Powell’s NXT Hit List: Rhea Ripley vs. Lyra Valkyria, Carmelo Hayes, Trick Williams, and Ilja Dragunov vs. The Schism, Gable Steveson’s decision, Dana Brooke vs. Cora Jade in a kendo stick match

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

NXT Hits

Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley vs. Lyra Valkyria in a non-title match: A strong match with really good back and forth action. While Valkyria definitely gained something in defeat, it wasn’t a true star making performance. Valkyria had already shown she can go in the ring. She still needs to connect with the fans. That said, Valkyria is very talented and getting the endorsement of Ripley surely helps her cause.

Carmelo Hayes, Trick Williams, and Ilja Dragunov, vs. “The Schism” Joe Gacy, Rip Fowler, and Jagger Reid: Good action from bell to bell. More importantly, the match had the necessary moments of friction between the challenger and the champion heading into their title match at the Great American Bash. Williams was given a good reason to be upset with Dragunov. Although it led to their issues later in the show, my key takeaway was that Williams barked back at Hayes for the first time due to his frustration with Dragunov. Hayes showed his loyalty to Williams by saving him later in the show, but will the backstage frustration that Williams showed turn out to be step one of their breakup storyline?

Tiffany Stratton and Chase U video packages: Great work from the production team on both videos. The three Chase U players have their characters down to perfection and continue to overachieve. Meanwhile, Stratton showed a little more range and felt more real than usual in her video promo. I’m sold on this match and I’m really looking forward to seeing what these two can do at the Bash.

Tony D’Angelo and Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo vs. Bronco Nima and Lucian Price: A Hit for match quality, but I really don’t understand why Nima and Price were booked to lose clean so early in their television run. I get that D’Angelo and Stacks couldn’t lose heading into their tag team title match, but they could have beaten another team or this match could have had a finish that protected Nima and Price.

NXT Misses

Gable Steveson’s decision: Steveson struggled with his solo promo before Baron Corbin arrived. The segment lacked the big moment of Steveson verbalizing his intention, which may be by design if he’s still considering the idea of extending his amateur career. Steveson’s suplexes looked great and I am genuinely looking forward to his first match, but that’s actually in spite of this segment.

Von Wagner and Bron Breakker: While this is a logical feud between two of the NXT heavyweights, the way they got to it was awkward. Wagner was on the verge of putting Javier Bernal through the broadcast table for no good reason, yet viewers were expected to feel pity for Wagner because Bron Breakker attacked him for no good reason. I don’t get it.

Dana Brooke vs. Cora Jade in a kendo stick match: Good effort and physicality, but I just didn’t care about this match because they haven’t pulled me into their feud. I continue to hope that the plan is for Brooke to turn heel on her new sidekick Kelani Jordan, because Brooke does nothing for me as babyface. But the issues don’t fall completely on Brooke. While I still have high hopes for Jade, I can’t really think of an NXT program she’s been in that didn’t fall below expectations.

Meta-Four and Nathan Frazer, Dragon Lee, Valentina Feroz, and Yulisa Leon: Noam Dar continues to be hilarious, but this was a hokey build for a needless Kickoff Show match.