NXT Review: 18/04

NXT Tag Team Championships: Gallus VS The Creed Brothers VS The Dyad

During the recap of last week’s main event, the camera cut to the live action to see Gallus, the Creed Brothers and the Dyad brawling. I thought this was pretty cool and it lead into the opening match of the night where the NXT Tag Team Championships were up for grabs. This was a pretty decent match, everyone was clearly up for it and they wanted to put on the show. Gallus have been really good since they’ve come to NXT, the Dyad have always been a good tag team whilst the Creeds continue to show that they’re more than ready to take over the main roster. It actually looked like the Creeds might have been able to take the win if it wasn’t for the incidental contact that saw Jagger Reid collide with Ivy Nile. Brutus delivered the Brutus Bomb to Rip Fowler before Julius jumped out of the ring to check on his Diamond Mine partner. This then left the door open for Gallus to roll back in the ring, hit their tag team finisher on Brutus and retain their NXT Tag Team Championships. Gallus winning was the right call and I genuinely believe this will be the last match that the Creeds have on NXT before they get called up in the draft.

Grade: B-

Noam Dar VS Myles Borne, Bron Breakker gets a challenge, Roxanne Perez VS Zoey Stark

Dijak spoke to a cameraman in the parking lot and said Raw and/or SmackDown would be stupid not to draft him. He then pushed the cameraman which didn’t sit right with Apollo Crews so he challenged him to a match for later on in the show. It was then time for the debut of “Hard Hitting Home Truths with Nathan Frazer” where Nathan said that you shouldn’t be down about losing a couple of matches on NXT as the talent pool is so strong. Frazer also came to the conclusion that he needs to move fast to succeed. Noam Dar then made his way down to the ring (with the NXT Heritage Cup) as he was about to make his NXT debut against Myles Borne. This was fine for what it was, it was mainly done to give the Supernova a comfortable victory whilst also allowing Borne to get more minutes on TV. The reigning and only 2-time NXT Heritage Cup Champion picked up the victory with the Nova Roller.

Grade: C

Roxanne Perez cut a video promo where she said she’s going to overcome Zoey Stark tonight before she told Tiffany Stratton that she will gladly go through her if that’s what it takes to become NXT Women’s Champion again. Josh Briggs was then in Kiana James’ office and the businesswoman was being no help to him whatsoever. Brooks Jensen then walked in in very different clothes to what he usually wears and he told Briggs to get out. Wow, this story escalated quickly! One thing I will say is the acting from Briggs in this segment was actually really good. Odyssey Jones then made his way down to the ring as it looked like Jones was about to have a match. However, Odyssey got bulldozed by another one of those ridiculous Bron Breakker spears as the former 2-time NXT Champion was met with a chorus of boos. Duke Hudson then quickly arrived and he was clearly fired up over the actions that Bron took last week. The crowd were fully behind “the Duke”, but just when it looked like Hudson was going to challenge Bron to a match at NXT Spring Breakin’ next week, the student quickly changed his tune and announced that it would be Andre Chase who challenges Breakker. Bron definitely didn’t seem to care and he made it clear that next week is going to be the end of Chase U. I liked this segment, Bron came off well whilst Duke Hudson is so over with the crowd. Hudson’s also very good at playing a face, but using heel moves like putting his mentor in the firing line instead of him.

Grade: B-

Cora Jade spoke backstage and she said that she was being nice when it comes to her comments about the NXT Women’s division last week. Gigi Dolin then walked in and said that she’s going “to kick Cora’s ass tonight”. We then got another backstage promo as it was Pretty Deadly’s turn to talk to McKenzie Mitchell. The boys from Essex said what they did to the D’Angelo family last week was justified before they challenged them to match for next week. It was then time for the first women’s match of the night as Roxanne Perez took on Zoey Stark. This was a good match between two women very much capable of being world champions (arguably on all three brands). Roxanne Perez brought her fire and underdog mentality to this bout whilst Zoey used her striking ability and experience to stay on top of the Prodigy. In the end, though, it was Roxanne Perez who got the last laugh as she picked up the victory after hitting a really well-done Pop Rox. After the match, Indi Hartwell’s music hit and the NXT Women’s Champion announced that her first title defense will be against Roxanne next week because Perez never truly lost the title in the first place. Tiffany Stratton’s music then hit and the “Center of the Universe” claimed that both Hartwell and Perez are beatable opponents. Roxy then brought up the fact that she beat Stratton in the final of last year’s Breakout tournament which was a nice line before Indi Wrestling said she’s going to show why she’s a fighting champion when she defends her belt in a triple threat match at Spring Breakin’. I’m almost certain that Zoey Stark’s going up to the main roster, but I’m not sure what this match means for both Roxanne Perez and Indi Hartwell. Either Hartwell retains and Perez goes up in the draft, or Stratton finally wins the gold and they both debut on the main roster. Either way, that match should be pretty good.

Grade: B-

Cora Jade VS Gigi Dolin, Dijak VS Apollo Crews; Wes Lee VS Charlie Dempsey: NXT North American Championship

Grayson Waller said tonight’s Grayson Waller Effect was a little different as he actually likes his guest for once. We then got a clip from last week’s show which saw Von Wagner actually open up to Mr. Stone a little bit. It seems like the two are sticking together after all which doesn’t really make much sense. Axiom then cut a video promo where he said he’s going to beat Scrypts soon before we got a TikTok of Dani Palmer and Sol Ruca congratulating Tank Ledger for making his debut last week. We then got the match between Cora Jade and Gigi Dolin and it wasn’t great. It was just slow and it never felt right. Jacy Jayne also got involved and that was also a bit clumsy before Cora Jade picked up the win after hitting Dolin with her DDT. After the match, Lyra Valkyria showed up on the platform/podium and told Jade that the two will go to battle next week. I’m intrigued to see who wins this match and what it will mean for the two going forward in NXT.

Grade: C-

Eddy Thorpe talked about his time in NXT so far before Damon Kemp came up to him and said he may have a future in NXT. Josh Briggs and Fallon Henley were then talking in Henley’s bar before Kiana James and Brooks Jensen walked in. Brooks said he meant everything he said to Briggs earlier on in the day and that’s why he’s challenging them to a mixed tag team match for NXT Spring Breakin’. I’m very surprised that this match has been rushed, but it could also just be another chapter in the story. Dijak then did his awesome entrance as he was about to go one-on-one with Apollo Crews. Both Apollo and Dijak are talented, yet they never had the main roster careers that they would’ve wanted and they haven’t really picked up too many big wins since they’ve returned to NXT. The match itself was alright, both men looked decent and I was very surprised when Apollo kicked out of High Justice. However, Dijak followed it up with Feast Your Eyes to get the victory. After the match, Ilja Dragunov arrived to stop Dijak from beating down Crews some more and it resulted in officials having to hold them both back. They should have a fun match.

Grade: C+

Jacy Jayne walked to her car as she talked about Gigi Dolin abandoning her brother before she said that she’s going to make Gigi “run away from NXT like she ran away from her home”. The NXT North American Championship was then on the line as Wes Lee looked to retain against Charlie Dempsey. During Wes’ entrance, Drew Gulak attacked the champion which was quite funny and this allowed Charlie Dempsey to take control to start things off. However, Wes never gives up and he eventually was able to overcome it by hitting the Cardiac Kick to retain. After the match, Drew Gulak beat Lee up before the two heels laid the champ out. I’d expect Wes to beat Drew Gulak in a couple of weeks and it should be a lot better than this one.

Grade: C

The Grayson Waller Effect

Tony D’Angelo and Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo were in an Italian restaurant when they came up with the idea to face Pretty Deadly next week in the first-ever “trunk match”. Fair enough. It was then time for another edition of the Grayson Waller Effect as the Arrogant Aussie welcomed Carmelo Hayes to the show. As always with this show, I go over some of the best comments which include “Grayson should Collab with Bad Bunny”, “Waller’s going to be a top draft pick” and “I bet Grayson’s good at fantasy baseball”. Carmelo Hayes was the first one to fire a shot at his Spring Breakin’ opponent as he questioned what Waller had actually accomplished in NXT before the Arrogant Aussie fired back saying “I’ve been more relevant without a championship than you have with one”. Grayson then referenced that whilst Melo won the NXT Championship at Stand and Deliver, he was the one who stole the show (very true statement). Grayson then said to Hayes that he “should call up MVP and ask him if he can carry Omos’ bags” after he loses the title next week which was a brilliant line before Melo said “I’m sure Logan Paul’s looking for an idiot to dress up in a prime mascot suit” and this made me laugh. It ended with the two men standing face-to-face and I thought this was a pretty good segment. Their match should be great next week and it will most likely be Grayson’s last match in NXT so he’ll want to go out with a bang.

Grade: B