NXT Global Heritage Invitational Final: Butch VS Joe Coffey
NXT kicked off this week with the Final of the NXT Global Heritage Invitational as Butch and Joe Coffey fought for the opportunity to face Noam Dar for the NXT Heritage Cup at NXT No Mercy this Saturday. Both of these guys have been portrayed well in this tournament and I thought this was a pretty decent match that showcased both guys’ abilities. However, my one negative towards this match was the winner was pretty obvious which is sort of saying something considering Coffey’s been the shock of this entire tournament. Despite Joe coming close to winning with “All the Best for the Bells”, Butch eventually dropped the leader of Gallus with the Bitter End to pick up the victory. Butch then stared at Noam Dar as Meta-Four were once again playing fancy dress.
Grade: C+
Joe Gacy VS Trick Williams, Baron Corbin VS Josh Briggs, Hank and Tank VS OTM
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed the NXT North American Champion Dominik Mysterio backstage and Dominik was talking about how happy he is to get Saturday Night off. However, McKenzie then told Dom that there will be a Triple Threat match later on tonight with the winner getting an opportunity at the North American Championship at NXT No Mercy. Mysterio wasn’t very impressed at all. Tony D’Angelo and Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo were sitting in their favourite Italian Restaurant before Angel and Humberto arrived and told them that they weren’t there to eat and instead, they just wanted a shot at the NXT Tag Team Championships. It was then time for a match between Joe Gacy and Trick Williams and this was alright. It didn’t go particularly long, but it showed us that Trick Williams is a guy that NXT has a lot of faith/belief in. Joe Gacy is also always improving in the ring which is always a good thing, but in the end, it wasn’t enough for the leader of Schism as his attempt at the Upside Down got reversed into a massive knee strike from Trick and that was enough for Williams to get the victory. After the match, Trick Willy wasn’t particularly interested in answering a question regarding Carmelo Hayes and Ilja Dragunov before he said it’s time that he gets some gold of his own.
Grade: C+
Blair Davenport called Gigi Dolin pathetic in a backstage interview before we saw Andre Chase and Duke Hudson approach Jacy Jayne. Jacy then welcomed out Thea Hail who’s got an all new look and you could tell that this worried Mr. Chase. It was then time for another match as Baron Corbin looked to punish Josh Briggs for being too loud last week. This was another short match that didn’t really see anything of note happen. I actually quite like Josh Briggs, but he wasn’t made to look particularly good in this match as Baron Corbin put him away with the End of Days in short fashion. Corbin then called out Bron Breakker who showed up and a brawl started. Cool.
Grade: C
We saw Trick Williams walk into Shawn Michaels’ office before we got a video package highlighting the rivalry between Becky Lynch and Tiffany Stratton. Whilst this was decent and Tiffany had a couple of good lines, it was nowhere near as cool/good as some of these videos that NXT have done in the past. Hank Walker and Tank Ledger were then out in the ring as they were about to battle Bronco Nima and Lucien Price for the last spot on the D’Angelo Table. Nima and Price are now being called “OTM” and I have absolutely no idea what that’s supposed to mean and this was another match that didn’t really mean much. I’m yet to really enjoy/understand anything that Nima and Price are involved in and whilst I like Hank and Tank as characters, they never really win anything. That continued here as a distraction from Scrypts allowed OTM to hit their Tag Team finisher to get the W.
Grade: C
Dijak VS Eddy Thorpe: Strap Match, Dani Palmer VS Thea Hail, Axiom VS Dragon Lee VS Trick Williams VS Tyler Bate: NXT North American Championship Number 1 Contender’s Fatal 4-Way
Gigi Dolin was warming up for her match with Blair Davenport before the lights went out and when they came back on, Gigi had been attacked by Miss Davenport. The Creed Brothers then arrived at “The D’Angelo Family Dinner Party” before we saw Axiom and Tyler Bate talking backstage. Trick Williams then walked in and told his fellow Babyfaces that he is now a part of tonight’s NXT North American Championship Number 1 Contender’s match. It was then time for Eddy Thorpe to try and get some revenge on Dijak as the two battled in a Strap Match. I thought this was a pretty decent match and the bit when Dijak was battering Thorpe with a strap in front of Eddy’s family was awesome. The ending was also pretty well done as Thorpe ducked Dijak’s attempt at using his white belt before Thorpe nailed an elbow drop from the middle rope to get the win. However, after the match, Dijak attacked Thorpe and laid him out with the Feast Your Eyes before he continued to whack his rival with the leather strap. I really don’t get why this feud is continuing unless it’s actually a Best-of-5 Series and we just haven’t been told yet.
Grade: C+ (The Match was good, but the Post-Match stuff didn’t make much sense)
It was pretty clear that Jacy Jayne was excited about Thea Hail’s new ring gear before Thea Hail made her way down to the ring with new entrance music as she was about to go one-on-one with Dani Palmer. This was yet another pretty short match on this week’s NXT and it’s one that Thea Hail was made to look good whilst Dani Palmer was just there. Hail eventually locked in the Kimura Lock to get the submission victory, but interestingly, whilst Jacy Jayne was hugging Thea, she was also taking the mick out of Andre Chase and Duke Hudson who were watching from the podium/platform area. Whilst this match was a bit pointless, I still really like this story.
Grade: C+
Trick Williams found Carmelo Hayes backstage, but Melo seemed more interested in looking at his phone than talking to his buddy. We then saw Baron Corbin and Bron Breakker brawl backstage before it was time for a Fatal 4-Way match as Axiom, Dragon Lee, Trick Williams, and Tyler Bate all fought for a shot at facing Dominik Mysterio for the NXT North American Championship at NXT No Mercy. This was a pretty fun match and was by far the best match of the night. Axiom, Lee, Williams, and Bate are all really, really good and it was also cool to see that everyone in this match is a Babyface. The best move in this match was probably when Axiom hit Dragon Lee with a Canadian Destroyer after jumping off of (I think) Bate’s back. In the end, though, Trick Williams collided heads with Tyler Bate before Williams luckily fell onto Axiom giving him the 3 count and the opportunity to fight for the NXT North American Championship. This was a cool ending and you could tell that Trick Willy was delighted.
Grade: B-
NXT Championship Contract Signing, Baron Corbin and Bron Breakker Brawl
OTM arrived at “The D’Angelo Family Dinner Party” before Tony D and Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo decided they wanted to fight all three teams at NXT No Mercy. This was all a bit pointless (if you ask me). Dominik Mysterio wasn’t at all impressed with Shawn Michaels when McKenzie Mitchell interviewed him for a second time before Dragon Lee attacked Mysterio from behind. Carmelo Hayes then congratulated Trick Williams backstage before we got a video package for someone. I don’t know who it is yet, but it is worth noting that both WCW and the Cincinnati Bengals were shown. Carmelo Hayes and Ilja Dragunov were then in the ring as both men were ready to sign the contract for their NXT Championship match at No Mercy this Saturday. Whilst this wasn’t an amazing segment, it still produced some good lines, and one of them was Carmelo saying that he’s better than everything that Dragunov’s beaten before he listed a bunch of names including his buddy Trick Williams. Dragunov also had a killer line saying “Long live The Czar”, something he used to say back in NXT UK. The two then starred down one another to end the show and I’m really looking forward to that match as it should be great. Vic Joseph then announced that Dragon Lee will be the Special Guest Referee for the NXT North American Championship match between Dominik Mysterio and Trick Williams at NXT No Mercy before we saw Baron Corbin and Bron Breakker brawl in the NXT Parking Lot (aka the Death Zone). At one point, Corbin chokeslammed Breakker onto the top of a car only for Bron to sit up like he’s The Undertaker before the two brawled inside and Bron Speared Baron straight through a wall which happened to be the wall next to Shawn Michael’s office. Whilst this was bizarre and didn’t make much sense, HBK sitting on his desk as this happened was quite funny.
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