean Girl to a match for next week. Jordan actually held her own on the microphone against Jade and alongside Dana Brooke which I guess is promising (depending on how you rate Cora and Dana), but she wasn’t made to look very good in her match against Tatum Paxley. Whilst no one was made to look bad/rubbish, neither Paxley nor Jordan came out of this looking particularly great.
Grade: C
Eddy Thorpe VS Damon Kemp: NXT Underground, Lyra Valkyria VS Jacy Jayne
Andre Chase thanked all of his students for all of their kind messages before he thanked Duke Hudson for helping hold the fort whilst he’s been away. Mr. Chase then called Thea Hail the “Uncrowned NXT Women’s Champion” before a Student asked them if Drew Gulak and Charlie Dempsey are still going to be teaching them some classes. Duke Hudson got super angry at him because that is the Chase U way. My biggest takeaway from this segment wasn’t that it’s great that Andre Chase is back. My biggest takeaway from this segment is why do all the students have their teacher's phone number? It was then time for NXT Underground as Eddy Thorpe took on Damon Kemp. A bunch of Performance Center athletes surrounded the ring as well as Dante Chen and they watched a match that I didn’t enjoy at all. I never liked Raw Underground and NXT’s version was only better because Shane McMahon wasn’t on it. Gable Steveson was also annoying, particularly when he started shoving his Olympic Gold Medal in the face of Thorpe (I believe it was an attempt to motivate him). In the end, Thorpe picked up the victory with a Technical Knockout. After the match, Gable Steveson chucked some people around because he wanted to.
Grade: D+
Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams cut a promo where the A-Champion called out the Judgment Day. Melo then challenged/invited the Judgment Day to show up on NXT next week. Tony D’Angelo was then visited in prison by Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo and the Don was very unhappy with the Underboss. Joe Coffey then arrived and Stacks told Tony D that the two had made a deal. The two will have a match next week and if Stacks wins, Joe Coffey drops the charges against D’Angelo. However, if Coffey wins, Tony has to face trial. Whilst some of this has made little sense, Tony D’Angelo plays this character quite well. Either Stacks is going to win next week and we’ll get The Family against Gallus at NXT Great American Bash, or Stacks will win and Coffey will reveal that it wasn’t him who ratted out D’Angelo (because it’s Stacks). Lyra Valkyria then made her way down to the ring as she was about to go one-on-one with Jacy Jayne. This match was the shortest contest of the night and whilst it wasn’t the worst, it certainly wasn’t the best. Lyra and Jacy never really got going at a good enough pace and the two also clearly lacked chemistry in the ring together. Valkyria won with her Roundhouse Kick before Jayne attacked her after the match and ripped her feathers. I wonder if NXT regrets splitting up Toxic Attraction.
Grade: C
The Creed Brothers VS The Dyad: Losers Leave NXT, Bron Breakker Promo
Noam Dar was really sad whilst talking to a picture of the NXT Heritage Cup to the point where Oro Mensah, Lash Legend, and Jakara Jackson had to pull him away. This is all very strange. Kiana James then arrived at her office to see it had been completely trashed by Gigi Dolin. James really needs to invest in better security because this isn’t the first time that someone’s been able to break into her office. Von Wagner was then just randomly beating up Javier Bernal and even though Mr. Stone tried to calm him down, Von put Big Body Javi through a table. Whilst this came completely out of nowhere, the crowd cheered Wagner so something’s clearly worked. Lucien Price and Bronco Nima then announced that they are debuting next week before the Creed Brothers took on the Dyad in a “Losers Leave NXT” match. Straight away, Julius Creed looked certain to pick up the victory after hitting a perfect Shooting Star Press onto Jagger Reid. However, Joe Gacy pulled his Schism partner out of the ring whilst resulted in him getting ejected from ringside. The match that then followed was a really good in-ring contest mixed with an emotional and dramatic rollercoaster. The Creeds and the Dyad have always put on good matches, but the added stakes to this bout made it feel that little bit better. Rip Fowler and Jagger Reid are great tag team competitors, Brutus is a lot of fun to watch whilst Julius Creed is something special. The match really turned on its head when the Dyad pulled out a ridiculous move to finish off Brutus Creed on the outside. This left Julius to fight on his own and he did a good job before Ivy Nile took out Ava. This distracted the referee before someone in a metal mask jumped over the barricade and headbutted Julius before the Dyad hit their tag team finisher to pick up the win. I like the Schism and the Dyad so it’s nice to see that they’ll be sticking around for at least a few more months. As for the Creeds, they’ve been massive for NXT and some of the stars of the 2.0 era. I’m sure they’ll do fantastic on the main roster, but it sucks that Ivy Nile’s not going to be going with them.
Grade: B+
Finn Balor accepted Carmelo Hayes' challenge and announced that the whole of the Judgment Day are going to be at NXT next week. We then saw the Creed Brothers getting cheered by all of the NXT Universe before Bron Breakker arrived. Bron said he made people believe that he was going to become World Heavyweight Champion when he speared Seth “Freakin” Rollins in the middle of the ring before he said a cool fact that Seth’s wrestled more matches on Premium Live Events than Bron has his entire career. Breakker then said there’s a lot more Championships for him to win before Ilja Dragunov arrived. Dragunov told Breakker that he’s the last thing in his way before he gets an NXT Championship match before the two brawled. Performance Center trainees (and Dante Chen) then arrived to try and stop the brawl, but they didn’t have too much success. Breakker-Dragunov is a big-time match in NXT and it will hopefully be good at the Great American Bash. I'm also guessing that it’s going to be Bron’s last match on NXT.
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