This week’s episode of NXT was an amazing show. There always seems to be a bigger emphasis on stacking the match cards for the shows NXT does on the road, and Atlanta, Georgia was no different. On paper, this looked to have the potential to be one of the best NXT shows of the year so far. Although it didn’t quite deliver up to that standard, the show was still very enjoyable. The consistency in match quality was definitely a high point, we kicked things off with the dream team of Giulia and Bayley overcoming Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade. While some fantastic selling was on display in back-to-back matches, with Shotzi and Cedric Alexander both elevating their individual matches. While the main event felt like a massive deal, it was able to live up to that statement. As Bianca Belair and Naomi probably had their best title defence yet against the Meta Girls, I thought Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson deserved the win here though. Storytelling although was strong at times such as with the Oba Femi segment, it still left a lot to be desired. Lots of matches were announced for Vengeance Day, but hopefully over the next two weeks we can start to get the ball rolling on building up the stories of those matches more. Atlanta certainly had a hot crowd this week, while commentary did a great job of elevating matches. Consistently amazing show throughout, and we are now fully on the road to Vengeance Day.
NXT is back on the road this week, as the developmental brand goes through Atlanta, Georgia on the road to Vengeance Day with a stacked match card. NXT Women’s Champion, Giulia and Bayley form a dream team to take on Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade. Grayson Waller invites NXT Champion, Oba Femi to his talk show. Bianca Belair and Naomi defend their Women’s Tag Team Titles against Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson. Let’s get into the review!
GREAT Giulia and Bayley vs Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade
Two teams of extremely talented wrestlers. Putting this match at the start of the show was a great idea, you can always rely on these four to get the crowd on their feet and hyped for the rest of the show. There were some really nice combo moves on display from Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade, I’d go as far to say this was their best tag team match together in that sense. Roxanne had some great individual battles with both Giulia and Bayley, which added excitement for future matches with the two. This one was tough to predict which way it was going to go, as Roxanne and Cora could both use a big win right now. But Giulia and Bayley are an absolute dream team, so having them win the match is completely understandble.
Result: Giulia and Bayley by Pinfall via Flying Elbow Drop
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 3.75 Stars
We got a video package for Eddy Thorpe up next. This was put together nicely as is standard with WWE, I’m guessing Eddy’s push won’t stop here after impressing in his match with Oba Femi last week.
GREAT Grayson Waller Effect with Oba Femi
This was an interesting segment when thinking about the direction of the NXT Championship. Things between Oba Femi and A-Town Down Under got heated very quickly, in front of a crowd that was begging for Austin Theory to turn on Grayson Waller. Oba laid down the challenge for NXT Vengeance Day for one of either Theory or Waller to step up to him. Instead this was interrupted by Ava and Trick Williams. I actually like how the direction for the NXT Title isn’t as clear as first thought, this segment did a great job of achieving that goal. The promos from Oba and A-Town Down Under were performed to a decent level, even if Theory and Waller got distracted by the segment at times thanks to the crowd reactions. There were more teases for the split of the tag team, but if I’m honest I think WWE have waited too long to do the break-up and they might be better off just staying as a team for the time being.
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 3.75 Stars
GREAT Trick Williams vs Wes Lee
Much of this match was Wes Lee being in control after Trick Williams took a nasty powerbomb from Oba Femi moments before. In terms of the Wrestling Republic system, this gets quite a high rating. But I had a few problems with it, with the main one being that Trick didn’t look great at all coming out of this contest. He sold Oba’s powerbomb incredibly well, but he barely got any offence in and when he did, he got himself disqualified. But the selling and some cool moments throughout means it can be classed as a decent match.
Result: Wes Lee by DQ
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 3.75 Stars
Oba Femi asked Ava who his opponent will be at NXT Vengeance Day, Ava told the champ that he will defend it in a triple threat match against both Austin Theory and Grayson Waller.
GREAT Fallon Henley vs Shotzi – NXT Women’s North American Championship
The highlight of this match was Shotzi’s selling without a doubt. The match became a one on one contest early on and as soon as that happened, Fallon Henley wasted no time in targeting the left leg of Shotzi. Now lots of wrestlers sell the pain as much as they can straight away, but Shotzi was able to show the pain in her left leg gradually getting worse as the match went on. The wrestling in this one was relatively smooth, Shotzi’s injury ending up playing a big factor in the ending as Fallon hit the Famouser to retain her title. Stephanie Vaquer made her presence known as Fallon was celebrating, as it was made official that Stephanie will be up next to challenge Fallon.
Result: Fallon Henley by Pinfall via Famouser
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 3.50 Stars
GREAT Ethan Page vs Cedric Alexander
Two matches back to back which the focus of it was very much on an injury of a wrestler. This time it was Cedric Alexander’s left hand, and although Shotzi sold her injury very well, the attacks on the left hand of Cedric by Ethan Page were far more brutal. Unlike Shotzi, Alexander sold the pain to its fullest straight away which was the correct call because some of those attacks looked genuinely painful. Ethan got the win in the end despite a late comeback from Cedric. Je’Von Evans then returned to make sure this more vicious side of Page didn’t do more damage after the match.
Result: Ethan Page by Pinfall via Jumping Cutter
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 3.75 Stars
Fallon Henley cut a promo backstage after this match. She said that Stephanie Vaquer should’ve thought twice before messing with Fatal Influence. As Fallon spoke for Jacy Jane and said Jacy will take on Stephanie next week. More teases for a Fatal Influence break-up.
AMAZING Bianca Belair and Naomi vs Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson – WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships
This match was structured perfectly. Jakara Jackson’s strengths in the ring were highlighted a lot, her selling isn’t talked about enough in how good it is, while her actual wrestling is getting a lot smoother each time she gets in the ring. The fans in Atlanta went nuts for a Bianca Belair and Lash Legend staredown, that is definitely a big time match waiting to happen. In terms of the actual match, both teams did a great job in making you believe the contest could go either way, with close pinfalls and late pinfall break-ups. In the end, Bianca and Naomi retained which I was a little disappointed by as I feel the Women’s Tag Team Titles would fit better on NXT. But a really well put together main event, with the Meta Girls once again proving why they belong at the top in the tag team division.
Result: Bianca Belair and Naomi by Pinfiall via Double KOD
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 4.25 Stars
Overall…
This week’s episode of NXT was an amazing show. There always seems to be a bigger emphasis on stacking the match cards for the shows NXT does on the road, and Atlanta, Georgia was no different. On paper, this looked to have the potential to be one of the best NXT shows of the year so far. Although it didn’t quite deliver up to that standard, the show was still very enjoyable. The consistency in match quality was definitely a high point, we kicked things off with the dream team of Giulia and Bayley overcoming Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade. While some fantastic selling was on display in back-to-back matches, with Shotzi and Cedric Alexander both elevating their individual matches. While the main event felt like a massive deal, it was able to live up to that statement. As Bianca Belair and Naomi probably had their best title defence yet against the Meta Girls, I thought Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson deserved the win here though. Storytelling although was strong at times such as with the Oba Femi segment, it still left a lot to be desired. Lots of matches were announced for Vengeance Day, but hopefully over the next two weeks we can start to get the ball rolling on building up the stories of those matches more. Atlanta certainly had a hot crowd this week, while commentary did a great job of elevating matches. Consistently amazing show throughout, and we are now fully on the road to Vengeance Day.
Matches: 0.75/1 Stars
Show Structure: 1/1 Stars
Atmosphere/Crowd/Commentary: 0.75/1 Stars
Storytelling: 0.5/1 Stars
Production/Theme: 0.75/1 Stars
Overall Rating: 3.75/5 Stars
Photo Credit: WWE
For inquiries about the rating criteria check out the article announcing the new system here:
