Gallus VS The Rascalz
NXT kicked off this week with a six-man Tag Team match as Gallus took on the reunited Rascalz! This was a really good match, and I’m basically just going to speak about The Rascalz for a bit! Wes Lee is a superb talent, always has been, always will be, and it was great to be reminded of how good Zachary Wentz is. Of course, MSK were arguably the best Tag Team in WWE (alongside The Usos) when Wentz was unfortunately let go, so it’s no surprise that they gelled really well together! However, I also have to give a lot of praise to Trey Miguel because he impressed me a lot, especially with his amazing speed and smoothness. Gallus also did a good job letting the Babyfaces look strong, and after Joe Hendry just appeared to the delight of Vic Joseph, it was The Rascalz who scored the win after a triple-team combo! This was a really strong way to open the show!
Grade: B
Roxanne Perez Promo, Brooks Jensen VS Je’Von Evans, Ethan Page VS Dante Chen: NXT Championship
Joe Hendry did a great job narrating what went down in NXT’s Main Event scene last week before Andre Chase and Riley Osbourne told Kelly Kincaid that they believe in Duke Hudson (pun intended)! Ethan Page then made it clear to Ava that he feels that NXT is a very unsafe working environment (he’s right) before Oro Mensah stormed in trying to pick a fight with All Ego once again! Ava wasn’t having this, but she told Page that he has to defend his NXT Championship tonight so the “Egomaniac” picked Dante Chen because of course he did! Roxanne Perez then arrived and cut a promo about how she is levels above anyone in NXT or outside of it before she name-dropped the likes of Charlotte Flair, Bayley, Asuka, and Rhea Ripley! Thea Hail then arrived to make it clear to Roxanne that she should continue to underestimate her before The Prodigy called Hail a “weak little girl”! This started a brawl between the two which ended with Thea locking in the Kimura Lock, only for Ridge Holland to pull her away! I thought Perez’s promo was good and made sense, and whilst Thea Hail’s promo did make sense, it could’ve been delivered/worded better.
Grade: C+
Kelani Jordan was talking to Kelly Kincaid about her run as the NXT Women’s North American Champion so far before Wendy Choo came up to her and smiled! Nice! Lola Vice then got into an argument backstage with Fallon Henley, Jacy Jayne, and Jazmyn Nyx which set up a match for later in the show (Vice VS Jayne) before it was time for Brooks Jensen to clash with Je’Von Evans! This was good I thought, Brooks Jensen was more aggressive in this match than we’ve seen in the past, and that’s a good thing as he looked pretty good here! The one move Brooks did from the apron to the announce table was amazing! Of course, Je’Von Evans is a great talent, and he took advantage of Jensen getting distracted by Josh Briggs and Shawn Spears exchanging on the outside to his awesome Flying Cutter to score the win! After the match, Brooks attacked Evans, and Briggs was not happy!
Grade: B-
Tony D’Angelo refused to help Charlie Dempsey when it came to dealing with a witness before Trick Williams was on the phone asking advice from Ilja Dragunov. Dragunov is officially now Trick’s Yoda, but one man who wasn’t impressed by this was Pete Dunne as he decided to be rude to Williams for literally no reason! It was then Championship time as Ethan Page put his NXT Title on the line for the first time ever against Dante Chen! This was a solid match, the crowd were behind Dante which is always nice to hear/see, but there wasn’t any moment here where I thought Chen would win which didn’t help make the fight feel dramatic. In the end, Page scored the win with Ego’s Edge before he was once again attacked by Oro Mensah, with Mensah ultimately standing tall!
Grade: C+
Izzi Dame VS Tatum Paxley, Jacy Jayne VS Lola Vice, The O.C. VS OTM
Duke Hudson got a great video package highlighting his long run in NXT before Gallus got annoyed as Joe Hendry once again appeared and made it clear that he’s already better than them (and he’s only been there 2 weeks)! Izzi Dame was then out next as she was looking to take care of Tatum Paxley. This was a fine match, it was okay for what it was, but it was a bit short. I like both Izzi and Tatum, but it feels like they never win! In the end, it was Paxley who scored the win here which was nice to see, but I also don’t get why Dame isn’t being pushed as the next NXT Women’s North American Champion! Anyway, after the match, we got an interesting interaction where Wendy Choo gifted Pax her doll back, and I’m very intrigued by this duo’s potential partnership!
Grade: C+
Chase University hyped up Duke Hudson backstage as Cedric Alexander and Ashante Adonis were chatting backstage. For some reason, Ashante decided to flirt with Jakara Jackson, and Oro Mensah did not like this one bit! Jacy Jayne’s music then hit as it was time for The Rockstar to go one-on-one with Lola Vice. This was a pretty short match which I don’t think helped Jacy very much, but it did make Lola look lethal as she scored a relatively straightforward win following a Backfist. After the match, Fallon Henley and Jazmyn Nyx tried to beat down Vice before Sol Ruca and Karmen Petrovic ran down to make the save!
Grade: C
Kelani Jordan had a nice interaction with Tatum Paxley backstage, but it ultimately resulted in Tatum grabbing a doll that resembles Kelani which is actually quite creepy! Ethan Page then got very annoyed at a cameraman when he was asking about Oro Mensah before The O.C. and OTM collided in a six-person Mixed Tag Team match! This was solid, I thought Michin and Jaida Parker worked well together here, but the action between Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, Bronco Nima, and Lucien Price wasn’t at all memorable. Also, The O.C. won this match following a Magic Killer, and that really didn’t make much sense given the results of previous encounters.
Grade: C
NXT North American Championship: Oba Femi VS Duke Hudson
After Wren Sinclair tried to join No Quarter Catch Crew and Lexis King attacked Oba Femi at a club (yes, Shawn Michaels is a genius), it was Main Event time as Oba Femi put his NXT North American Championship on the line against Duke Hudson! These are both massive guys, and they are also very entertaining performers! This was another really strong match to add to Oba Femi’s impressive resume whilst The Duke is just so good in his role (which is awesome to see)! After Hudson came close with an awesome middle-rope Powerbomb, Femi was eventually able to hit a Powerbomb of his own (which is now called the Fall From Grace) to score the win and retain his North American Title! I’m now convinced that there is no one left for Oba to face in the current NXT roster, and after this, Brooks Jensen and Josh Briggs fell out once again as lots of different interesting conversations took place in the NXT Parking Lot!
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