This week’s NXT built towards Battleground with a great show. There was a big focus on match quality this week, kicking things off with a fairly decent match seeing DarkState pick up another win and improving from there. Zaria and Kelani Jordan had a very fun David vs Goliath contest, which saw Zaria viciously pick up the win. The Battle Royal, although had some mishaps, provided some great highlights to take away from it. Sean Legacy was a true standout from that match. There was some disappointment on how they handled the follow-up to Karmen Petrovic dumping Ashante, as her cutting ties with him didn’t show her to have any improvement in terms of winning matches. But then we got to the extraordinary main event, where Jordynne Grace and Giulia took part in a physical brawl to see which one would go on to face Stephanie Vaquer. These are the kinds of matches WWE needs to be letting Giulia do more often, she took crazy bumps and continued to keep on fighting. Heel Giulia may end up having an incredible run. Storytelling there wasn’t anything too crazy in that regard, Andre Chase got a new Chase U outfit. While Trick Williams and Joe Hendry continued to get involved in each other’s business. The crowd was going crazy during the main event, and throughout the show. Although there were some quiet moments understandably as well. The show did a good job establishing new matches for Battleground, while putting out high quality matches in the process.
NXT returns this week, and we’ve got a big show in store. The #1 Contenders for both the NXT Title and NXT Women’s Title will be confirmed for Battleground. DarkState looks to cause more chaos against Joe Hendry, Hank and Tank. While Kelani Jordan tries to earn herself a Women’s NA Title opportunity against Zaria. Let’s get into the review!
GOOD DarkState vs Joe Hendry, Hank and Tank
DarkState continues to look dominant, as they should. We see it a lot in WWE, where they tend to start making a faction look dominant and then they slowly start picking up losses quickly to the babyfaces. But NXT are giving this faction some big wins, and now it looks like they could be heading towards a NXT Tag Team title opportunity. The team of Joe Hendry with Hank and Tank is actually really fun, as Hank and Tank continues to exceed my expectations.
Result: DarkState by Pinfall
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 3.25 Stars
GREAT Zaria vs Kelani Jordan
I’m really happy these two got a good amount of time to showcase their abilities this week, this was a really fun matchup of styles. Zaria was as explosive as ever in the ring, hitting monstrous Spears and powerful moves in general. While Kelani Jordan played a role we haven’t seen her do too much of, which is the role of David against Goliath. She absolutely nailed it, making Zaria look even stronger than she is, while not sacrificing making herself look weak in the process. The match finished after Zaria hit an incredible Spear through the barricade, and finished things off with the F5.
Result: Zaria by Pinfall via F5
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 3.75 Stars
GREAT WWE NXT Title #1 Contendership Battle Royal
I sometimes see a lot of hate for Battle Royals, but when done right they are so much fun. This one in particular was a blast. There were some moments that didn’t come off too great, but it’s the moments that are important in matches like this and there were a ton of them. Some highlights that jumped out to me, Sean Legacy proved why he should be signed to an NXT deal as soon as possible. Je’Von Evans needs to be in the Royal Rumble next year, he would end up doing some crazy stuff in that match. While the winner was a nice surprise, Myles Bourne who hasn’t been given much of a spotlight on NXT gets the biggest opportunity of his career.
Result: Myles Bourne by Over The Top Rope Elimination
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 3.75 Stars
SQUASH Jaida Parker vs Karmen Petrovic
I’m confused by the booking of this match. Karmen Petrovic gets rid of Ashante from her life, and is still getting beaten in matches fairly quickly. Surely the right move would’ve been to have her lose but in like 10 minutes instead. After the match Thea Hail came out to help Karmen, it seems like there is an alliance forming there.
Result: Jaida Parker by Pinfall via Hypnotic
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: Too short to rate
MUST WATCH Jordynne Grace vs Giulia – #1 Contendership Match
Giulia has arrived in WWE! Yes, she has been in the company for a good few months now, but this is the first time WWE has let her work this type of match. These are the matches that fans have wanted to see from her, just an absolutely physical bout. This is what The Beautiful Madness does best in wrestling, so they should let her do these types of matches more often against the likes of Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley. Jordynne Grace lived up to her nickname of The Juggernaut once again, every move she hit Giulia with looked and I’m sure felt brutal. The ending was fantastic, Giulia showed some life once again but Jordynne put her away with the Juggernaut Driver as Stephanie Vaquer came out to the ring to finish the show.
Result: Jordynne Grace by Pinfall via Juggernaut Driver
Archie Carter WR Star Rating: 4.50 Stars
Overall…
This week’s NXT built towards Battleground with a great show. There was a big focus on match quality this week, kicking things off with a fairly decent match seeing DarkState pick up another win and improving from there. Zaria and Kelani Jordan had a very fun David vs Goliath contest, which saw Zaria viciously pick up the win. The Battle Royal, although had some mishaps, provided some great highlights to take away from it. Sean Legacy was a true standout from that match. There was some disappointment on how they handled the follow-up to Karmen Petrovic dumping Ashante, as her cutting ties with him didn’t show her to have any improvement in terms of winning matches. But then we got to the extraordinary main event, where Jordynne Grace and Giulia took part in a physical brawl to see which one would go on to face Stephanie Vaquer. These are the kinds of matches WWE needs to be letting Giulia do more often, she took crazy bumps and continued to keep on fighting. Heel Giulia may end up having an incredible run. Storytelling there wasn’t anything too crazy in that regard, Andre Chase got a new Chase U outfit. While Trick Williams and Joe Hendry continued to get involved in each other’s business. The crowd was going crazy during the main event, and throughout the show. Although there were some quiet moments understandably as well. The show did a good job establishing new matches for Battleground, while putting out high quality matches in the process.
Matches: 0.75/1 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: 3.5/5 Stars
Photo Credit: WWE
For inquiries about the rating criteria check out the article announcing the new system here:
