Meta-Four VS Von Wagner and Mr. Stone
NXT kicked off this week with Meta-Four in the back before they were ambushed by Von Wagner and Mr. Stone. We then got a funny thing with “The Bash Brothers” pointing in opposite directions when Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson asked them where they went before we got straight into the first match of the night. This match only got about 5 or 6 minutes which did seem slightly odd, but the action was decent throughout. Mr. Stone was particularly impressive here whilst Von Wagner is over with the crowd. However, none of that ultimately helped the Babyfaces as a distraction from Lash and Jakara allowed Noam Dar to score a roll-up victory after Oro Mensah delivered a chop-block. I have to assume Wagner is the man to dethrone Dar for the NXT Heritage Cup.
Grade: C+
Gallus Gauntlet Match, Lola Vice VS Tatum Paxley, Adrianna Rizzo VS Jaida Parker
Chase University were delighted to get all of their things back, including Mr. Chase’s Podium and Duke Hudson’s MVP Trophy. Adrianna Rizzo then walked in to receive some money from Jacy Jayne. I’m assuming this is because Rizzo’s on the Chase U 2024 Calendar. Anyway, it was time for a Galls Gauntlet Match and the first contest saw Ridge Holland take on Wolfgang. I’m going to be very honest, this was not good at all. The crowd have clearly shown that they don’t care about Ridge Holland’s “sympathy” gimmick, and also, Holland pinned Wolfgang during the commercial break before he just won the match after Joe Coffey saved his brother Mark Coffey. Why both Coffey brothers were disqualified I really have no idea. Gallus then tried to beat up Holland some more before Ridge fought back using a steel chair.
Grade: D+
Lexis King took shots at Mr. Stone’s kids before The No Quarter Catch Crew had somehow broken into Meta-Four’s locker room to the disgust of Oro Mensah before Drew Gulak made it clear that his crew are coming for the NXT Heritage Cup. Them winning that Cup off of Dar actually makes quite a lot of sense. It was then time for the first women’s match of the night as Lola Vice took on Tatum Paxley. Lola dominated this match, but Tatum showed her heart, especially when Lyra Valkyria came down to support her “friend”. Despite multiple hard strikes, Paxley continued to kick out until she ultimately had to tap out to a nasty-looking submission performed by Vice. This was totally acceptable, especially for NXT.
Grade: C+
Tony D’Angelo met Luca Crusifino for the first time before Tony D told Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo that they had to be focused in tonight’s Main Event. Shotzi then appeared on NXT when Lyra Valkyria was checking on Tatum Paxley before they agreed to have an NXT Women’s Championship match next week. What an odd decision this was! Anyway, it was then time for another match as Adrianna Rizzo took on OTM’s Jaida Parker. This was another decent match, it didn’t blow anyone or anything out of the water, but it was pretty smooth and both Rizzo and Parker looked alright. The crowd seemed very much into Parker which is a good thing, and in the end, a strong forearm from Jaida was enough for her to pin Rizzo for the 3 count.
Grade: C+
Carmelo Hayes VS Joe Gacy, Oba Femi Speaks, Brinley Reece VS Kiana James
Dijak watched what went down on last week’s NXT before he stormed out of his office area with a bag. Baron Corbin then told Bron Breakker to get his head in the game in regards to tonight’s Main Event before Corbin agreed to call them “The Wolf Dogs” once if they manage to win the NXT Tag Team Championships tonight. Carmelo Hayes arrived with a new entrance (same song though) as it was time for HIM to take on Joe Gacy. This was a decent contest, but I maybe would’ve expected a little bit more given the talent involved. However, the crowd still clearly despise Carmelo Hayes which is a good thing whilst Gacy’s doing good character work. In the end, Melo delivered Nothin’ but Net to get the victory before Dijak arrived and punished Gacy by putting some sort of jacket over him.
Grade: C+
Kelani Jordan praised Brinley Reece before Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson walked in to do the opposite. Roxanne Perez then stormed into the NXT Women’s Locker room due to not being happy over Shotzi getting an NXT Women’s Championship opportunity before her. When Wren Sinclair tried to reason with her, Roxy slapped her because why not?! We then got some more teasing that a new Superstar’s coming soon before it was time for Oba Femi to address his Kingdom. Oba said Dragon Lee won’t be the last person to feel his wrath before he warned NXT/WWE management to only send people to fight him who they don’t want back. This is when Lexis King arrived to make it clear to Femi that he only won the NXT North American Championship because of him before the two brawled (with Oba standing tall). I like Oba Femi, he has a good presence about him. Also, Lexis King is genuinely quite funny.
Grade: B-
Backstage, Brooks Jensen decided to get revenge for last week by attacking Josh Briggs before it was time for Brinley Reece to go one-on-one with Kiana James. Right now, Brinley’s gimmick is she’s energetic and happy to be there, but that she’s also not that good. It’s interesting to note that she was in the ring with Kiana James, a woman that’s gone from being arguably the worst in the NXT Women’s Division at one point to one of the best. That’s why I can’t or won’t be too critical about Miss Reece, and in the end, it was KJ who got the victory after hitting both the 401K and Bankruptcy.
Grade: C+
NXT Tag Team Championships: The Family VS Baron Corbin and Bron Breaker
After Ava told Roxanne Perez that she’d be facing Wren Sinclair next week and Brinley Reece seemed super positive talking to Edris Enofe and Malik Blade, it was Main Event time as The Family put their NXT Tag Team Championships on the line against Baron Corbin and Bron Breakker. I actually thought this was a pretty good match that was simply fun. Given that this match was happening now and Bron was wearing one of his old, colourful singlets, I fully expected Tony D’Angelo and Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo to retain here. To my surprise, that didn’t happen as an End of Days from Baron to Stacks followed by a Breakker Spear was enough for “The Wolf Dogs” to become the brand-new NXT Tag Team Champions! This was cool, I’m happy for Baron Corbin, and the crowd seemed really excited by this which is a massive testament to NXT’s booking right now.
