Cody Rhodes Starts the Show, Asuka VS Roxanne Perez
NXT kicked off with one-half of the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions as Cody Rhodes arrived to a massive pop. Cody said he was here at NXT more than one big announcement before he first announced that following the conclusion of the NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament, the men will also get their own Breakout Tournament which is pretty cool before Rhodes then announced that the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic will also be returning and I really hope Chase U wins that. The American Nightmare then announced that Shawn Michaels has also given him the role of “Special Guest General Manager” before he was interrupted by Ilja Dragunov. The NXT Champion told Cody Rhodes that he wants to carry as much pride as him whilst being Champion before two other Champions arrived in the form of Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio Dominik challenged Dragunov to a match for the NXT Championship which The Czar was happy to accept before Cody Rhodes made it official, and he also decided to add LA Knight as the Special Guest Referee because why not?! This was a wild start to the show, but the stuff that Cody announced is pretty exciting.
Grade: B-
The first match of the night then followed as Asuka made her return to NXT to take on Roxanne Perez. Before the match could start, Shotzi arrived and decided to join commentary before she announced during the match that her and Scarlett are going to be hosting Night 1 of NXT Halloween Havoc in a couple of week's time. In terms of the match itself, it was decent, there wasn’t anything wrong with it, but nothing also stood out as particularly amazing. Roxanne Perez’s first year in NXT will be hard to match by anyone, but she’s lost a lot of steam/momentum since then and whilst she looked alright here, the focus was fully on Asuka. However, Roxanne was protected somewhat in defeat as whilst she was able to escape the Asuka Lock, she couldn’t avoid The Empress of Tomorrow’s fast and ruthless strikes and a strong kick by the most dominant Champion in NXT history was enough to put The Prodigy down. After the match, Kiana James attacked Perez, but she was soon laid out herself by Shotzi.
Grade: C+
The Brawling Brutes and Tyler Bate VS Gallus: Pub Rules, John Cena is in NXT!
During The Brawling Brutes and Tyler Bate’s entrance, Gallus attacked them from behind and this led straight into a Pub Rules Match that was pretty chaotic. Gallus particularly suffered pain in this match as Tyler Bate pocked Wolfgang in the eye with a cue stick, Butch stabbed Joe Coffey’s hand with a dart and Bate also through a bowling ball at a trash can that had Mark Coffey inside. However, Gallus did get some revenge by putting The Bruiserweight through a table whilst The Big Strong Boi and Ridge Holland also took some hits. In the end, thought, it was the Babyfaces who picked up the W as they sent Joe Coffey crashing through a table with a triple Powerbomb to score the 3 count. This was the good kind of mad.
Grade: B-
We got an awesome video package highlighting the significance of Becky Lynch VS Lyra Valkyria (which takes place on Night 1 of NXT Halloween Havoc) before Tegan Nox found Lyra and told her she needs to wait as Tegan isn’t finished with Becky and the NXT Women’s Championship yet. John Cena’s music then hit and the NXT crowd went absolutely bonkers for the 16-time World Champion. John Cena thanked the crowd for an awesome reaction before he was eventually interrupted by Bron Breakker and I liked this because I find comparisons between the two superstars. Bron told John that “the NXT Universe is only here to see me” before Cena put Breakker over whilst also pointing out his flaws (in a way only Cena can). “Badass” Bron Breakker then punched John Cena before he escaped when Cena attempted to hit the AA. I still haven’t worked out whether this segment was good or not, but it’s John Cena and the crowd reaction to him was insane. Also, Bron Breakker looked really good here which is how it should be.
Grade: B-
NXT Championship: Ilja Dragunov VS Dominik Mysterio, Dani Palmer VS Lola Vice: NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament (Round 1)
The NXT Tag Team Champions The Family found Cody Rhodes backstage and pitched to him the idea of doing a Tag Team Battle Royal and when there’s only two teams remaining, it becomes a normal Tag Team match. Cody liked this and made it official for next week. It’s also worth mentioning that Dijak walked by in the background. Baron Corbin was then angry about Ilja Dragunov choosing to fight an “easy opponent” like Dominik Mysterio before LA Knight’s music to a big reaction as it was time for The Megastar to act as the “Special Guest Referee” for the NXT Championship match between Ilja Dragunov and the NXT North American Champion Dominik Mysterio. This felt like a big test for Dominik Mysterio and it’s one I think he did pretty well in. His selling was particularly good at times as Dragunov just kept punching him right in the face! Also, LA Knight spent the whole match with his sunglasses and jacket on because he doesn’t care and I found the ending to be a lot of fun. After Ilja wrecked Mysterio with an H-Bomb, Finn Balor arrived out of nowhere just to get punched in the mouth by LA Knight. Knight then dropped JD McDonagh with the B.F.T. because why not before Rhea Ripley missed when trying to hit Dragunov with her Women’s World Championship. Trick Williams then arrived and pulled Rhea off the apron, but he also made sure to catch her before Dragunov nailed “Dirty” Dom with Torpedo Moscow to get the victory and retain his NXT Title. The more I think about it, the more I liked this match, and also, whilst Baron Corbin’s music hit, Dijak attacked Dragunov from behind and told Corbin that he got there first. That’s the ultimate playground trick.
Grade: B (mainly down to the ending and Knight’s outfit)
Carmelo Hayes and John Cena were talking in the back before Trick Williams walked in and shook the hand of John Cena before Melo said that he’s going to make sure that he wins back his NXT Championship before he will help Trick win back his NXT North American Title. Melo then left to go and get changed and Cena could tell that something was wrong before Williams asked Cena “When did you know that it’s your time.” All of this was great. As was the next bit as NXT Anonymous (I’m starting to get the sense that this person’s never going to be revealed) showed Paul Heyman talking to none other than Ava. Whilst this could be nothing, it could also be epic. Shawn Michaels was then very excited as Jade Cargill pulled up to the Performance Center before Baron Corbin found Cody Rhodes and demanded that he gives him a shot at the NXT Championship. However, Cody said Dijak also has a valid case for a title match (I don’t really know how) whilst he also said that the winner of tonight’s Main Event between Bron Breakker and Carmelo Hayes are also strong contenders. Because of this, Rhodes booked a Triple Threat match for next week and the winner of that match will go on to face Ilja Dragunov for the NXT Championship at NXT Halloween Havoc. Nathan Frazer then confronted Dominik Mysterio backstage which excited me before it was time for the second match in the NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament as the second favourite to win the tournament Lola Vice took on Dani Palmer. Whilst the quality of this match wasn’t to the same caliber as other matches on the show, this was still fine and it was certainly a lot better than some of the female matches in the early days of NXT 2.0. The crowd are clearly into Lola Vice as a performer whilst Dani Palmer’s been around long enough now to have a rough idea of what she’s doing. Still, that didn’t help Palmer advance any further in this tournament as a Roundhouse/Spin Kick was enough for Vice to pick up the victory as Elektra Lopez watched on. We are definitely getting a Jordan-Vice Final.
Grade: C+
Thea Hail returned to class at Chase University, but only because Jacy Jayne was joining her too. Jacy then went on to cause lots of disruption by talking and going on her phone before others followed suit which angered Mr. Chase to the point that he broke someone’s phone. Jayne then announced that Chase University will be in the “Bada Bing, Bada Boom Tag Team Battle Royal” next week which is why they were all on their phones. As the founder and headmaster of Chase U, how the hell has Andre Chase allowed Jacy Jayne into his class? Paul Heyman then fired up Bron Breakker backstage before Bron said he’ll break anyone that stands in his way. Heyman was so happy about this that he decided to make a phone call to “The Tribal Chief” Roman Reigns. Brian Pillman Jr. then said that everyone has positive things to say about his father except his son himself. Brian then said he's taken his real father's name heading forward (which is King) and this is by far the most creative way to change a wrestler's name I have ever seen. Kiana James then thanked Asuka for beating Roxanne Perez earlier in the night before a bunch of women including Fallon Henley and Kelani Jordan then started to “fan girl” over The Empress of Tomorrow. Tiffany Stratton then walked in and trash-talked the other women whilst Asuka escaped to her own locker room. I didn’t get this at all.
Bron Breakker VS Carmelo Hayes
After an awesome introduction by Paul Heyman, it was time for Bron Breakker VS Carmelo Hayes Round 3! I’ve always found Breakker-Hayes matches weird because the wrestling that takes place is never as good as other matches you see on NXT or matches that these two have had against other opponents. However, Bron VS Melo always feels like one of the biggest matches that NXT can or has put on and it showed here as the crowd were fully into this match, and the addition of Paul Heyman’s brilliant facial expressions/reactions only made it better. Near the end of the match, John Cena just kicked Bron Breakker for some reason before Solo Sikoa arrived which resulted in Cena and Sikoa fighting to the back. Meanwhile, Melo was able to take advantage of Breakker being down as he threw his rival into the ring before he nailed him with Nothin’ but Net to pick up the victory. However, before Hayes could celebrate, he got wrecked by a vicious Spear by Breakker before he said the line “I will always be the one and only true Badass in WWE”. As he said this line, The Undertaker’s music as the “American Badass” came down to the ring on his massive motorbike. Taker then got into the face of Bron and said he’s here to teach him a lesson before he dropped the former 2-time NXT Champion with a Chokeslam. NXT then went off the air with The Undertaker embracing Carmelo Hayes and when you combine The Undertaker, John Cena, and Paul Heyman who all did their jobs at putting both Bron Breakker and Carmelo Hayes over, it’s clear to see that Breakker and Melo are the future of WWE and this is exactly the way you make them feel even more special than they already did.
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