Wes Lee’s NXT North American Championship Open Challenge
NXT kicked off this week with a huge brawl in the backstage area as everyone was trying to answer Wes Lee’s NXT North American Championship open challenge. As it looked like Dabba-Kato was going to answer the challenge, Apollo Crews took him out and this allowed the returning Nathan Frazer to answer Wes’ challenge. The two then went on to have a really good match that was full of high-paced action and some great high-flying moves. Both men are really good and it’s almost poetic that the last time we saw Nathan Frazer, Wes Lee was holding up the North American Championship at Halloween Havoc. In the end, Wes Lee picked up the victory with the Cardiac Kick. A really good way to start NXT.
Grade: B
Briggs and Jensen VS Indus Sher, Meiko Satomura VS Zoey Stark
JD McDonagh made it clear that he was going to punish Ilja Dragunov soon enough before we cut to the locker room. Brooks Jensen was clearly a bit upset and when Josh Briggs asked him the reason why he said that it’s because of what happened on Valentine’s day. Briggs then hyped his partner up before their match with Indus Sher. We then got a video showcasing Tyler Bate before Hank Walker talked about how he wanted to get revenge on Drew Gulak and Charlie Dempsey tonight. Axiom then confronted Walker and he was not happy that the former security guard cost him an opportunity at the NXT North American Championship. Officials had to arrive to stop a brawl from ensuing. We then got our second match of the night as Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen took on Indus Sher. The story of this match was that Brooks Jensen couldn’t focus on the match and this showed as he wasn’t on the same page as his tag team partner like usual. In the end, this cost them and Indus Sher took advantage before Veer picked up the win after delivering the Million Dollar Arm to Jensen. This was totally fine and after the match, Jinder Mahal made it clear that he and Indus Sher are going to finish off the Creed Brothers next week.
Grade: C+
It looked like McKenzie Mitchell was going to interview Nathan Frazer, but Katana Chance ran in and asked the doctor to come outside. The cameras then followed the action to see Wendy Choo laid out in the parking lot. That place is not safe. Gigi Dolin then came out with the Toxic Attraction music, but she made it clear that was the last time anyone was going to be hearing that. She made it clear that she’s used to being bullied and she’s going to put the final nail in the Toxic Attraction coffin next week at Roadblock. I thought Gigi delivered this promo well and even though it’s a shame that the two aren’t going to get their big match on WrestleMania weekend, both Dolin and Jayne should have a decent match next week. We then cut to Chase University and Duke Hudson apologised to Thea Hail before Mr. Chase’s lesson was interrupted by the Schism who told the students that they should make the switch to the Schism’s tree. Andre Chase then said he’s had enough of the Schism’s comments so he challenged Joe Gacy to a match for NXT Roadblock. Dijak then told Tony D’Angelo that he accepted the Don’s challenge for a Jailhouse Street Fight next week before we got a match between Meiko Satomura and Zoey Stark. It’s fair to say that both Meiko and Zoey are two of the top women’s wrestlers in NXT and this showed as they had a pretty decent match. This contest was hard-hitting and they both showed why they are more than deserving of getting on the NXT: Stand and Deliver card. In the end, Meiko Satomura picked up the victory after hitting the Scorpio Rising. Satomura needed a big win going into her title match with NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez next week so her getting the win makes sense. I just hope it doesn’t derail Zoey Stark.
Grade: C+ for Dolin, B- for Satomura VS Stark
Elektra Lopez VS Sol Ruca, Katana Chance VS Tiffany Stratton, Axiom VS Hank Walker
Tiffany Stratton was standing outside the trainers' room and she said that it's Wendy’s fault for getting hurt as she was standing in the parking lot. The second part of that comment was very valid. Katana Chance and Kayden Carter questioned whether Stratton did it and this sets up a match for later on in the show. The Creed Brothers were then walking backstage and despite everything, they asked Damon Kemp if they would be on their team for next week’s match with Jinder Mahal and Indus Sher. Kemp said no, but Bron Breakker did accept so that’s quite a smart way to get the NXT Champion on next week’s big show. We then went into a match between Elektra Lopez and Sol Ruca. This match was fine, I like both competitors and they definitely gave it a good go. The main part of this match however was the story as when Elektra Lopez went to get the brass knuckles from the ring corner, she noticed that Valentina Feroz had already taken them. This distraction allowed Sol Ruca to get the victory with the Sol Snatcher. After the match, Elektra Lopez kept pushing Valentina Feroz and this led to Feroz knocking Lopez out with the brass knuckles. Either this puts an end to their relationship or, this was a trap by Lopez to show Feroz that she does have a killer instinct.
Grade: C
Gallus were once again in their pub playing pool and Mark Coffey did a good job riling up Wolfgang to the point that when another pool player accidentally bumped into him, he snapped the cue stick in half before he beat the innocent guy up. These Gallus boys are mad! We then cut to Pretty Deadly who were being interviewed by McKenzie Mitchell backstage and the best thing about all of this was all three of them were wearing matching magenta-pink outfits. Pretty Deadly invited Gallus to meet them in the ring for a face-to-face next week. We then got our third women’s match in a row as Katana Chance took on Tiffany Stratton. This was another solid match and that’s not really a surprise as both women are talented workers. Chance even looked in control at parts, but the turning point came when Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn walked out. This distracted Katana Chance and this ended up allowing Tiffany Stratton to pick up the win with her beautiful moonsault. After the match, Tiffany Stratton made it clear that after NXT Roadblock, she’s coming for the NXT Women’s Championship. Even though I originally wanted Zoey Stark to fight Roxanne Perez at Stand and Deliver, Stratton would be cool, particularly as she could legitimately take the belt away from the Prodigy.
Grade: C+
Brooks Jensen was sitting on his own backstage and he looked pretty upset. Josh Briggs came up to him and he told Brooks that he didn’t need to apologise for what happened in their match earlier on tonight. He told his “brother” that he and Fallon are the only things in his life and because of that, he will talk to Kiana James for him. We were then straight into another contest as this time, Axiom took on Hank Walker. This was alright, Axiom is one of the best wrestlers on the brand and Hank Walker is clearly improving from when he first appeared as a security guard. Quite surprisingly, neither Drew Gulak or Charlie Dempsey showed up at all in this match and it ended with Axiom delivering the Golden Ratio onto Walker to pick up the win.
Grade: C
Carmelo Hayes VS Tyler Bate
Grayson Waller was delighted at the fact that Shawn Michaels had accepted his request to show up on the “biggest ever edition” of the Grayson Waller Effect before it was time for the main event of the show which saw Carmelo Hayes take on Tyler Bate. I think it’s definitely fair to say that both Carmelo Hayes and Tyler Bate operate on a level that not many can reach in NXT right now. These guys are so damn good and they put on a very entertaining match. Both guys hit all of their trademark stuff and the crowd were loving it. Both men were evenly matched throughout the contest until Trick Williams caused a distraction that allowed Melo to deliver the double knees to the Big Strong Boy before Hayes picked up the win the Nothin’ but Net. After the match, Carmelo Hayes told the camera that there’s only one man that can beat Bron Breakker and that’s him. This was a good main event and a really effective way to showcase that Carmelo Hayes is the man to take down the Bron Breakker empire.
Comentarios