Powell’s NXT Hit List: Bron Breakker and Baron Corbin vs. Axiom and Nathan Frazer for the NXT Tag Team Titles, Ilja Dragunov, Trick Williams, and Carmelo Hayes, Roxanne Perez vs. Natalya for the NXT Women’s Title

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

NXT Hits

Bron Breakker and Baron Corbin vs. Axiom and Nathan Frazer for the NXT Tag Team Titles: A hot match that concluded with a tag team title change. The storyline logic that they ran this back from Stand & Deliver because Ava liked their match was weak. Even so, they did a good job creatively of keeping viewers guessing when Breakker and Corbin would drop the tag titles after Breakker’s character signed with Smackdown. The post match attack by AOP on the new champions was unexpected fun. The Final Testament hasn’t really clicked on the main roster, but AOP feuding with Axiom and Frazer looks good on paper.

Oba Femi and Ivar: Ivar showing up to challenge the NXT North American Champion was great. This is really good use of Ivar and it was good to see him dressed his regular attire as opposed to wearing the Viking cosplayer ring gear.

Ilja Dragunov, Trick Williams, and Carmelo Hayes: They closed the show with the announcement of Williams putting his NXT career on the line for a shot at the NXT Championship. That announcement was followed by a Hayes attack on Williams that also took out Dragunov in the process. Are they setting up a Triple Threat? If so, will Hayes also put his NXT career on the line?

Je’von Evans vs. Scrypts: A nice debut for the former Jay Malachi. The live crowd got behind Evans and enjoyed his flashy offense. As much as this match was about showcasing Evans, Scrypts showed real improvement.

Luca Crucifino and Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo vs. Damon Kemp and Miles Borne: A quality tag team match. Booking these teams against one another felt like a bit of a no win situation from a creative standpoint. Crucifino is new to Tony D’Angelo’s family and got the win he needed. At the same time, things were looking up for the No Quarter Catch Crew when Charlie Dempsey won the NXT Heritage Cup. This loss sent the message that they are still just a mid-card faction. I don’t mean to kick a guy while he’s down, but the faction looked younger and fresher without him.

Kiana James and Izzi Dame vs. Kelani Jordan and Fallon Henley: A solid tag team opener. It feels like James and Henley have been working together in some form for ages. Hopefully the addition of the NXT Women’sNorth American Championship will give them more to do since they rarely spend time in the NXT Women’s Championship picture.

NXT Misses

Roxanne Perez vs. Natalya for the NXT Women’s Championship: A good match with an interference finish. Although a clean finish would have been nice, Lola Vice kick Natalya was a logical choice to extend their feud. The match landed in the Miss section because something clearly went wrong at the end. The referee had to turn his back for no reason whatsoever to avoid seeing Vice interfere. I don’t think the referee was at fault because there was nothing happening to distract him.

Jaida Parker vs. Brinley Reece: A soft Miss for a match between two wrestlers who are fairly new to the NXT television roster. They put together a solid developmental match, but this felt uneventful compared to the rest of the show. That said, Parker has upside potential. Perhaps Reece does as well, but her obnoxiously happy character is a turnoff.