This week’s episode of NXT was a good show. Although the match quality was lacking at times, storyline driven contests like Lexis King vs Charlie Dempsey and Oba Femi vs Eddy Thorpe, helped carry the show in that respect. Much of this episode was mainly used to build hype around NXT’s show in Atlanta, so there was more focus on the quality of segments. One segment which was probably the highlight of the show, was one that involved Bayley, Giulia, Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade. This developed Bayley and Roxanne’s story nicely, while also keeping one eye on the future with a potential Bayley and Giulia match perhaps on the horizon. A lot of focus was also put into video packages and backstage segments, with all of them serving a great purpose for their respective storylines. There has been a lot of chatter around Corey Graves recently, we don’t know what the whole situation is there, but what I do know is Graves did a fantastic job on commentary specifically in the main event. Vic Joseph and Booker T were as great as always as well. Next week’s NXT looks to be the much bigger show, but some nice stuff this week, even with some matches lacking in their quality.
NXT reviews are back this week. As we have two championship matches on what looks to be a stacked show. Tony D’Angelo defends his NXT North American Championship against Ridge Holland. Oba Femi has his first title defence against Eddy Thorpe. Charlie Dempsey gets his rematch against Lexis King. Let’s get into the review!
GOOD Tony D’Angelo vs Ridge Holland – NXT North American Championship
Very chaotic start to the show this week. It didn’t take long before Shawn Spears’ faction and The Family took the focus away from the contest and started brawling. Amongst all of the madness, Izzi Dame made a surprise appearance and cost Ridge Holland the match. The bout was probably as good as expected, some nice wrestling in here but nothing exceptional and it did it’s main job which was to further the story involving Spears’ faction and The Family.
Result: Tony D’Angelo by Pinfall via Spinebuster
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 3.00 Stars
Wes Lee confronted Dion Lennox backstage, alongside Tyson and Tyriek who seem to be in a partnership with Lee now. Wes said he doesn’t think Dion is championship material, as Lennox then challenged him to match. Trick made his return and then punched Wes after he made fun of his title loss.
AMAZING Bayley Segment
After Roxanne Perez interfered in Bayley’s business over the past week, the Role Model decided to show up to NXT for a second week running. Giulia came out to the ring to let Bayley know how much she looks up to her, and how she hopes she can carry the NXT Women’s Title with as much honour as Bayley did. Rox interrupted the sweet moment, alongside Cora Jade who has been making waves in the wrestling world this week as well. The PC crowd didn’t care for what Rox and Cora had to say though and the segment ended with a brawl between the four women. This segment did a great job of not only furthering this story between Bayley and Rox, but it also gave us a little tease of a potential Giulia and Bayley matchup down the line.
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 4.00 Stars
Jaida Parker and Kelani Jordan got into a confrontation backstage, which Karmen Petrovic tried to break-up. Karmen’s efforts earned her a match with Jaida instead though.
SQUASH Dion Lennox vs Wes Lee
This was a short match, but it did a great job of showcasing Lennox’s power in the ring. Wes Lee eventually got the win and called out Trick Williams to a match next week. Trick accepted and then brushed past Lennox which Dion was evidently frustrated by.
Result: Wes Lee by Pinfall
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: Too short to rate
GREAT Lexis King vs Charlie Dempsey – NXT Heritage Cup
This match was mainly built around the story of Lexis King having to show why he deserves the Heritage Cup, by firmly beating Charlie Dempsey. This match had some very smooth wrestling, as is standard in Dempsey’s matches. But the twist at the end was a very good way to finish this match, as Lexis once again showed his true colours by cheating to gain the win over Charles.
Result: Lexis King wins 2-1
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 3.75 Stars
Andre Chase told Hank and Tank to just break-up now as that’s how all the tag teams end. Then Kale Dixon told Chase how cool he is, but Andre just said he used to be, and Chase U is dead. Dixon then said it doesn’t have to be.
GOOD Karmen Petrovic vs Jaida Parker
It’s good to see Karmen Petrovic get more of a focus on her in-ring work this week. She showed that she is probably one of the more underrated wrestlers in NXT when it comes to in-ring quality. Jaida lost this match after Kelani Jordan interfered and continued her character progression.
Result: Karmen Petrovic by Pinfall
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 3.00 Stars
Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson were told by two different tag teams that they better bring those tag titles back to NXT. I think the best decision here is to have Lash and Jakara win next week honestly.
SQUASH Brooks Jensen and Niko Vance vs The Family
These two tag teams couldn’t wait to start fighting. The match was fine and gave a pretty decent spotlight to Niko Vance, as the commentary team did a great job of trying to make Vance sound as powerful as possible. It seems like Spears has his eyes set on recruiting Rizzo to his new faction, let’s see where this leads to.
Result: Brooks Jensen and Niko Vance by Pinfall
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: Too short to rate
GOOD Oba Femi vs Eddy Thorpe – NXT Championship
Oba Femi’s first title defence ends with success. Despite a very valuable effort from Eddy Thorpe, who threw everything at the champion, Oba still reigned supreme. This match made Eddy look like a credible challenger of sorts to Femi, which is massively down to the build and storyline. Thorpe should definitely be someone that is looked at as a credible challenger for the NA Title soon. The show ended with Theory and Waller having a stare down with Oba, while Trick made it known that he’s coming back for his title.
Result: Oba Femi by Pinfall via Fall From Grace
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 3.25 Stars
Overall…
This week’s episode of NXT was a good show. Although the match quality was lacking at times, storyline driven contests like Lexis King vs Charlie Dempsey and Oba Femi vs Eddy Thorpe, helped carry the show in that respect. Much of this episode was mainly used to build hype around NXT’s show in Atlanta, so there was more focus on the quality of segments. One segment which was probably the highlight of the show, was one that involved Bayley, Giulia, Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade. This developed Bayley and Roxanne’s story nicely, while also keeping one eye on the future with a potential Bayley and Giulia match perhaps on the horizon. A lot of focus was also put into video packages and backstage segments, with all of them serving a great purpose for their respective storylines. There has been a lot of chatter around Corey Graves recently, we don’t know what the whole situation is there, but what I do know is Graves did a fantastic job on commentary specifically in the main event. Vic Joseph and Booker T were as great as always as well. Next week’s NXT looks to be the much bigger show, but some nice stuff this week, even with some matches lacking in their quality.
Matches: 0.5/1 Stars
Show Structure: 0.75/1 Stars
Atmosphere/Crowd/Commentary: 0.75/1 Stars
Storytelling: 0.5/1 Stars
Production/Theme: 0.75/1 Stars
Overall Rating: 3.25/5 Stars
Photo Credit: WWE
For inquiries about the rating criteria check out the article announcing the new system here:
