NXT Women’s North American Championship Qualifying Match: Fallon Henley VS Thea Hail
NXT kicked off this week with a Qualifying Match for the NXT Women’s North American Championship Ladder Match as Rivals Fallon Henley and Thea Hail collided. This was a good match I thought, both of these women are two of the best in NXT, and the only question I have is why this match even happened in the first place. What I mean by this is realistically, both Fallon and Thea should be heading to NXT Battleground! Anyway, there was an interesting bit of story as Ridge Holland grabbing a steel chair out of the hands of Henley resulted in the whole of Chase University being sent to the back, and this sort of threw Hail off her game a little bit. In the end, Thea’s emotions got the best of her and she ran straight into a Shining Wizard from Fallon which was enough for the Cowgirl to score the win! After the match, Jazmyn Nyx arrived and floored Hail with a Pele Kick, and yeah, this was a good start to the show!
Grade: B-
NXT Tag Team Championships: Axiom and Nathan Frazer VS The D’Angelo Family, Wes Lee VS Josh Briggs VS Joe Coffey: NXT North American Championship Number 1 Contender’s Match
Axiom and Nathan Frazer had an interaction with The D’Angelo Family backstage as A-Kid was brought up (I always enjoy it when this happens) before Joe Coffey fired a few shots at Ava, including bringing up “The Final Boss”. It was then Championship time as Axiom and Nathan Frazer put their NXT Tag Team Titles on the line against Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo and Luca Crusifino of The D’Angelo Family. This was also a good match, and the reason for this is because Axiom and Frazer are incapable of putting on anything less! I thought Stacks and Crusifino also looked decent together here, but it was very clear that they weren’t winning this match. However, I was surprised to see the No Quarter Catch Crew arrive and start a brawl with Tony D’Angelo which ultimately allowed Axiom and Nathan to score the win with a roll-up. After the match, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson arrived and they dropped the Champions!
Grade: B-
Mr. Stone and Lexis King got into a disagreement backstage before Ava told King that she’d booked him in a match for tonight’s show. Riley Osbourne and Ridge Holland then got into a massive argument backstage which really didn’t please Andre Chase before it was time for Wes Lee, Josh Briggs, and Joe Coffey to face off in a Triple Threat Match for the right to face Oba Femi for the NXT North American Championship at NXT Battleground. This was a decent contest, it’s always a joy watching Wes Lee perform, and I thought both Josh and Joe did a decent job also. Oba Femi also brought a lot on commentary (that guy is so cool), and this was a very even contest until the rest of Gallus wiped out Briggs. This ultimately led to the finish where both Lee and Coffey fell into the cover and pinned Briggs meaning both guys won! I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect this finish!
Grade: B-
NXT Women’s North American Championship Qualifying Match: Brinley Reece VS Jaida Parker, Lexis King VS ?, Trick Williams Speaks
Natalya and Karmen Petrovic cut a backstage promo before Brinley Reece was getting ready with Edris Enofe and Malik Blade. Edris was still worried about all this bad luck that’s surrounding him. Ava then told Oba Femi that he will be defending his NXT North American Championship in a Triple Threat Match at NXT Battleground (against Wes Lee and Joe Coffey) before Brinley Reece went one-on-one with Jaida Parker for the opportunity to head to Vegas! This was a typical match between two people learning, but I honestly have no problem with this because so many other stars have benefited from this since the early days of the 2.0 Era. Reece actually got quite a lot of offense in here, but Edris Enofe and Malik Blade then decided to show up and this didn’t help Brinley whatsoever as Jaida Parker hit the Tear-Drop Hip Check to score the 3 count! I have no problem with Miss Parker heading to Battleground!
Grade: C
Fallon Henley and Jazmyn Nyx had an interesting interaction backstage before we saw a certain someone waking up and putting their slippers on! We then got a video promo from Roxanne Perez where The Prodigy talked herself up before Ava announced that Perez will find out her next NXT Women’s Championship challenger next week! Lexis King then headed to the ring for his singles match, and his mystery opponent was revealed to be none other than Dante Chen. Dante’s a decent talent, he’s just had a lot of bad luck over the years, but it is odd to see him back given we last saw him hanging out with Boa! Anyway, King played the veteran role here, and as much as I enjoy his character, I wouldn’t say he’s good enough in the ring to pull this off very effectively. In the end, Chen was able to sneak a roll-up victory to the delight of Mr. Stone, but yeah, I’m just not sure Lexis losing here really worked.
Grade: C
Shayna Baszler made it clear to Lola Vice that she didn’t want to see any dancing in the ring tonight before Trick Williams headed to the ring to cut a promo. The NXT Champion made it clear that he didn’t attack Noam Dar because if he did, the outcome would’ve been a lot worse! Oro Mensah and Jakara Jackson then came out to say this was all nonsense, but Lash Legend believed Trick. Gallus’ music then hit as Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey, and Wolfgang attacked Williams before Je’Von Evans tried and failed to save the Champion. This was very odd because Gallus are already preoccupied with the NXT North American Championship and Trick Williams’ story is currently with Noam Dar and Meta-Four. I don’t know, but it doesn’t feel like NXT’s booked Trick particularly well since he beat Ilja Dragunov a month ago.
Grade: C
Lola Vice and Shayna Baszler VS Natalya and Karmen Petrovic
After Ava congratulated both Dante Chen and Mr. Stone backstage, it was Main Event time as Lola Vice and Shayna Baszler teamed up to take on the pairing of Natalya and Karmen Petrovic. This was alright, Shayna was made to look strong which is how it should always be whilst both Lola and Karmen got plenty of shots in which was important. The thing to note about this contest was Vice and Baszler were the stronger pairing, but Natalya and Petrovic were the better team. This showed as Vice got to cocky and started showboating, ultimately allowing the Babyfaces to hit the Hart Attack before Petrovic pinned Lola for the big win! After the match, Lola Vice floored Shayna Baszler to my surprise, but Baszler got straight back up and locked in the Kirifuda Clutch before referees broke it up. Ava then arrived as Shayna demanded an NXT Underground Match against the Breakout Tournament Winner! That will go one of two ways!
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