Gigi Dolin VS Jacy Jayne: Weaponized Steel Cage Match
NXT kicked off with a video package showcasing the history between Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne. Jacy Jayne then attacked her former Toxic partner during her entrance before the Weaponized Steel Cage Match officially got underway. Steel Chairs, belts, steel chains and even a bat with rose thorns on them were used as the two women punished their opponent. Jacy dropped Gigi onto a stack of steel chairs at one point whilst Dolin hit Jayne in the back with a trash can. After a physical encounter, Gigi Dolin sent her former friend crashing through a table before she picked up the victory to officially end the era of Toxic Attraction. This was probably the best match Jayne and Dolin have ever had in NXT and it was a really good way to end a run that saw Toxic Attraction become the greatest female faction of all time.
Grade: B
Carmelo Hayes gets a new challenger, Wes Lee and Tyler Bate VS The Dyad
Wes Lee cut a promo backstage before he was interrupted by the Dyad. Before Rip Fowler and Jagger Reid could get revenge for Joe Gacy, Tyler Bate arrived to scare them off. Bate then told Lee that they are still friends despite what happened at Battleground. We then saw pictures of Tony D’Angelo in jail before Gallus joked about it backstage. Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo wasn’t happy with this so he decided to start a brawl with the NXT Tag Team Champions which didn’t work out to well for the Underboss. Carmelo Hayes’ music then hit as the NXT Champion made his way down to the ring to talk about what went down at Battleground. He quickly recapped his victory over Bron Breakker before Noam Dar, Oro Mensah, Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson interrupted him. The NXT Heritage Cup Champion laughed at Melo before he challenged him for the NXT Championship. The A-Champion accepted the challenge and that match will take place in the main event. This wasn’t a special segment by any means, but Noam Dar coming out and just challenging Hayes because he knows he’s got lots of back-up which is pretty clever.
Grade: C+
Cora Jade annoyed everyone in the NXT Women’s locker room by saying she deserves to be NXT Women’s Champion so Ivy Nile came up to her and told her she would shut her up tonight. Reggie then went over to Axiom and told him that whilst his name is Reggie, he would like to still be called Scrypts. He then thanked the masked superhero for “opening his eyes”. Please don’t make this into a tag team. The NXT North American Champion Wes Lee then made his way down to the ring alongside Tyler Bate as they were about to team up to take on the Dyad. The action in the ring started off well, but the turning point in the whole contest came when Mustafa Ali showed up in the crowd to the delight of the NXT Universe. Ali then joined commentary for the second half of the match as Wes and Tyler showed that they could be a pretty decent tag team. Obviously, they were helped by Rip Fowler and Jagger Reid who are excellent tag team wrestlers, but in the end, Wes Lee hit Reid with the Kardiak Kick before he tagged in Tyler Bate who hit the Tyler Driver 97 to get the victory. After the match, Ivy Nile took out Ava before Joe Gacy took both of the good guys out from behind. Mustafa Ali then sent Gacy to the outside to make the save before Ali, Bate and Lee stood tall in the ring to close the segment. The action was good and Ali showing up was awesome.
Grade: B
A “Tiffybration”, The Mystery Attacker gets revealed, Joe Coffey VS Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo, Cora Jade VS Ivy Nile
Thea Hail made it her mission to stand up to Drew Gulak and Charlie Dempsey despite how horrible the two were being to her at Battleground. I really miss Andre Chase. Tiffany Stratton’s music then hit as it was time for a “Tiffybration”. Tiffany Stratton hyped herself up in this promo before she requested all of the female competitors to come down to the ring so she could tell who her first opponent is going to be. They eventually came to ringside as the new NXT Women’s Champion announced that a Battle Royal will take place next week to determine her first challenger. Thea Hail then got into the ring and got the first shot in on the new champ before a bunch of other good guys including Lyra Valkyria sent her to the outside. Unfortunately, Stratton struggled a little bit with her promo, but I did like the fact that the heels (Cora Jade, Elektra Lopez, etc) clearly weren’t fans of the new NXT Women’s Champion. I’m definitely looking forward to the Battle Royal next week.
Grade: C
Trick Williams warned Oro Mensah, Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson that he wouldn’t allow them to cause any shenanigans in the main event before we cut back to the ring to see Dani Palmer. Palmer requested that the mystery attacker reveal herself and this led to her being attacked once again by the hooded figure. The mystery person then took off their hood to reveal themselves as Blair Davenport. I thought this was cool, I haven’t seen too much of Davenport, but she did look good in her match against Mandy Rose and Meiko Satomura back at NXT World’s Collide in September. Edris Enofe and Malik Blade congratulated Eddy Thorpe on a good performance against Tyler Bate before Damon Kemp walked in and laughed at them. This has somehow set up a match for next week. Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo then looked to take his frustrations out on Gallus’ Joe Coffey in the next match of the night. This was a decent contest, but there wasn’t much to it. Stacks is a pretty decent wrestler, but he feels in a holding pattern whilst Tony D isn’t around and I just don’t enjoy Joe Coffey whatsoever. It was Coffey who was able to get the victory with “All the Best for the Bells” which is far too long of a name for a finisher. However, I’ll up the grade due to Coffey’s fantastic signature move.
Grade: B- for Davenport, C+ for the match
Mr. Stone asked Von Wagner to go and see a therapist because he’s refusing to talk to anyone else. Wagner hated this at first, but he eventually said he’d think about it after Stone told him he’d pay for it. We then got a really cool video showcasing NXT Battleground in the eyes of Ilja Dragunov. The best thing about this was Dragunov talking to his son on the phone in Russian. It was then time for the Generation of Jade to continue as Cora Jade went one-on-one with Ivy Nile. I genuinely think Ivy Nile might be the most underrated/underappreciated member of the NXT Women’s roster as she can genuinely go in the ring. Cora Jade is also a good performer, but she still has a while to go if she’s going to be a major player on Raw or SmackDown down the line. Ivy Nile actually looked in quite a good position to win, but a distraction from Ava (which didn’t work out too well for her either) allowed Cora to hit the Jade-in to get the victory. Decent match, but I was surprised that there wasn’t an interaction between Jade and Lyra Valkyria on this show.
Grade: C+
NXT Championship: Carmelo Hayes VS Noam Dar
Hank Walker and Tank Ledger’s plan to have a match so they bond more clearly worked and Malik Blade seemed to wonder if this would work for him and Edris Enofe. Enofe had no interest in this. Ivy Nile then called out Ava which resulted in officials having to break up a brawl that could’ve occurred between both Diamond Mine and the Schism. The most intriguing part about all of this story is where Joe Gacy fits into all of it. Anyway, it was then time for the main event as Carmelo Hayes put his NXT Championship on the line against the NXT Heritage Cup Champion Noam Dar. Trick Williams got himself thrown out of the match early on after he punched Oro Mensah (Mensah kept trying to get involved). This put the A-Champion at a disadvantage as Mensah, Legend and Jackson all tried to help in different ways. Noam Dar also made it difficult for the champion and his elbow shot is really, really good (second only to Andrade). However, Nathan Frazer and Dragon Lee arrived to distract Mensah and Dar which allowed Melo to dive onto the both of them before he hit Nothin’ but Net to retain his NXT Championship. This was a good match as Carmelo Hayes was able to showcase why he’s one of the best whilst Noam Dar put in his best performance to date. However, the big moment came after the match as Baron Corbin attacked Hayes on the ramp from behind before he nailed Melo with the End of Days inside the ring. Corbin then lifted up the NXT Championship to close off the show. This was not only another cool surprise, but another moment on this week’s NXT that just elevated the whole segment/match. Baron Corbin is a really good professional wrestler and him against Melo could be a really good feud.
