By John O’Connor, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@thereal_JOC)
NXT: Level Up (Episode 21)
Taped July 5, 2022 in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center
Streamed July 8, 2022 on Peacock/WWE Network
Dante Chen made his way to the ring as the broadcast team of Sudu Shah and Nigel McGuinness welcomed us to the show…
1. Myles Borne vs. Dante Chen. Chen gained the advantage early on Borne working on the wrist and arm. Borne reversed an attempted arm drag by Chen and applied a headlock which he held onto for several minutes despite attempts to escape by Chen. Chen eventually escaped and hit a flying crossbody and a scoop slam on Borne building the momentum. Borne tried to apply a headlock once more taking Chen to the mat but Chen would hold Borne’s shoulders down to the mat for the three count.
Dante Chen defeated Myles Borne via pinfall in 4:38.
The commentary team hyped Arianna Grace vs. Yulisa Leon for after the break…[c]
John’s Ramblings: A good technical match with a nice series of counters throughout. There is something there with Borne. He just needs time to develop.
Backstage, Kelly Kincaid interviewed Malik Blade and Edris Enofe who were feeling confident for their tag match later in the night.
2. Arianna Grace vs. Yulisa Leon (w/Valentina Feroz). Grace was unimpressed by the pre match dance routine by Leon as the two women tied up early. Leon sent Grace down to the mat and applied a front facelock. A stalemate mid match saw both women reset and tie up once more with Leon again gaining the advantage. Grace worked on the arm and back of Leon to take control and applied a tight armbar as Leon escaped with a running powerbomb and followed up with a flapjack on Grace and hit a dropkick from the top rope. Leon followed this up with a fallaway slam on Grace with a bridging pin for the win.
Yulisa Leon defeated Arianna Grace via pinfall in 6:18.
The commentary team hyped the main event…[c]
John’s Ramblings: Leon looked good in there and Grace played her part as well. A well worked match.
3. Malik Blade and Edris Enofe vs. Bryson Montana and Damaris Griffin. Griffin and Blade started the match with Blade gaining the early advantage. Blade tagged in Enofe and Griffin tagged in Montana. Blade re tagged in but was worn down by Montana before Griffin took over on the offense. Blade rallied and tagged in Enofe who hit a dropkick and reverse elbow on Griffin and followed up with a suplex before Enofe was distracted by Quincy Elliot on the ramp. Elliot headed to ringside and had words with Montana who was distracted as Enofe hit the elbow drop on Griffin for the victory.
Malik Blade and Edris Enofe defeated Bryson Montana and Damaris Griffin via pinfall in 5:27.
John’s Ramblings: Not bad. The match was brought down by the distraction finish but I’m interested to see how this plays out going forward. The show was fine this week but the main takeaway was that Kelly Kincaid was finally seen not only heard on ‘Level Up’ and it only took 21 episodes! Nice to see a backstage segment as well which this show generally seems to avoid.
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