NXT Review: 08/04
- Linus O'Howell
- 4 days ago
- 5 min read
Jordynne Grace VS Jaida Parker
NXT kicked off this week with Stephanie Vaquer joining commentary to watch the opening match of the night between Jordynne Grace and Jaida Parker! These two went at each other from the get-go, with Jordynne trying to overpower Jaida whilst Miss Parker aimed to use her quickness to Grace’s disadvantage! I thought the action itself was solid, both women did a decent job, but the match never ended clean as an incident involving Stephanie Vaquer caused the referee to call for the bell! This then broke out into a 3-way brawl before Giulia made her return to NXT to even the odds, only to take out Stephanie and once again stand tall with the NXT Women’s Championship in her grasp!
Grade: C+
Axiom and Nathan Frazer VS Swipe Right, Jazmyn Nyx VS Sol Ruca: NXT Women’s North American Championship Qualifying Match, Hank and Tank VS The Culling
Swipe Right tried (and failed) to give Hank and Tank some advice before Shawn Spears made it clear that he is now focused on helping the rest of The Culling thrive! Axiom and Nathan Frazer were then ready to compete on NXT for the first time in what feels like ages as they took on Swipe Right! Swipe Right are being hyped up as some of Evolve’s best, and it was definitely smart to put them in the ring with the NXT Tag Team Champions because it allowed them to come across better! I wasn’t blown away by anything I saw, but they’re both young, so that duo will definitely grow into a major player in NXT down the line! This time, however, it was all about the Champions as FRAXIOM delivered their Spanish Fly/Phoenix Splash combo to get the win!
Grade: B-
After Jazmyn Nyx told both Jacy Jayne and Fallon Henley that she’ll be the one stepping up for Fatal Influence tonight, The NYX headed down to the rig to take on Sol Ruca in an NXT Women’s North American Championship Qualifying Match! I liked how Jazmyn took authority here and said she wanted an opportunity to Qualify for NXT Stand and Deliver, that’s something a Heel Rookie should be doing, and I thought she did a good job here. I mean, Nyx very nearly won following a Nyx Kick after Fallon Henley distracted Sol Ruca, but whilst Jazmyn may be good, Sol is great! Ruca again stood out as one of the best performers in the entire NXT Women’s Division, and a single Sol Snatcher was enough for the surfer to book her ticket to Las Vegas!
Grade: C+
Je’Von made it clear that him, Oba Femi, and Trick Williams have to work together in order to take down Darkstate before Giulia said she wanted her rematch for the NXT Women’s Championship at Stand and Deliver! Hank and Tank were then ready for yet another Tag Team match as they took on Brooks Jensen and Niko Vance of The Culling! This was a solid match, I enjoy Brooks Jensen’s work, I find him to be a little underrated, and I can watch Hank and Tank every day because they’re just terrific. As always, though, both Walker and Ledger were thriving until they started to be like other teams, and a missed Swanton Bomb from Hank opened the door for Jensen and Vance to hit their Tag Team finisher to get the win! Another week, another loss for old Hank and Tank!
Grade: C+
Ricky Saints Gets Interrupted, Wes Lee VS Yoshiki Inamura, Izzi Dame VS Wren Sinclair: NXT Women’s North American Championship Qualifying Match
Ricky Saints arrived at the arena to talk about becoming the brand-new NXT North American Champion, but he also had a bad taste in his mouth after Ethan Page’s attack following his victory! Ricky asked Ethan to come down to the ring, but he was instead met by both Lexis King and Eddy Thorpe who both said they deserve a shot at the Gold! Wes Lee then arrived and made a compelling case as to why he deserves to fight for the NXT North American Title again before “All Ego” Ethan Page came from behind and delivered another Twisted Grin to Saints! A brawl then broke out following this, with Wes standing tall! We will now get a Number 1 Contender’s Match out of this next week, and I would expect Page to win!
Grade: C+
Stephanie Vaquer told Ava that she wants Giulia, Jordynne Grace, and Jaida Parker at Stand and Deliver (in a Fatal 4-Way) before Trick Williams cut a promo talking about his resume! Wes Lee was then still in the ring as it was time for The Kardiak Kid to go one-on-one with Yoshiki Inamura! I thought this was a fun little match, there weren’t any stakes to it, but I’ve been impressed by Yoshiki Inamura since he came to NXT from Pro Wrestling Noah! Wes Lee is also terrific, that guy should be doing a lot more than he is currently, and the one dive he delivered onto Josh Briggs was really well done! Towards the end of the match, Briggs managed to take out both Tyson Dupont and Tyriek Igwe, but this accidentally caused Inamura to fall, opening the door for Lee to hit the Kardiak Kick to get the 3-count!
Grade: C+
After Oba Femi sent a warning message to Darkstate, Izzi Dame and Wren Sinclair went at it for the opportunity to head to NXT Stand and Deliver and compete in the NXT Women’s North American Championship Ladder Match! I like both Izzi and Wren, I enjoy their work, and I think they could be important players in this division later down the line! The crowd was also into this match as they were heavily behind Sinclair, and I thought for the most part, the action was pretty decent! However, the ending is the main talking point as after Dame delivered her finishing move, she let go of the cover at 2, but the referee still counted to 3! Izzi clearly made a mistake here, she obviously must’ve already thought that the referee had counted to 3, but this unfortunately ruined everything!
Grade: C-
Oba Femi, Trick Williams, and Je’Von Evans VS Darkstate
After Ava confirmed that there won’t be a Last Chance Qualifier for Stand and Deliver this year, and The Street Profits were the next team to hype up Hank and Tank, it was Main Event time as Oba Femi, Trick Williams, and Je’Von Evans teamed up in their task to take down Darkstate! This was Darkstate’s in-ring debut in NXT, and it came with mixed results! Dion Lennox is the most experienced member of the group, but he didn’t standout here whilst Cutler James wasn’t that impressive at all! However, Saquon Shugars (yes, that’s actually his name) looked pretty good, like he was easily the best member of the group so we should watch out for him going forward. You then had the fact that 3 of NXT’s best were teaming together, and yet they got beaten up for the most part by this new faction, which is again good and bad! Oba Femi did manage to go on a run later on in the match, but he and Trick Williams then got into a fight which left Evans alone, eventually being beaten by the Triple Powerbomb! After the match was over, Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo appeared on the screen to tell Darkstate to meet The D’Angelo Family in the Parking Lot next week!
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