Becky Lynch Starts the Show, Butch VS Tyler Bate: NXT Global Heritage Invitational (Group A)
The brand-new NXT Women’s Champion Becky Lynch arrived to start this week’s Monday Night Raw as The Man cut a promo in the form of a poem as she talked about all her potential challengers. Becky then said that Tiffany Stratton had earned herself a Championship rematch before Tiffany came down to the ring and said that she wants the match on as big of a stage as possible which is why she challenged Lynch to an NXT Women’s Championship match for NXT No Mercy. Becky was happy to accept the challenge before she started to get into a brawl with Stratton. Kiana James then came out of nowhere to help her fellow Heel before Big Time Becks chased them off with a steel chair. I thought this was alright, Becky’s promo was a bit weird and it was also strange for NXT to not start with a match.
Grade: C+
The NXT Tag Team Champions Tony D’Angelo and Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo were talking about which Tag Teams they should invite “to their table”. Both Tony D and Stacks agreed on The Creed Brothers and Angel and Humberto, but they said that the last spot would have to be fought over between the teams of Bronco Nima and Lucien Price, and Hank Walker and Tank Ledger. Ilja Dragunov was then speaking to McKenzie Mitchell and Ilja said he’s coming to take what’s rightfully his at NXT No Mercy. Becky Lynch then stormed in and challenged Tiffany Stratton and Kiana James to a match in tonight’s Main Event. Meta-Four were then back in their lounge and this week, it was “Matrix themed”. Noam Dar then impressed me by talking really well in a different accent before Butch’s music hit. However, before we can get to the next match in the NXT Global Heritage Invitational, the NXT North American Champion Dominik Mysterio found Trick Williams backstage and tried to play mind games surrounding Carmelo Hayes. It was then time for “the decider” in Group A of the NXT Global Heritage Invitational as Butch and Tyler Bate renewed an old rivalry. I thought this was a good match that turned great in the final couple of minutes. Due to Butch and Bate knowing one another so well, this was never going to end early and that took us the way down to the final minute where Butch had to get a victory as otherwise, Tyler would be advancing as the winner of Group A. Butch delivered a Tyler Driver 97 to Bate which Tyler kicked out of before The Big Strong Boi hit the former Pete with the Bitter End, but this time it was the Bruiserweight who had to kick out of his own move. With 30 seconds to go, Butch nailed Bate with the Bitter End, but the inaugural United Kingdom Champion again kicked out before Butch delivered the Better End to finally pick up the victory with less than 10 seconds on the clock. The drama at the end of this match was great and I genuinely wasn’t sure if Butch was going to get the victory he needed or not.
Grade: B
NXT Global Heritage Invitational (Group B): Duke Hudson VS Joe Coffey, Lola Vice VS Roxanne Perez
We saw Jacy Jayne taking Thea Hail shopping for some new clothes, but Jayne said we’d have to wait till next week to see what Hail’s favourite outfit was. This was alright, but it could’ve been funnier. It was then time for another match in the NXT Global Heritage Invitational as Duke Hudson took on Joe Coffey knowing he needed to win to have any chance of topping Group B. This match wasn’t very long and whilst it was fine, there wasn’t really anything memorable about it. The crowd are still into Duke Hudson and Chase University which is a good thing and that ultimately helped “The Duke” as he railed back and scored the victory with a roll-up. This means that Group B ends with Duke Hudson, Joe Coffey, and Nathan Frazer all on 4 points so the question now was what’s going to happen.
Grade: C
Nathan Frazer was in the middle of an interview before it was announced that there would be a Group B Triple Threat Tiebreaker and that match would take place later on tonight. Nathan was very excited about this and so was the crowd when Lola Vice made her way down to the ring as she was about to face Roxanne Perez in singles action. This wasn’t a particularly long contest, but it was fine for what it was. Roxanne Perez is sort of a veteran in NXT now which is kind of insane whilst Lola Vice is the new up-and-coming talent that very much has the crowd behind her. However, even with Elektra Lopez in her corner, it wasn’t enough for Vice as Perez rolled her up to pick up the victory. Simple stuff really.
Grade: C (I can’t really give it anything else)
Carmelo Hayes VS Dominik Mysterio, Duke Hudson VS Joe Coffey VS Nathan Frazer: NXT Global Heritage Invitational (Group B) Tiebreaker
Eddy Thorpe challenged Dijak to a Strap Match which will definitely be something before Roxanne Perez found Becky Lynch backstage and offered to be her Tag Team partner against Tiffany Stratton and Kiana James. Becky rejected Roxanne’s offer due to Perez looking in some discomfort, but she did also remember to put the younger talent over which is always a good thing. Carmelo Hayes then made his way down to the ring wearing a shirt with Dominik Mysterio’s face on it as it was time for the NXT Champion to face the NXT North American Champion in an exciting Champion VS Champion contest. I thought the action in this contest was solid, but I was slightly worried whilst watching it about the fact that neither guy could really afford to lose. Whilst Disqualification finishes are never great, I genuinely had a good time with this one. Ilja Dragunov was watching this match on commentary before Melo accidentally through Dominik into The Czar. Dragunov was then again taken out accidentally before “Dirty” Dom just slapped him which made me laugh out loud. The Mad Dragon was obviously quite angry about this so he wrecked Dominik, causing the Disqualification before he nailed Carmelo Hayes with Torpedo Moscow after Mysterio shoved Hayes into the way. However, Dom still couldn’t quite get away as he turned around in the aisleway and got met with a Superkick from Dragon Lee. This was utterly bonkers and I had so much fun with it!
Grade: B
The Schism found Trick Williams backstage and Joe Gacy and Ava both tried to “trick” Trick in regards to thinking that Carmelo Hayes wasn’t a very good friend. Where this is going I don’t know, but it’s certainly going somewhere. Andre Chase then found Duke Hudson backstage and fired the MVP of Chase University up. Duke’s line about Nathan Frazer being quicker than Usain Bolt was genuinely hilarious! Scrypts, Bronco Nima, and Lucien Price were then winning money in a dodgy alleyway before Hank Walker and Tank Ledger said they’re going to prove to the D’Angelo Family why they deserve a spot on their table next week. I was very impressed to see that Hank and Tank have got their own merch which is quite cool. It was then time to see who the true winner of Group B was as Duke Hudson, Joe Coffey, and Nathan Frazer did battle to earn themselves a match with Butch next week. This was a decent match that further showcased why Nathan Frazer is one of the most exciting in-ring performers. Frazer’s speed and agility is unmatched and he overshined his opponents, even with Duke Hudson being a brilliant Babyface. However, none of that mattered for Nathan as after he delivered the Phoenix Splash to Hudson, Joe Coffey threw him out of the ring before he nailed “The Duke” with “All the Best for the Bells” to get the victory. Whilst Joe Coffey was the least inspiring choice from the sense of the match he can have with Butch, it does make sense to make the so-called leader of Gallus look strong.
Grade: C+
Mustafa Ali spoke to McKenzie Mitchell backstage and talked about his anger towards Dragon Lee getting an NXT North American Title match against Dominik Mysterio on Raw next week despite Ali beating him in a Number 1 Contenders match a few weeks ago. To be fair, Ali does have a very fair point. Ali also said he’d deal with it at Raw next week so that could be interesting. Tiffany Stratton and Kiana James were then coming up with a game plan in the locker room before we saw Josh Briggs getting annoyed at Fallon Henley for getting Myles Borne to team with them. Baron Corbin then walked out of the massage room (that’s what he said it was) and Corbin told them to shut up because he couldn’t focus. This Corbin character’s weird! Carmelo Hayes was then leaving the NXT Arena before he said he'd put Ilja Dragunov in his place next week.
Becky Lynch VS Tiffany Stratton and Kiana James
It was then time for the Main Event as Becky Lynch looked to go at it 2-on-1 against Tiffany Stratton and Kiana James. However, that didn’t happen as the Heels attacked the NXT Women’s Champion during her entrance before Lyra Valkyria ran down to make the save, setting up a Tag Team match in the process. I thought it was cool to see Becky and Lyra team up given they’re both Irish whilst the team of Tiffany Stratton and Kiana James was fine, but you also knew who the star was (which means they won’t be a Tag Team going forward). Whilst Stratton looked good here, the main focus was making Lyra Valkyria look great and after Becky delivered the Manhandle Slam to Miss James, Valkyria delivered her really cool splash to pick up the pinfall victory. After the match, Tiffany Stratton attacked the good guys with a steel chair before Becky got on the mic and said she wants their match at NXT No Mercy to be contested under Extreme Rules. That should be fun, and it also opens up a lot of opportunities for either Lynch or Stratton to pick up the victory.
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