By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT 2.0 TV
Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center
Aired live April 19, 2022 on USA Network
[Hour One] Highlights from last week’s NXT aired…
Vic Joseph and Wade Barrett were on commentary. Alicia Taylor was the ring announcer…
NXT Tag Team Champions Pretty Deadly, Kit Wilson and Elton Prince, made their entrance in street clothes. The picture-in-picture showed that Bron Breakker was arriving to the WWE Performance center. Prince took the mic and talked about how Pretty Deadly made history by winning the tag team titles in their first match in NXT US. Wilson talked about how they dominated the UK and US tag team scene. The Grizzled Young Veterans, James Drake and Zack Gibson made their entrance.
Gibson called Pretty Deadly dweebs and dorks. The GYVs both talked about how they would have won the gauntlet if they were in it and Pretty Deadly only dominated the UK tag scene because the GYVs left. Legado Del Fantasma made their entrance. Before Elektra Lopez could start her promo, Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde jumped the Grizzled Young Veterans. The three tag teams brawled with each other to the backstage area.
Bron Breakker walked to the ring from the crowd. Breakker entered the ring and demanded that Joe Gacy return Rick Steiner’s Hall of Fame ring. Joe Gacy appeared on the LCD screens. Joe Gacy said that he’s not hard to find and all Bron has to do is find him. Gacy did a menacing laugh and his face was multiplied on all of the screens with static sound distortions. Breakker went to the back in search of Gacy…
Vic Joseph and Wade Barrett checked in from ringside. Tiffany Stratton made her entrance for the next match…[c]
John’s Thoughts: A good chaotic opening to NXT. All of the pieces running together made the show feel like an actual storyline ecosystem. Makes the show feel organic. I’ve barely seen any of Pretty Deadly’s work, but so far they’re winning me over. They are good at being annoying heels.
The show cut to a YouTube video that WWE aired. It was Santos Escobar cutting a promo about Carmelo Hayes. He was sitting poolside. he said that the former A-Champion is making A lot of excuses. Escobar said he’s going to remind Melo of sticking to where he belongs, in the back of the line for the North American Championship…
The show cut to Melo and Trick cutting a promo. Melo said he doesn’t go to the back of the line because he created the line. Trick hyped up Melo. Melo hyped up his match against Escobar for later…
Sarray made her entrance in magical girl mode this time…
1. Tiffany Stratton vs. (Magical Girl mode) Sarray. Stratton took down Sarray with a wrist lock. Sarry hit Stratton with a armdrag and dropkick. Sarray put Tiffany into a modified deathlock which she turned into a modified Muta Lock. Tiffany got to the bottom rope to break it. Sarray missed a face wash dropkick. Tiffany hit Sarray with a draping hip attack. Tiffany put Sarray in a choke hold. Tiffany whipped Sarray and gave Sarray a nice slingshot meteora, for a two count.
Sarray powered out of a pin and traded slaps with Tiffany. Sarray gave Tiffany a German Suplex. Sarray hit Tiffany with a double stomp. Tiffany tried to hold to Sarray’s boot but Sarray escaped with a PK. Sarray hit Tiffany with a face wash dropkick. Tiffany esacped a hold by hitting Sarray with a back headbutt. Tiffany hit Sarray with a corkscrew Vader Bomb for the clean pin.
Tiffany Stratton defeated Sarray via pinfall in 4:31.
John’s Thoughts: Surprising. I totally thought they had Sarray lose the last match in Schoolgirl Mode to set up her getting her win back after becoming a Magical Girl. I didn’t expect the heel Tiffany to pick up the clean win on the super hero. I hope this doesn’t mean that Sarray is on her way out of NXT? As for Tiffany, this was her best match yet in her young career. She’s getting better at the facial emotions and some moves that could go totally wrong, like the slingshot meteora, actually came off well.
James Drake and Zack Gibson were talking with each other backstage. Bron Breakker barged past them and was looking for Gacy. Breakker heard Rick Steiner’s voice in the distance. He ended up finding a computer tablet on a chair inside of a shark cage. The audio that was playing was the end of NXT two weeks ago when Joe Gacy kidnapped Rick Steiner. Breakker walked into the cage, took the tablet, and slammed it on the ground in anger. Breakker walked away to continue his search.
John’s Thoughts: I would have LOL’d if Joe Gacy came from behind and locked Breakker in the shark cage. I was about to criticize Breakker for being an idiot by walking in what seemed like an obvious trap.
Pretty Deadly were saying their catchphrase, “yes boy”, a lot while touring the WWE Performance Center. Persia Pirotta and Indi Hartwell challenged Pretty Deadly to a match. Pretty Deadly were hyped to “wrestle” Hartwell and Pirotta. Hartwell then brought out Duke Hudson and Dexter Lumis. Petty Deadly walked away to avoid Hudson and Lumis…
McKenzie Mitchell tried to interview Grayson Waller about facing his former body guard Sanga later in the show. Andre Chase and Bodhi Hayward showed up to yell at Waller for some reason. Sanga then came out of nowhere and chased Waller to the ring. The referee ran in to start the match.
2. Grayson Waller vs. Sanga. Sanga chucked Waller across the ring several times. The crowd really got into Sanga’s many tosses. Waller managed to trip up Sanga and land a few punches on him. Sanga powered up and gave Waller a shoulder tackle. Waller blocked Sanga with a boot. Sanga came back with a sidewalk slam on Waller. Sanga slammed Waller’s face into the mat. Sanga yelled “NAMASTE!” and gave Waller an elbow drop. Waller broke up the pin by grabbing the bottom rope. Waller rolled to ringside for a breather. Waller went for a Baseball Slide but was caught by Sanga. Sanga tossed Waller into the ringpost. Waller hit Sanga with the rolling Stunner for the victory.
Grayson Waller defeated Sanga via pinfall in 3:28.
John’s Thoughts: A surprisingly good match in the time given. I know Waller’s good in the ring, but I didn’t expect Sanga to do some good work as a big man. The guy isn’t a rookie though as he did spend some time in Jeff Jarrett’s Ring Ka King promotion as one of the standouts. I also like the new badass look. One of my friends joked last week that his new look makes him look like “Brown Strowman”. Strowman had a good look so that should be a positive comparison.
The show cut to a Cora Jade sit-down promo. Jade recapped being betrayed by her hero last week. She said her future isn’t bleak like Natalya said. She said she saw Nattie as a hero and dream match, but her dream now is to kick Nattie’s legendary ass. Jade ripped up a photo of her as a kid standing next to Nattie…
Natalya was shown getting ready in the locker room…
Legado Del Fantasma made their entrance heading into the break…
A little girl was shown playing on her PS4. The girl mentioned how her mom bought her a PS4 as a kid. She talked about being lost in playing pro wrestling games and how that led to her wanting to be a wrestler when she grew up. She said she even used the create-a-wrestler to create herself in the games. The little girl shown grown up to show that it was the former Rok-C. Rok-C hyped up her debut for this week using her new WWE name – Roxanne Perez.
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Roxanne Perez. Before Perez could really finish her thought, Mandy Rose, Gigi Dolan, and Jacy Jayne showed up to taunt Perez. Rose talked about how this is real life and not a video game…
John’s Thoughts: Cool to see the former Rok-C in WWE. Rok-C is really talented and is way ahead of her years in terms of how good she is in the ring. She’s only 20 years old and maybe even younger than Cora Jade. I’d argue that Rok-C is a lot smoother in the ring than Jade. Looking forward to her WWE debut. It was also fun to see the cinematic vignette.
The Grizzled Young Veterans made their entrance. It looks like not only did they lose their GYV name, but they might have also lost their individual first names…
John’s Thoughts: What constitutes in WWE either losing your first name, or getting a completely new name? Are they allowed to call James Drake just “Drake”. Isn’t there a more famous celebrity named “Drake” and therefore it’s weird brand-market confusion?
3. “Legado Del Fantasma” Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde (w/Santos Escobar, Elektra Lopez) vs. Drake and Gibson. Legado jumped the GYVs before the bell. Drake and Wilde started the match. Gibson tagged in. Wilde took out Gibson with a dropkick and took care of Drake with an armdrag. Gibson held Wilde in place so Gibson could hit him with an enzuigiri. Gibson knocked Toro off the apron. Wilde hit Gibson with a sunset flip for a two count. Wilde gave Gibson a twisting bulldog. Toro and Drake tagged in. Toro hit Drake with a dropkick, chop, and huracanrana. Gibson blind tagged in and gave Toro a chop to the throat. Toro ended up hitting Drake with a DDT. Wilde hit Gibson with a flip dive. Legado hit Drake with a Legsweep-Leg Lariat combo for the victory.
Legado Del Fantasma defeated Drake and Gibson via pinfall in 3:57
Santos Escobar took the mic and said that Tony D’Angelo better watch his match later to see how a real leader does business…[c]
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed the now solo Wes Lee. Lee said ever since Stand and Deliver he’s felt a bit lost. Xyon Quinn showed up and said that Lee’s problem is that he doesn’t “run it straight” (his catchphrase). Wes Lee said nobody knows what that means. Quinn said he’s going to teach Lee a lesson. Lee said he may have doubts now, but he is at home in the ring. Lee said when he sees Quinn in the ring, Quinn will get a “piece of this chaos”…
John’s Thoughts: They really need to pick a lane and stick with it with Quinn. The guy looks cool, but they have him coming from too many directions in terms of characters. That was hilariously bad how he shoehorned his catchphrase in a threat. I’m intrigued to see what WWE does with Wes Lee as a singles act with his tag partner released from the company. Lee has shown singles potential in Impact, GFW, and Lucha Underground. I remember Jeff Jarrett saying in a conference call that he saw Wes Lee as a future world champion. Lee is talented enough. The key with him is to tone down the goofy Rascalz stuff we’ve grown to see him in and take the turn for the serious, which worked for him in those other companies.
Trick and Melo made their entrance. During the commercial, it was shown that Elektra, Wilde, and Mendoza brawled with Fallen Henley, Josh Briggs, and Brooks Jensen to the back. Joseph noted that Escobar doesn’t have the numbers advantage now…
4. Santos Escobar vs. Carmelo Hayes (w/Trick Williams). Melo blocked a wristhold by putting his foot on the bottom rope. Escobar broke up a guillotine choke by holding the ropes. Escobar tackled Melo into the middle rope for a few seconds. Melo landed a back kick on Escobar. Escobar and Melo had a stalemate in the center of the ring after shoulder tackles. Escobar took down Melo with a running dropkick. Escobar caught Melo with a diving crossbody. Trick grabbed Escobar’s leg for the distraction. Melo hit Escobar with a springboard lariat. Both men traded hip toss counters. Melo landed a neckbreaker on Escobar heading into commercial. [c]
[Hour Two] Escobar and Melo took each other out with kicks to lead to a rest moment. Melo went for a springboard move, but Escobar turned it into a backbreaker. Melo countered Escobar into a Half Crab. After a bit of a struggle, Escobar got to the bottom rope for the break. Joseph noted that Melo milked the most of his allotted five seconds before the break. Escobar used an inside cradle to counter a front chancery. Melo kicked out of the pin into a front chancery. Escobar escaped with a Northern Lights Suplex for a two count. melo hit Escobar with Listo Kicks and went back to the front chancery.
Escobar got to a vertical base and hit Melo with a delayed vertical brainbuster. An NXT chant ensued. Escobar and Melo traded slaps and forearms on the ground. Melo hit Escobar with a rebound punch. Escobar came back with a chop in the corner. Escobar hit Melo with a gamengiri and ten punches in the corner. Melo tripped Escobar off the top rope. Escobar hit Melo with a series of lariats. Escobar tossed Melo to ringside and hit Melo with his Arrow from the Depths of Hell dive. While the ref was distracted checking on Melo, two random dudes in suits and fedoras showed up at ringside. One of the unknown guys chop blocked Escobar with a crowbar. The other tossed Escobar back in the ring. Melo caught Escobar with the top rope Scissors Kick for the victory.
Carmelo Hayes defeated Santos Escobar via pinfall in 13:54.
John’s Thoughts: Despite the weird finish involving the generic mafia dudes, that was a great Santos Escobar style match. Escobar really shines in the ring when he gets to wrestle a fast high-flyer. Escobar shines, because he slows down the match to his methodical speed to allow the match to build up into an epic story. This was a takeover style match right before the cheap finish. The cheap finish was understandable though, it protected Melo and continued Escobar’s feud with Tony D’Angelo.
Melo and Trick grabbed mics. Melo claimed that he’s going to regain the North American title in a few weeks when he invokes his rematch at the themed “Spring Break In” show. Cameron Grimes made his entrance and said that he hoped that Melo would confront him like a man as opposed to jump him. Grimes was about to enter the ring. Solo Sikoa showed up and caught Trick with a superkick. Solo hit Melo with a pop up Samoan Drop. Grimes and Solo nodded at each other in respect as Solo made his exit…
Bron Breakker was still looking for Joe Gacy. For some reason, the Impact Wrestling weird environmental background music has found its way into NXT. Breakker walked into a random room of mirrors that was in the WWE Performance Center. Why the hell does the WWE PC have this random room? Breakker saw Gacy from one of the mirrors, but when he turned around Gacy was gone. Breakker broke one of the mirrors and yelled “where are you!”…
John’s Thoughts: Welp, that’s 10 years of bad luck for Bron Breakker right?
Roderick Strong chatted with Malcolm Bivens in the Diamond Mine gym. Strong talked about watching another group fall apart, alluding to the Undisputed Era, and he doesn’t want to see Diamond Mine also fall. Strong said he’s going to make examples of the enemies of Diamond Mine…
Natalya made her entrance to the ring. Tatum Paxley was already in the ring…
5. Natalya vs. Tatum Paxley. Natalya shoved Tatum to the mat to start the match. Natalya took down Tatum with a side headlock. Tatum escaped with a leg scissors. Tatum managed to land a leg scissors takedown which got a positive nod of respect from Natalya. Natalya took down Tatum with chain wrestling. Tatum sent Natalya to ringside with an armdrag. Tatum gave Natalya a boot. Tatum kept cutting off Natalya at the pass at ringside. Natalya took down Tatum with a discus lariat and suplex at ringside. Tatum kicked out at two. Natalya put Tatum into a surfboard. Natalya booted Tatum to the mat.
Paxley made a bit of a comeback with a few lariats. Paxley hit Natalya with a suplex and flip senton for a two count. Natalya slammed Tatum’s face into the middle rope. Natalya put Tatum into the Sharpshooter for the win.
Natalya defeated Tatum Paxley via submission in 4:52.
The show cut to Tony D’Angelo being interviewed by the unseen interviewer. The interviewer asked D’Angelo if he had something to do with the two goons attacking Escobar. D’Angelo denied being associated with the goons. D’Angelo then saw the Legado Del Fantasma SUV and said it had nice tires…
Xyon Quinn made his entrance…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Natalya led one of WWE’s developmental wrestlers, Tatum Paxley, to a passable match. Tatum looked good here and we know that Natalya is good at making wrestlers look good. The developmental types in NXT will really benefit from working with the experienced Natalya. Last time Natalya was in NXT she and Charlotte Flair had a PPV classic. Let’s see what Natalya can get out of Cora Jade when they finally meet. Maybe they can get a Natalya vs. Rok-C match too if Natalya is going to spend a bit of time in NXT.
A vignette aired to hype up the NXT debut of Nathan Fraizer. Nathan is a student of Seth Rollins’s wrestling school…
Indi Hartwell told Duke Hudson and Dexter Lumis that they need to dress up like a tag team. Hudson said it’s all about the game plan. Hudson said they need to take down the legs of the taller Kit Wilson. Lumis was stonefaced. Hartwell said that Hudson needs to learn to communicate with Lumis and that Lumis isn’t liking Hudson’s advice.
Wes Lee made his entrance acting like his old serious Dezmond Xavier self…
6. Wes Lee vs. Xyon Quinn. Lee hit Quinn with his signature CQC. Lee dropkicked Quinn to ringside. Lee hit Quinn with a nice suicide dive. Quinn recovered and backdropped Lee on the apron. Quinn worked on Lee with methodical strikes. Lee came back with a CQC combo. Lee fell to the ground when Quinn no-sold a tackle. Quinn tackled Lee into the corner. Lee escaped a fireman carry into a Inside Cradle for a two count. Quinn flapjacked Lee. Lee blocked Quinn’s finisher with a superkick. Lee hit Quinn with CQC and a dropkick. Lee tripped on a springboard and Quinn caught him with a right hand. Quinn caught Lee with his flying right elbow for the victory.
Xyon Quinn defeated Wes Lee via pinfall in 3:29.
John’s Thoughts: Despite taking the loss, Wes Lee looked really good his first match away from the Rascalz/MSK. I hope Lee doesn’t get punished for the problems his tag partner got roped in. I forgot how good Lee was with all his CQC moves and whatnot. As many people like Jeff Jarrett have mentioned, Lee has singles main event potential. This could be a blessing in disguise for Lee if WWE allows Lee to shine. As for Quinn, I agree with Wade Barrett. Barrett noted on commentary that Quinn needs to drop the goofy lovebird and singing stuff and just keep things simple.
McKenzie Mitchell interviewed Natalya about attacking Cora Jade last week. She said she wasn’t attacking, she was acting in self defense. She said that when new wrestlers show up on the main roster, they target Natalya first and she’s just trying to get the first strike on Cora Jade. Nikkita Lyons showed up. She acted extra ratchet for some reason and noted that after she takes care of Lash Legend, she wants to take care of Natalya. Natalya said that she understands that people want a piece of the best. She said she’ll put Nikkita in the sharpshooter like Jade. Nikkita said not to worry because she’s flexible…
Jacy Jayne was shown getting ready for her match against Roxanne Perez after the break…[c]
A WWE Make-A-Wish PSA aired…
Vic Joseph and Wade Barrett checked in from ringside. A replay aired of Von Wagner tossing Ikemen Jiro into the crowd. Joseph noted that Jiro has “internal injuries” and would be out of action for over a month. Joseph also noted that Von Wagner was fined and suspended (again)…
Entrances for the next match took place…
John’s Thoughts: Hey, I don’t mind the rename of Rok-C. If anything, because it breaks up my typing rhythm to always reach for the hyphen button. Yes, first world writer problems.
7. NXT Tag Team Champion Jacy Jayne (w/Gigi Dolin, Mandy Rose) vs. Roxanne Perez. Joseph noted that Roxanne was trained by Booker T (via Reality of Wrestling). Jayne and Perez traded rapid fire rollups. Jayne took down Roxanne with a kick. Roxanne landed a few armdrags on Roxanne. Jayne stopped on a dime to block an armdrag. Jayne hit Roxanne with a back kick. Wendy Choo appeared on the big screen to show that she tossed around the furniture in the Toxic Attraction Lounge. Perez hit the distracted Jayne with a Code Red for the victory.
Roxanne Perez defeated Jacy Jayne via pinfall in 2:17.
Legado Del Fantasma were seething in the parking lot, complaining about the random goons that attacked them. They then walked into their car which had a parking boot on the wheel and a dead fish on the trunk. Escobar said he knows exactly who did this…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Ok, as usual, I did type in Rok-C a few times and had to correct myself. I’m used to having to adjust to new WWE names. The worst time was when Trevor Lee was wrestling Keith Lee and I had to review their NXT matches. Anyways, good first showing on NXT by Roxanne. Again, it’s shocking how good she is despite just being 20 years old. When Ring of Honor put their top women’s title on her as the inaugural champion, they did it for a reason. She’s good. Looks like WWE is high on her by giving her a win right out of the gate too.
Vic Joseph announced that in two weeks the NXT show will be themed as “Spring Breakin'” and that Cameron Grimes will defend his NA title against Solo Sikoa and Carmelo Hayes…
Joe Gacy was watching Bron Breakker from the security cameras. Gacy said it was time to “end this”…
Pretty Deadly and Lumis and Hudson were in the ring. From off screen, Alicia Taylor handled the formal in-ring introductions…
8. “Pretty Deadly” Kit Wilson and Elton Prince vs. Dexter Lumis and Duke Hudson (w/Indi Hartwell, Persia Pirotta) for the NXT Tag Team Championships. Wilson worked on Lumis with methodical offense. Prince tagged in, leading to Pretty Deadly hitting Lumis with tandem moves. Lumis recovered and gave Prince an atomic drop. Prince tagged in Wilson. Lumis caught a diving Wilson with an Atomic Drop. Lumis tagged in the reluctant Duke Hudson. Hudson and Lumis cut the ring in half on Wilson. Pretty Deadly slid to ringside to flirt with Indi and Persia. Hudson and Lumis got on the same page, hip tossing Pretty Deadly. Lumis hit Wilson with a Thesz Press and elbow drop.
Hudson and Lumis gave Wilson a double suplex. Hudson and Lumis shared a thumbs up to show they were on the same page. Hudson hit Wilson with a series of shortarm lariats. The show cut to picture-in-picture.[c]
[Overrun] Lumis and Hudson cut the ring in half on Prince. Prince escaped a headlock with a jawbreaker. Lumis came back with a right hand. Prince avoided a tackle when Wilson pulled Prince to ringside. Wilson pummeled Lumis in the corner with the help of Prince. Wilson hit Lumis with a swinging neckbreaker for a two count. Lumis caught Wilson with a enzuigiri. Prince and Hudson tagged in with Hudson having the hot tag momentum. Hudson gave Wilson a nice knee and power slam. Hudson caused Wilson to spear Prince by tossing him. Hudson was distracted on the top rope, which allowed Prince to trip him for a two count.
Hudson rolled up Prince with the small cradle for the two count. Hudson and Prince took each other out with running headbutts. Hudson dumped Wilson to ringside. Wilson prevented the tag by dragging Lumis to the floor. Lumis tossed Wilson into the steel steps. Prince knocked Lumis off the apron. Hudson hit Prince with a power slam for a great nearfall. Kit Wilson distracted Duke Hudson from the apron which allowed Elton Prince to knock out Hudson with a Yakuza Kick for the victory.
Pretty Deadly defeated Duke Hudson and Dexter Lumis via pinfall in 11:47 to retain the NXT Tag Team Championships.
John’s Thoughts: A surprisingly good tag team match. Lumis and Hudson had great chemistry and showed some potential as a big man tag team. I almost forgot that Duke Hudson was primarily a tag team wrestler before WWE when he was a part of TMDK (where he teamed with former NXT stars Shane Thorne and Jonah Rock). I was a bit down on the Lumis and Hudson tag team when they announced it, mostly because I thought they got things right with Hudson as a singles act coming out of the Grimes feud, but this match turned me around a bit and it made me want to see them do more as a tag team. Pretty Deadly continues to impress me in their short time in NXT US so far. They are good heels and wrestle the WWE Style of storytelling match really well. If we continue to get good matches like this in the NXT tag division, we could see a revival of the NXT tag team division.
The lights went out and Joe Gacy appeared with the spotlights on him as he talked from the NXT Crow’s Nest. Gacy said he’s not hard to find, as he held Rick Steiner’s hall of fame ring. Bron Breakker made his entrance and met Gacy on the Crows nest. Gacy said he’ll give Breakker the ring back if Breakker gives him an NXT title match.
Breakker said “you got it, let’s go tough guy. Gacy put the Hall of Fame ring in Breakker’s denim vest pocket. Gacy said now all Breakker has to do is take a “leap of faith” Gacy shoved Breakker and Breakker fell off the crow’s nest to the ground. For some reason, random hooded druids appeared. The druids then surrounded Breakker and opened up their robes. The druids covered up Breakker and we could hear Breakker crying in pain. The show closed with Joe Gacy looking menacing…
John’s Thoughts: Uhm? Did the random druids just expose their naked junk to Bron Breakker? No wonder why Breakker was rolling around in horror. Mixed thoughts on the whole Bron Breakker vs. Joe Gacy horror movie storyline this week. On one hand, I’m not the biggest fan of all the hokey stuff. But with Breakker being a Steiner, it reminded me of some of the goofy stuff they would do with Rick and Scott in WCW and TNA, so on that end it came off as a throwback in a vague way, at least I took it as such. Hey, and Joe Gacy finally got to “throw” someone off a building-ish, just like he teased doing with Andre Chase. What I do like is that they’re allowing Gacy to shine. It kinda felt like Harland was an anchor on Joe Gacy’s potential. Gacy by himself is very talented and it’s cool to at least see him in a story as opposed to randomly roaming backstage trolling people (and terrorizing Draco Anthony).
A really good episode of NXT this week. I feel like the shows after Stand and Deliver have improved in terms of quality from prior. The storytelling has been a bit more crisp. The rookies are starting to find their footing and come off as more experienced due to having the experience of being on TV for months. I feel like we’re getting some more NXT 1.0 style matches more often. The Escobar vs. Melo match was one of those matches. The tag title match even caught me off guard in a good way. We’re also in store for some better in-ring from the women with Natalya making her excursion to NXT. Impact Wrestling has surpassed NXT 2.0 for me in terms of week-to-week quality ever since they dropped all the weird zombie and teleporting stuff. That said, NXT might end up coming back to being one of my favorite shows if this quality improvement continues. I’ll be by in a bit with my NXT audio review for Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons).
Thanks for the coverage of the ending, John. In Australia, Fox8 thought the lights going out after the main event was the end of the show and cut off the feed just when Gacy showed up.
Remember: Bron had one, meaningless match with GUNTHER so we could get to a long program with Bron vs Gacy. *groan*