By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
NXT Hits
Jordynne Grace named the challenger for the NXT Women’s Championship at NXT Battleground: Ava introducing the TNA Knockouts Champion as the challenger for Roxanne Perez’s championship at the June PLE was a pleasant surprise. Grace did a great job in the Royal Rumble and her match with Perez gave the Battleground show a needed hook. It will be interesting to see what TNA gets out of the deal beyond exposure. TNA’s weekly television show could use the type of boost that having Perez and other NXT wrestlers pop up would provide.
Trick Williams and Je’Von Evans vs. Mark Coffey and Wolfgang: The actual match was fine. It looked like Gallus was getting a reboot over the last couple weeks, so it was a little surprising to see them go right back to losing. The Hit is primarily for the post match surprise of Ethan Page debuting and attacking Williams. I couldn’t care less about Page being identified as the mystery attacker who took out the mid-card comedy heels Noam Dar and Oro Mensah, but Page is an excellent addition to the NXT roster. Page is a talented wrestler and his arrival on the same night as the Jordynne Grace announcement made this one of the more newsworthy editions of NXT in 2024.
Ridge Holland vs. Riley Osborne: A good television match with Holland going over. Osborne refusing to shake Holland’s hand afterward was a mildly intriguing development. I just hope they finally get to where they are going with Holland. There’s a fine line between long term storytelling and needlessly dragging out an uninteresting story.
Lola Vice vs. Ariana Grace: A simple showcase win for Vice. Both wrestlers have real upside. Grace’s beauty pageant schtick feels cartoonish, but she makes it watchable because she plays her part so well. Meanwhile, Vice is getting an aggressive push and has made the most of it thus far.
Dante Chen vs. Lexis King: They doubled down on Chen’s upset win over King last week. King has lost back-to-back matches to Chen, but King being on the right side of a post match attack extended this entertaining undercard feud.
Michin vs. Tatum Paxley in an NXT Women’s North American Title ladder match qualifier: The better of the two qualifying matches. Paxley continues to show improvement, but I like the call of putting a veteran in the ladder match at NXT Battleground.
NXT Misses
Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson vs. Edris Enofe and Malik Blade: The spot where Enofe crashed into Brinley Reece at ringside didn’t make me feel sympathy as much as it once again made me wonder why Reece was put with Enofe and Blade to begin with. The oddball pairing has been bad for Enofe and Blade. It also meant nothing when Gallows and Anderson beat Enofe and Blade, who seem to lose all of their meaningful matches.
Kelani Jordan vs. Wren Sinclair in an NXT Women’s North American Title ladder match qualifier: A brief and forgettable qualifier. Jordan has a lot of upside and connected with the live crowd quickly, but she’s cooled off lately due to being creatively directionless.
Carlee Bright video package: While it was nice to see a University of Minnesota alum (Ski-U-Mah!), Bright came off as being too similar to Brinley Reece. How many chipper cheerleaders does one brand need?
Eddy Thorpe video: Thorpe is back and apparently nothing has changed about his act even though it didn’t click during his initial run. On the bright side, at least they didn’t focus on his DJ skills. Karl Fredericks is a talented guy, but his presentation in NXT has left a lot to be desired.
Stevie Turner: The reintroduction of Turner left something to be desired. She hasn’t had a match on NXT television since January, yet it came off like they expected everyone to remember her. Fortunately, it looks like the creative team has moved on from her odd Twitch streamer gimmick.
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