Tonight on NXT: we hear from Carmelo Hayes after sweeping his 2 out of 3 falls match with Apollo Crews. What does Melo have to say? Sol Ruca takes on Zoey Stark. Will Ruca continue her hot rise? Lyra Valkyria goes one on one with Valentina Feroz. Will Feroz prove that she can win without playing dirty? And Bayley brings Ding Dong Hello to Tuesday nights. What will her guests, Toxic Attraction, have to say about their loss to Roxanne Perez?
Tonight on NXT: we hear from Carmelo Hayes after sweeping his 2 out of 3 falls match with Apollo Crews. What does Melo have to say? Sol Ruca takes on Zoey Stark. Will Ruca continue her hot rise? Lyra Valkyria goes one on one with Valentina Feroz. Will Feroz prove that she can win without playing dirty? And Bayley brings Ding Dong Hello to Tuesday nights. What will her guests, Toxic Attraction, have to say about their loss to Roxanne Perez?
GOOD Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams:
After his win over Apollo Crews, Hayes said he is ready to fry a much bigger fish. Then he was interrupted by JD McDonagh, who said he is superior to Hayes inside the ring. Carmelo Hayes told McDonagh to prove it and challenged him to a match.
Matt Cookson WR Star Rating – 3 stars
Fallon Henley confronted Kiana James about cheating in order to win the Women’s Tag Titles.
ABOVE AVERAGE Sol Ruca vs Zoey Stark:
Ruca’s impressive athleticism was on display throughout this match, flipping and flopping like crazy. However, Stark showed off her ring savvy, dodging a splash. In the end, Zoey Stark won on a GTS. Post-match, Stark continued the attack but Ruca countered with a cutter.
Results: Zoey Stark by Pinfall via Belly-to-Back GTS
Matt Cookson WR Star Rating – 2.75 Stars
Chase U and Pretty Deadly both blame each other for not winning the tag titles. They agreed to a match.
ABOVE AVERAGE Dabba-Kato vs Dante Chen:
Dabba-Kato tossed Chen around like a ragdoll in this match and it looked like it would be a squash early on. However, Chen fought back with a flurry of offense. It wasn’t enough, as Dabba-Kato power bombed Chen for the win. After the match, he said Apollo Crews knows why Dabba-Kato attacked him.
Results: Dabba-Kato by Pinfall via Powerbomb
Matt Cookson WR Star Rating – 2.5 Stars
Isla Dawn accused Tatum Paxley of attacking Nikkita Lyons.
Bent out of shape after losing their titles, Katana Chance and Kayden Carter trash-talked Roxanne Perez. They challenged Perez to a tag match next week.
ABOVE AVERAGE Isla Dawn vs Tatum Paxley:
This match was pretty back and forth, with each woman having the advantage at one point or another. Late in the match, Paxley landed a gut-wrench suplex but failed to convert on a splash from the turnbuckle. Isla Dawn won the match and attempted to continue the attack but Ivy Nule saved Paxley.
Results: Isla Dawn by Pinfall
Matt Cookson WR Star Rating – 2.5 Stars
An unidentified person is seen entering the performance center.
GREAT JD McDonagh vs Carmelo Hayes:
The early part of this match was spent with the two men countering each other’s moves. Later, McDonagh inflicted pain on Hayes by dropping him onto the rope and using the ring post as leverage for a submission move. The crowd was on its feet after JD McDonagh landed a Spanish Fly and nearly made the pin. The finish came when Ilja Dragunov showed up, distracting McDonagh and allowing Hayes to make the pin. Dragunov chased McDonagh out of the arena after the match.
Results: Carmelo Hayes by Pinfall
Matt Cookson WR Star Rating – 3.5 Stars
Thea Hail asked Tiffany Stratton what she has against Chase U. Stratton insulted Chase U and Hail told her to suck it (DX style). Ava Raine snuck up behind Hail and dragged her off.
Brooks Jensen told Fallon Henley he has a date with Kiana James next week. This caused her not to tell Brooks about the guy she heard James talking to last week.
AVERAGE Valentina Feroz vs Lyra Valkyria:
The two went back and forth to start the match. The key moment came when Elektra Lopez wandered to the ring. Lopez slid a pair of brass knuckles into the ring for Feroz but she couldn’t decide if she wanted to use them. This opened the door for Valkyria to win with a couple of enzuigiri.
Results: Lyra Valkyria by Pinfall via Enzuigiri
Matt Cookson WR Star Rating – 2.25 Stars
A video is shown of Wes Lee’s emotional defense of the North American Championship. Tony D’Angelo was upset the video didn’t show how he and Stacks Lorenzo helped Lee retain.
Tyler Bate challenged Grayson Waller to a match when he returns from suspension.
GOOD Odyssey Jones vs Stacks Lorenzo:
Lorenzo hit Jones with a number of shoulder tackles to little effect. Jones then dropped Stacks Lorenzo easily with one big shoulder tackle. Lorenzo turned around the match with a neck breaker on the top rope and followed it up with a leg drop. After a DDT and a, Stacks Lorenzo picked up the win.
Results: Stacks Lorenzo by Pinfall
Matt Cookson WR Star Rating – 3 Stars
Jinder Mahal announced that Indus Sheer has its eyes set on tag team gold.
Roxanne Perez announced Meiko Satomura as her tag team partner.
GOOD Chase U vs Pretty Deadly:
Chase U dominated early on, causing Kip Wilson to exclaim “what’s the point.” they got some confidence back, sending Duke Hudson crashing into the stairs. Andre Chase was in the zone, hitting both members of Pretty Deadly with DDTs. The turning point came when Thea Hail came running in, screaming and covered in the Dyad’s smiley face buttons. This distraction allowed Pretty Deadly to win with Spilled Milk. After the match, Pretty Deadly stared down Gallus, who watched from the crowd.
Results: Pretty Deadly by Pinfall via Spilled Milk
Matt Cookson WR Star Rating – 3.25 Stars
GOOD Toxic Attraction and Bayley on Ding Dong Hello:
This segment turned into the blame game, with Dolin and Jayne blaming each other for not winning the title at Vengeance Day. Bayley played mediator and told them it would be easier to get to the top with an ally. Jacy Jayne and Gigi Dolin made up and began talking about challenging Damage Control for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship. Just when we thought they were back, Jacy Jayne super-kicked Dolin.
Matt Cookson WR Star Rating – 3.25 stars
Overall…
Tonight’s episode of NXT 2.0 was ok. All of the matches were at least above average but the storytelling wasn’t the best. Toxic Attraction is right back to where they were a few weeks ago and many of the champions don’t have challengers. For example, Roxanne Perez was barely featured and Bron Breakker was only briefly mentioned. The atmosphere was decent, some matches the fans were going crazy but not so much in others. Production was good as is usual for a WWE show. The highlight of the show was the match between JD McDonagh and Carmelo Hayes. The action was good and we got the return of Ilja Dragunov.
Matches: 0.5/1 Stars
Show Structure: /0.5 Stars
Atmosphere: 0.5/1 Stars
Storytelling: 0.5/1 Stars
Production/Theme: 0.75/1 Stars
Overall Rating. 2.75/5 Stars
Photo Credit: WWE
For inquiries about the rating criteria check out the article announcing the new system here:
