NXT Men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic (Semi-Final): Axiom and Nathan Frazer VS Baron Corbin and Bron Breakker
This week’s edition of NXT kicked off with the first Semi-Final in the NXT Men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic as Axiom and Nathan Frazer took on the pairing of Baron Corbin and Bron Breakker. Axiom and Frazer had to use their incredible quickness to get any sort of offense in on Baron and Bron, but it’s also worth mentioning that Breakker is incredibly fast also. I thought this was a good contest that turned great towards the end, specifically at the point where Axiom dropped Bron Breakker with a top-rope Spanish Fly before Nathan hit a wicked Phoenix Splash that would’ve been enough for the victory had Corbin not broken it up. Baron then pulled out a brilliant reversal to drop The Spanish Superhero with a vicious End of Days before Breakker wrecked Nathan Frazer with a Spear to get the victory. What a great Tag Team match, and honestly, I’m not at all surprised.
Grade: B+
Lash Legend VS Wren Sinclair, Dijak VS Joe Gacy, Lexis King VS Trey Bearhill
Josh Briggs found Ilja Dragunov to tell him he wants a match with him before Trick Williams walked over and stopped things from going any further. In the end, this resulted in a match being booked between Trick and Briggs. Fallon Henley then found Wren Sinclair and told her to calm down after Sinclair was getting incredibly nervous before Ava was announced as the new NXT General Manager by none other than William Regal. I love Regal, he’s brilliant! It was then time for the first singles match of the night as Wren Sinclair made her NXT (singles) debut against “Meta-Four’s” Lash Legend. This match was okay, I rate Lash Legend in the ring, but there really wasn’t much to it. Sinclair nearly stole a victory after some interference from Jakara Jackson backfired, but in the end, Legend hit the Slam Dunk to get the victory. After the match, Meta-Four were about to beat up Wren Sinclair some more before Fallon Henley ran down to make the save.
Grade: C
OTM and Jaida Parker attacked Adrianna Rizzo in The Family’s Restaurant (aka InDex’s place) before Elektra Lopez stormed into the Performance Center looking for Lola Vice. We were then supposed to get a match between Dijak and Joe Gacy, but instead, Gacy attacked Dijak during his opponent’s entrance before “Mr. Cool” sent Joe crashing through the bottom of the podium/platform area. However, the former Schism leader got back up before Dijak sent him through the announce table, only for Gacy to get back up again! This was a mad few minutes of NXT television, but one that I think worked quite well. Whatever happens though, Dijak has to win.
Grade: C+
Arianna Grace recited a genuinely quite funny and clever poem before Elektra Lopez stormed in asking where Lola Vice was. We then got a video package with Mr. Stone and his kids helping Von Wagner train for his NXT Heritage Cup match around what I believe was a College Football Stadium. I tell you, these Wagner-Stone segments are absolutely fantastic and it also reminded me of that awesome Johnny Gargano video package from 2019 which is always a good thing! It was then time for another match as Lexis King looked to take out Trey Bearhill. I think Lexis King is starting to feel/look more important than he did when he started in NXT, but I’m not sure this feud is going to really help Lexis grow to the next level. However, Trey Bearhill is certainly benefiting from working with King and he looked alright during this contest. In the end, though, it was King who got the victory with The Coronation (a move that I think is very good).
Grade: C+
Supernova Sessions (Featuring Lola Vice), Dragon Lee VS Scrypts, Blair Davenport VS Karmen Petrovic, Josh Briggs VS Trick Williams
Carmelo Hayes told Trick Williams that Ilja Dragunov sees him as a threat which is why he’s been playing him the whole time (Trick strongly disagreed) before it was time for another edition of Supernova Sessions, this time featuring the NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament Winner Lola Vice. Noam Dar seemed super happy to have gotten Lola on his talk show as Vice talked about how happy she is to have gotten rid of the “dead weight” known as Elektra Lopez. This brought out Elektra who fired shots at Vice before the two women brawled over Dar’s fancy sofa. This was an odd segment, as it wasn’t amazing in any stretch, but it gave you a reason to want to watch next week’s match anyway. Hopefully, that will be Lopez’s last match on NXT before she finally moves up to the Main Roster.
Grade: C+
The Family said they’re coming after OTM before we got a brilliant sad Chase University video where people were just taking all of the classroom stuff away. Mr. Chase losing his Podium was a pretty sad moment whilst Duke Hudson’s selling when they took away his MVP Trophy was both traumatic and brilliant. I’m now really intrigued to see what happens next because surely this isn’t the end of Chase U? Anyway, it was then time for another match as Dragon Lee looked to pick up some momentum at the expense of Scrypts. Unfortunately, this wasn’t much of a match as, after just a couple of minutes of action, The Family arrived to brawl with OTM and Jaida Parker before Lee took advantage and dropped Scrypts with Operation Dragon to get the victory. After the match was over, Oba Femi told Dragon Lee that he’d see him at Vengeance Day which is cool, I guess?!
Grade: C
Edris Enofe and Malik Blade were once again interrupted backstage by Brinley Reece before Lyra Valkyria told Tatum Paxley that they aren’t going to work out and her full focus is on Roxanne Perez and the NXT Women’s Championship. I’m not sure that Tatum understood this though. We then got another match as Blair Davenport went one-on-one with Karmen Petrovic. I’m still yet to be convinced that Karmen Petrovic is as good as NXT is making her out to be. There are definitely other women in NXT that deserve the spotlight more than her. I do rate Blair Davenport though and it was Blair who got the victory, and I have to say, Davenport’s win-loss record is very, very impressive.
Grade: C
After Ridge Holland said he would happily fight Gallus on his own, the Main Event match of the evening saw the NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov join commentary to watch Trick Williams’ fight with Josh Briggs. Trick Williams is the biggest Babyface in NXT right now (and maybe in all of WWE) so I can understand why Briggs was wrestling more like a Heel, but that also feels a bit odd to me. Anyway, the action here was alright and I liked the ending as an accidental kick from Briggs to Ilja fired up Dragunov who was then stopped from getting in the ring by none other than Carmelo Hayes. Williams then took advantage of this and pinned JB for the 1-2-3 before Briggs dropped Trick Willy with a big lariat. Trick then got up and pushed Melo after seeing what had gone on at ringside. The Briggs Heel move is certainly one I wouldn’t have done, but Dragunov, Melo, and Trick are always fire so that sort of made up for it.
Grade: B-
NXT Women’s Championship Contract Signing
Riley Osbourne defended Thea Hail and Jacy Jayne after Lexis King started to flirt with them before No Quarter Catch Crew had another video package. Carmelo Hayes then told Trick Williams to “wake up and realise that you’re being played”. You’re right Melo, you’re totally right! Anyway, Ava was then in the ring as she welcomed out Lyra Valkyria and Roxanne Perez for an NXT Women’s Championship Contract Signing. Considering the NXT Women’s Division gets some stick regarding their ability to talk on the mic, I actually thought both Lyra and Roxanne did quite well here and Perez’s point that Valkyria is just her a year later is both a valid and very interesting point. Valkyria then made it clear to Perez that she’s just better than her before The Morgen and The Prodigy signed the contract to make their match at NXT Vengeance Day official. However, before the show went off the air, Tatum Paxley arrived and sent Roxanne Perez crashing through the table which angered Lyra Valkyria and ultimately made Paxley cry in the process. There are a lot of different things that can play out at Vengeance Day, but whatever happens, Lyra needs a strong performance to cement herself as a deserving NXT Women’s Champion.
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