NXT Men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic (Semi-Final): Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams VS The LWO
NXT kicked off this week with the second Semi-Final in the NXT Men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic as the team of Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams took on The LWO. I like both of these teams so I enjoyed this, and it’s great to see The LWO getting to show everyone their skills. Of course, the main focus here was on Carmelo and Trick as that’s NXT’s top storyline right now, but both Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde looked good throughout. In the end, though, Melo caught Wilde with the First 48 before Williams hit the Trick Knee to get the victory meaning Trick Willy will have to pull double duty at NXT Vengeance Day. Also, after the match, Oba Femi attacked both Del Toro and Wilde before the NXT North American Champion dropped Dragon Lee to close out the segment.
Grade: B-
Roxanne Perez VS Tatum Paxley, Elektra Lopez VS Lola Vice, Lexis King VS Ridge Holland
Ava told Ridge Holland that she can’t let him face Gallus 3-on-1 before Lexis King walked in and handed Ava a goody basket. Ava then booked a match between King and Holland, and this was actually quite funny. Lyra Valkyria was then bewildered at Tatum Paxley’s explanation of what happened last week before it was time for Tatum to have a match with Roxanne Perez. The NXT Women’s Champion was on commentary for this contest and I thought it was totally fine. I like Paxley whilst Roxanne Perez is clearly one of NXT’s top names. In the end, Perez picked up the victory with Pop Rox before Lyra came in to protect Pax after Roxanne was looking to inflict more damage. There are certainly plenty of different things going on in the NXT Women’s Championship scene which is a good thing and I am looking forward to Valkyria-Perez on Sunday.
Grade: C+
Arianna Grace was teaching Wren Sinclair some stuff before Fallon Henley walked in and challenged Grace to a match. We then went into another match as Elektra Lopez and Lola Vice went at it. Neither Elektra nor Lola are the best in-ring workers, but I actually think they did a decent job here mainly because you could tell that they wanted to hurt one another. The only odd thing about this was the likes of Santos Escobar and Zelina Vega were nowhere to be seen. Anyway, after a decent battle, Vice delivered her nasty Roundhouse Kick to get the victory and I have to assume that that will be the end of Lopez in NXT.
Grade: C+
Joe Gacy found Dijak in his little hideout before Gacy played a piece of audio that made it clear that he’s been there before. This led to Dijak and Joe having a brawl before it was time for another match, this time between Lexis King and Ridge Holland. This was ok, both guys put in a shift, but it will also be pretty forgettable by tomorrow. Right now, this Ridge Holland character just isn’t working whilst Lexis King needs to get better in the ring before he can be seen as a top guy in NXT. In the end, a distraction from Gallus allowed King to get the victory with the Coronation before Gallus attacked Holland with a vicious chair assault to prove that Holland doesn’t have any friends.
Grade: C
The End of Chase University, Arianna Grace VS Fallon Henley, Noam Dar VS Von Wagner: NXT Heritage Cup
Carmelo Hayes continued to warn Trick Williams about Ilja Dragunov before Andre Chase, Duke Hudson, and Riley Osbourne were in the ring to say goodbye to Chase University. Andre talked about how thankful he is for all the support he’s received over the years before Duke Hudson played a montage video showing off Chase University’s best moments. Jacy Jayne and Thea Hail then arrived as Jacy thanked Mr. Chase for helping her lose her “Toxic side” before Jayne said that the University won’t be closing down due to the new “Ladies of Chase U 2024 Calendar” which is supposedly going to be a big hit! Chase then hugged Jayne and said thank you to close the segment. I thought this was great, the Chase U Tribute Package was brilliantly both emotional and funny whilst Jacy Jayne has done such a good job with her new character. Add in the great character work from Duke Hudson, Thea Hail, and Andre Chase, and you have yourselves a successful segment.
Grade: B+
Tony D’Angelo, Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo, and Adrianna Rizzo talked about how they’re going to beat up OTM on Sunday before Brooks Jensen tried to speak with Fallon Henley. However, Fallon was more occupied with Wren Sinclair. Chase U were then celebrating backstage as Dijak and Joe Gacy’s brawl carried on in the background before it was time for Fallon Henley to go one-on-one with Arianna Grace. In-ring-wise, this wasn’t great. However, the story was pretty good as Fallon dominated Grace (because she’s the better wrestler) before Jakara Jackson arrived to distract the referee which allowed Lash Legend to drop Henley with a massive boot. This then allowed Arianna to crawl into the cover and pick up the victory and her selling of this was fantastic!
Grade: C+
OTM said they were better than everyone else in a pre-recorded video before we saw Dijak and Joe Gacy brawling on top of a crate before Dijak shoved Gacy off of it and into a garbage container. These guys are mad! Anyway, Baron Corbin and Bron Breakker seemed very excited backstage in regards to winning the NXT Men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic before it was time for Noam Dar to put his NXT Heritage Cup on the line against Von Wagner. I’ll be honest, this match had a weird story as it kind of painted Von as a bit of an idiot. He kept taking his time instead of continuously punishing his opponent and he ultimately kept getting distracted by honestly nothing. This allowed Dar to go 1-0 up early in the Second Round before Supernova 11 ultimately won 2-0 courtesy of a roll-up in Round 4. Whilst Von was ultimately standing tall with Mr. Stone’s kids after he put Oro Mensah through a table, this just didn’t work for me.
Grade: C
Ilja Dragunov and Trick Williams Come Face-to-Face
After Joe Gacy accepted Dijak’s challenge for a No Disqualification match at NXT Vengeance Day, Trick Williams was in the ring as he called out Ilja Dragunov. Trick made it clear to Ilja that he feels like he’s been being played this whole time before Dragunov told Williams that he needs to stop listening to Carmelo Hayes. The NXT Champion also had a great line saying he’s done more for the career of Trick Williams than Melo before the two shook hands, only for them to be attacked by Baron Corbin and Bron Breakker. Carmelo Hayes then arrived to make the save, but Melo didn’t look best pleased when Trick seemed to care more about Ilja Dragunov than Corbin and Breakker. I thought this was a pretty good segment as both Trick and Ilja cut good promos. It also created some good intrigue around NXT Vengeance Day this Sunday which is what you always want with these type of shows.
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