By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
NXT Hits
Kushida vs. Santos Escobar in a best of three falls match for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship: A terrific main event involving two of the best in the game. It’s refreshing to see Kushida finally involved in meaningful matches now that he’s the NXT Cruiserweight Champion. It will be interesting to see what’s next for both men given that this match ended with a clean and decisive finish.
NXT Tag Champions MSK vs. Tyler Breeze and Fandango in a non-title match: A nice tag match that left me thinking about what could be if NXT creative would just pull the trigger on a Breeze and Fandango heel turn. Breezango are a mid-card comedy team as babyfaces, but they could be more than that with the right heel push. The timing feels right given that Ever-Rise sees like they could easily step right in and replace Breezango as a fun comedy duo.
Raquel Gonzalez vs. Mercedes Martinez for the NXT Women’s Championship: A strong match between the champion and the veteran. It’s still a shame that NXT creative rushed into the match and didn’t dedicate more time to telling the compelling story of Martinez chasing the title at this stage of her career. Vic Joseph did an admirable job of trying to tell the story on commentary, but it would have been much more effective had Martinez been given more time to put it in her own words.
Hit Row: Isaiah Scott’s new faction featuring “Top Dolla” AJ Francis, B-Fab, and Ashante Adonis is off to a great start. Scott seems more than ready to front the faction. Francis comes off like the nicest guy in the world on WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures, so it was really fun to watch him flip the switch with this persona. All four played their parts nicely and I am genuinely excited to see where this goes.
Kyle O’Reilly vs. Oney Lorcan: Top notch work from two of NXT’s most reliable performers. The post match angle with O’Reilly and Bobby Fish felt right in that they had their moment, yet viewers were still left wondering whether Fish was sincere or if he will ultimately work against O’Reilly.
Pete Dunne vs. Leon Ruff: A dominant win for Dunne and good storytelling with Ruff defying William Regal by taking the match. Ruff thought with his heart rather than his head by taking the match, which is perfect for his underdog character.
NXT Misses
NXT Champion Karrion Kross vs. Austin Theory in a non-title match: The bulk of the match was solid, but Kross lost me with those soft forearms to the back of Theory’s while in ground and pound mode. The post match angle with Finn Balor appearing and calling for his rematch followed by Kross saying he wants the match just as badly was well done.
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