NXT Women’s North American Championship Qualifying Match: Izzi Dame VS Sol Ruca
After we saw Noam Dar laid out on the floor, Kiana James wished Izzi Dame good luck as the show started with Dame taking on Sol Ruca for an opportunity to head to Las Vegas! Vic Joseph brought up a very interesting and valid point that Izzi has always had someone by her side so far in NXT, and as far as her performance here, I thought she did really well! Izzi Dame does have the potential to be a powerhouse in this division, but right now the focus has to be on Sol Ruca as she is the one for me that should become the inaugural NXT Women’s North American Champion! One thing that’s for certain is Ruca will be heading to NXT Battleground courtesy of an amazing Sol Snatcher to Dame. This was a positive start to the show!
Grade: B-
Edris Enofe and Malik Blade VS OTM, Ivy Nile VS Lash Legend: NXT Women’s North American Championship Qualifying Match, Je’Von Evans VS Oro Mensah
Tony D’Angelo was fined 20,000 Dollars by Ava backstage before Edris Enofe was clearly pretty nervous. Lola Vice and Shayna Baszler then said they wanted a shot at the NXT Women’s Championship before Natalya and Karmen Petrovic arrived to start a brawl! It was then time for the next match as Edris Enofe and Malik Blade took on OTM. This was a fine contest, I like watching Enofe and Blade, but the more interesting part for me came on the outside where Jaida Parker and Brinley Reece brawled to the back. Also, the current story being told is Edris has a lot of bad luck, and that happened again as his boot feel off mid-run and this ultimately allowed Out The Mud to hit their finisher and score the win. I still don’t care about this group!
Grade: C+
Noam Dar was medically ruled out of his match with Je’Von Evans before they got annoyed at Lash Legend for saying that Trick Williams didn’t attack Dar. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson then delivered some more trash-talking to the NXT Tag Team Champions Axiom and Nathan Frazer before they challenged Ridge Holland to a Tag Match. We then headed back to the ring as Ivy Nile took on Lash Legend in the second NXT Women’s North American Championship Qualifier! This wasn’t as good as the first one, but I still thought Ivy and Lash did a decent job due to the fact that they are both good in-ring competitors. Nile particularly deserves a bigger spotlight than she receives, but in the end, a distraction by Jakara Jackson paved the way for Legend to hit the Big Boot to score the win. Lash is also a good choice to win at NXT Battleground!
Grade: C+
After Je’Von Evans made it clear that he didn’t attack Noam Dar and Carlee Bright asked Ava for a match, Meta-Four were back as this time it was Oro Mensah's turn to try and take down Je’Von Evans. The action here was alright, Je’Von is a lot of fun to watch, but the main talking point here was the story. When it looked like Lash Legend was going to grab a chair for Oro to use, Trick Williams arrived and sort of flustered Legend and this messed up Meta-Four’s plan before Evans hit an awesome Corkscrew Senton to score the victory! I enjoy Trick and Lash on-screen together, but this is all still so weird given the massive feuds Williams had with both Carmelo Hayes and Ilja Dragunov.
Grade: C+
Wes Lee Gets Interrupted, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson VS Ridge Holland and Riley Osbourne, Lola Vice VS Carlee Bright
Charlie Dempsey made it clear that he was going to make Tony D’Angelo pay for kidnapping the rest of the No Quarter Catch Crew before Wes Lee headed to the ring to speak his mind. Wes talked about his road to recovery and how much he missed NXT before he wanted to speak about the NXT North American Championship. However, Oba Femi then arrived and told Lee that he has to earn his opportunities before both Ivar and Josh Briggs arrived to lay their claim to the Gold. In the end, Oba Femi told the three men to fight next week and the winner can face him for the North American Title at Battleground. I personally would’ve liked a Fatal 4-Way, but Femi-Lee probably works better as those two are so good in their roles!
Grade: C+
Andre Chase offered Riley Osbourne to team with Ridge Holland against The O.C. before we got some more snoring followed by the sound of an alarm clock going off! We then got a really funny backstage segment where everyone refused to sign Jazmyn Nyx’s “Get Well Soon” card for Jacy Jayne except for Lexis King, who ultimately called her “Jackie”. Whilst Lexis isn’t that great in the ring, his character is quite amusing! It was then time for some Tag Team action as Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson took on the pairing of Ridge Holland and Riley Osbourne. Gallows and Anderson worked over Riley for the most part before Ridge got to run a little wild following the hot tag. However, a miscommunication between Osbourne and Holland ultimately allowed The O.C. to steal the victory with a roll-up. The idea of this was a good one, but it wasn’t executed very well, unfortunately.
Grade: C
After a video hyping up Carlee Bright, Bright made her NXT in-ring debut when she went one-on-one with Lola Vice. To my surprise, this was a competitive bout where Carlee got plenty of offense in on the way more established Vice. In terms of Bright’s performance, she definitely has things to work on, but her debut was a lot better than most of the women who debuted back in the 2.0 Era. In the end, though, it was Lola who scored the win with a nasty spinning back-fist before Natalya and Karmen Petrovic arrived to challenge Vice and Shayna Baszler to a Tag Match for next week’s show. To be honest, this surprised me as I expected that to happen at NXT Battleground!
Grade: C+
NXT Heritage Cup: Charlie Dempsey VS Tony D’Angelo
And after a quick segment where Ridge Holland and Riley Osbourne shook hands, it was Main Event time as Charlie Dempsey put his NXT Heritage Cup on the line against Tony D’Angelo. To my surprise, Tony D was able to sneak the first fall via roll-up inside the first round before Charlie Dempsey was able to tie it up at 1-all in the third! It was pretty close going in the fourth round, but the bell saved Dempsey from losing his cup before Myles Borne and Damon Kemp arrived to get some revenge on The Family. However, this didn’t work at all as they got took out before The Don hit Forget About It to pin Mr. Dempsey meaning Tony D is the brand-new NXT Heritage Cup Champion! I actually have no problem with that, I think that works well for D’Angelo’s character, and the match itself was decent! Also, the show then cut backstage to see Wes Lee, Josh Briggs, and Ivar all laid out by the returning Gallus! Interesting!
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