By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT TV
Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center
Aired live June 11, 2024 on USA Network
[Hour One] Highlights from last Sunday’s NXT Battleground PLE aired… Vic Joseph and Booker T were on commentary. Mike Rome was the ring announcer…
Mike Rome gave a introduction to the inaugural NXT North American Champion Kelani Jordan, who made her entrance in street clothes. She took the mic and said this was a surreal moment for her. She talked about winning many gymnastics championships, but nothing beat becoming the first NXT North American Champion. She talked about how tough the ladder match on Sunday was, and said the moment she grabbed the title at the top of the ladder, that’s a moment she’ll remember for the rest of her life.
She said it’s up to her to keep up the prestige of the title. She said there’s a lot of women in the locker room, but she’s going to prove that no one can do it like Lani. Jaida Parker made her entrance and said that all Kelani proved is that she can climb up a ladder like a squirrel. Jaida talked about how she’s going to take care of Mia “Michin” Yim. Mia Yim jumped Jaida from behind. Vic noted that you “say her name and she appears!” (Hey, Vic! That’s Joe Hendry’s gimmick). A referee ran out to start the match…
John’s Thoughts: Kelani Jordan looks great as champion and here’s hoping she can get some good stories out of her run. One thing I did notice is she does need to work the crowd a bit better. When the crowd tried to give her “you deserve it chants”, she should have maybe soaked it in for 3 seconds before shutting them down with a “thank you, thank you” to take control of the segment. Trying to talk over them made it worse in that it was covering up her talking point. Not a big deal, and I understand that she probably doesn’t want to get a earful from HBK about going over segment time.
1. Mia “Michin” Yim vs. Jaida Parker. Mia dominated out of the gate. Jaida landed a body slam, but Mia Came back with a grounded overhead kick. Yim got a two count after a cannonball. Jaida tried to come back, but Yim landed a German Suplex. Jaida turned the tables after dodging a cannonball and tossing Mia into the ring post. Jaida draped Yim and hit her with her signature draping Banzai Drop. The show cut to regular commercial.[c]
Jaida was working on Mia with short-arm shoulder tackles. Yim got a rollup for a nearfall, but Jaida came back with an elbow breaker. Yim came back with a huracanrana in the corner. Mia hit Jaida with a shotgun dropkick. Yim planted Jaida with a Tornado DDT for a two count. Jaida blocked a Seoul Food attempt and hit Yim with a front suplex. Jaida dumped Yim to ringside with a bootay to the face. Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows ran out to check on Yim.
Parker got a two count back in the ring. Jaida glared at Anderson and took a steel chair from under the ring. Gallows got on the apron. Anderson took the steel chair from Jaida. Michin rolled up Parker for the victory.
Michin defeated Jaida Parker via pinfall in 9:59.
A replay aired of Gallus beating up Wes Lee backstage. They then cut a backstage promo from Raw last night where Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne talked about how they were going to avenge their friend Wes Lee…
Cody Rhodes was shown high fiving fans in front of the WWE Performance Center…[c]
John’s Thoughts: NXT has done a nice and efficient job creating a intriguing feud between Jaida Parker and Mia Yim. Yim and Parker have made the most of their TV and mic time to cultivate a logical feud between the two, with the two showing animosity any time they go against each other. Jaida Parker is special. She’s a very believable character that comes off as authentic. Once she gets the in-ring down pat (and she’s pretty good already) she might be considered to be fast tracked to the main roster. I do hope they give Nima and Price a boost too, especially Nima who has shown good personality. We might be in store for a six person tag soon. On the other side, I wouldn’t mind Gallows, Anderson, and Yim being a isolated team, just keep them the hell away from a Bullet Club leader.
Vic Joseph hyped LA Knight and Bayley appearing at their upcoming Fanatics meet and greet…
Riley Osborne, Andre Chase, and Duke Hudson were all bickering in the Chase U classroom. Ridge Holland cut in and told them to calm down. Riley talked about how he and Hudson don’t trust him still. More bickering ensued. Thea Hail walked in and told everyone to shut the F— up and sit down. Chase wondered where she learned that bad language from? Hail talked about how Riley was an outsider like Ridge, and they let him in.
Chase said they should focus on taking care of Jacy Jayne. Hail talked about how Chase almost gambled the University away. Hail talked about how people thought Duke couldn’t be trusted, but they gave him a chance. Hail said Chase U gives everyone a chance. Hail said they all need to get on the same page and that’s not a teachable moment, that’s the truth…
Entrances for the next match took place…
2. “Gallus” Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey, and Wolfgang vs. Wes Lee, Tyler Bate, and Pete Dunne. Bate and Wolfgang started the match. Wolfgang quickly tagged in Mark after dominating a bit. Bate fought out of a pin with a Test of Strength. Bate used a leg scissors on Mark while saying hi to the crowd at the same time. Dunne tagged in and gave Mark a double stomp on the elbow. Dunne went into his signature Joint Manipulation. Dunne gave stomps to Mark’s kneecaps. Dunne then game a jumping stomp to Mark’s elbow.
Dunne cleaned house with kicks. Lee tagged in and gave Mark stereo kicks. Bate held up Mark for Lee’s superkick. Bate did a helicopter spin to Mark. Lee gave Joe a dive. Bate gave Wolfgang a plancha. Bate hit Mark with a long helicopter spin into a driver. The show cut to picture-in-picture.[c]
Bate rolled up Joe for a two count. Joe shrugged off Bate and knocked Wes off the apron. Joe gave Bate a side backbreaker. Wolfgang hit Bate with a sideway senton. Dunne broke up Wolfgang’s pin. Bate came back with a rebound lariat on Mark. Joe tagged in and knocked Dunne off the apron. Bate fended off Joe with a boot. Bate flipped over Joe to tag in Wes. Wes trapped Joe in the corner. ran off Wolfgang’s back and hit Mark with a huracanrana. Wes hit Wolfgang with CQC and a DDT.
Wes rolled up Joe for a two count. Dunne hit Mark with the wishbone finger break. Bate hit Mark with Bop and Bang. Bate hit a pile of wrestlers with a flip dive. Wes hit Joe with a meteora for a nearfall. Joe dropped Wes on the pile of wrestlers at ringside. Joe dodged a dive and hit Wes with a discus lariat for the victory.
“Gallus” Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey, and Wolfgang defeated Wes Lee, Tyler Bate, and Pete Dunne via pinfall in 9:50.
Jaida Parker was venting to Bronco Nima and Lucien Price about Gallows and Anderson costing her her last match. Jaida said she respects how Price and Nima don’t come to ringside so she can handle business herself. Jaida walked away saying she’s going to run Mia Yim’s ass out of NXT.
Edris Enofe and Malik Blade told Brinley Reece to be careful of the now creepy Wendy Choo. Reece said there’s nothing to worry about because Choo is a sweetheart…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Believe it or not, a rare dominant win for Gallus given how WWE has been very back and forth with them. I wonder if they are in the cards for Clash at the Castle soon to join fellow Scot Drew McIntyre? Seeing Wes in a three person tag team makes me hope that we get a Rascalz reunion one of these days via the WWE-TNA working relationship.
Still shots from NXT Battleground were shown…
Vic Joseph and Booker T were on commentary. Vic sent the show to a promo package where Sol Ruca went through her day and workout routine leading up to NXT Battleground in Vegas. The package also focused on Sol’s highlights in the ladder match at Battleground…
Brinley Reece made her entrance with Endris Enofe and Malik Blade. Wendy Choo made her entrance to new creepy sounding music. She wore her usual bedtime gear and had a body pillow. The gear had skulls on it. Her cheeks were painted up like stitched up lips. Kinda reminds me of “Sally” from Nightmare Before Christmas…
3. Wendy Choo vs. Brinley Reece (w/Edris Enofe, Malik Blade). Choo quickly started the match with a Thesz Press and punches. Choo did her sleepy elbow drop. Choo did a fast creepy crawl. Choo whiplashed her head and gave Reece a headbutt and Flatliner for a two count. Reece gave Choo a face buster on the knee. Reece rallied with clotheslines and a body slam. Choo gave Reece a stiff clothesline. Choo grapevined a Cobra Clutch to make Reece tap out.
Wendy Choo defeated Brinley Reece via submission in 2:45.
Choo sat in the ring and gave the hard camera a cold stare…
A replay aired of Oro Mensah attacking Ethan Page twice last week, once after NXT and twice at a hotel parking lot. They then showed Oro Mensah attacking Ethan Page after NXT Battleground went off air…
An Ava tweet showed that Ava has banned Oro Mensah from the building for his recent attacks…[c]
John’s Thoughts: I know we get our share of “creepy” characters in pro wrestling, but this new Wendy Choo character looks really good so far. What helped here is the actress behind the role did such a great job selling the character. Her fast crawl in the ring and head movements came off as legit creepy. What makes this even cooler is we all suffered through the bad version of Wendy Choo, that this came off as a organic progression and evolution of the character. It sorta remind me of TNA’s Su Yung’s two characters combined, the zombie bride and little girl. Her stitched lips also reminds me of Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas and I love that movie.
Vic Joseph plugged WWE’s rally-type event for Clash at the Castle on Friday which is free-to-attend in Scotland…
Byron Saxton was waiting in the parking lot. He then saw and interviewed Roxanne Perez about her upcoming “state of the women’s division” address she teased for later. Perez bragged about beating Jordynne Grace. She was approached by Robert Stone, who told her Ava was wondering what Perez was going to talk about? Perez said she had to wait until a segment to find out her opponent at Battleground, so Ava is going to have to wait until the segment to hear what she’s going to say…
[Hour Two] WWE Undisputed Champion Cody Rhodes made his entrance to the Performance Center ring. Vic talked about how important the Performance Center is to Cody due to Dusty Rhodes being one of the fathers of NXT. Cody soaked in “Cody” chants. Cody said it’s magical in this place. Cody talked about how he had to be here to feel said magic as he heads to Scotland at Clash at the Castle for his title defense against AJ Styles. Cody said AJ has been a lot of things, IWGP Champion, NWA, WWE Champion, and PWI Wrestler of the decade.
Cody said one thing that AJ will do is look at all of Scotland, the referee, and in Cody’s eyes to say “I Quit”. NXT Champion Trick Williams made his entrance to his usual “Whoop dat trick” chants. Trick told everyone to make some noise for Cody being on NXT. Trick said he was coming to the ring, but he held up to let Cody do his thing. Trick said he feels like he had a similar journey to Trick. He said they are both champions, both had mountains to climb, and chips on their shoulders to get to where they are today. Trick sand now that they are on the other side of the mountain, everything feels different now.
Instead of having something to chase, they got it now. And now people are attacking them. Trick asked Cody how he deals with all this? Cody talked about going from hunter to hunted, having all the peers judging them instead of supporting them. Cody said one thing to keep in mind is that even though they conquered certain mountains, there is always another mountain to climb. Cody unstrapped his title belt to show Trick. Cody said he’s been granted the authority by Ava to announce Trick’s next challenger.
Cody said the next challenger will be chosen in a 25 man over-the-top battle royal. Cody teased that Trick may know some of them, but some of them may be from “other locker rooms”. Cody wished Trick luck in his next title defense. Trick called Cody back when Cody was leaving. Trick said he had something very serious to ask. Trick said with Fourth of July around the corner, we all want to know if Cody is coming to “the cookout”. The crowd agreed with Trick and gave him “YES” chants. Cody said he is coming to the cookout. The segment ended with Cody’s theme playing…
John’s Thoughts: Can Brandi be invited to the cookout too? Cody being part Cuban and having his in-laws makes him invited to any cookout anyway (though the guy is so nice, that he didn’t need that qualification anyway). I’m joking around. Fun cameo for Cody on NXT with a plug for a future cameo on New Years. I was disappointed when they went with the overused “over the top battle royal” concept to find a new champion, but they made things interesting with the “other locker rooms” announcement. The safe thought would be Raw and Smackdown stars appearing, but wouldn’t it be fun if we got some TNA wrestlers in the match? As tired as I am of someone like Eddie Edwards on the Impact show , I wouldn’t mind seeing someone like him sent over to face Trick (You wouldn’t send someone like Josh Alexander to take a loss)
A replay aired of Je’Von Evans attacking Shawn Spears when Spears attacked Josh Briggs in the Gorilla Position…
Vic Joseph hyped Je’Von Evans vs. Shawn Spears as the main event of this week’s show…
Sarah Schreiber interviewed Dante Chen about his Singapore Cane match. Chen said he’s going to leave a lasting imprint on King with cane shots. Chen hit a pile of pipes with a kendo stick. Chen said he’s going to end this feud on his terms. Schreiber hyped up the upcoming Singapore Cane match…
Carlee Bright tried to introduce herself to Wendy Choo in the locker room. Choo gave Bright a glare and walked away…
Vic Joseph introduced the 2024 NXT NIL class of 2024 who were sitting in the front row…
Lexis King made his entrance with a royal scepter. Dante Chen attacked King with a Singapore Cane during the entrance. The bell rang once both men were in the ring…
John’s Thoughts: This is the first time we’ve gotten an actual Singaporean wrestling in a Singapore Cane match right?
4. Dante Chen vs. Lexis King in a Singapore Cane Match. Both men had a sword fight with the canes with Chen dominating early. King threw a cane at Chen and gave King punches. King backdropped Chen on a pile of canes. King dominated with cane shots and methodical offense. Chen tried to come back, but King kept the advantage. Chen managed to reverse a cane choke into his own cane choke. King got the cane away and gave Chen a drive by knee to the back of the neck for a nearfall.
King went to town on Chen with the cane. King then set up a cane to point out in the corner on a buckle. King reversed a whip to send King’s gut into the tip of the cane. Chen then went to town on King with a cane. Chen beat down King until the cane shattered into pieces. Chen gave King a Yakuza kick into a cane for a two count. Chen dumped King to ringside with a clothesline.
Chen hit King with a Cane Lunge Tope at ringside. King gave Chen a low blow with his king scepter. King hit Chen in the throat and front with the scepter. King hit Chen with a scepter assisted twisting neckbreaker for the win.
Lexis King defeated Dante Chen via pinfall in 6:27.
Jasmyn Nyx was chatting with a masked Jacy Jayne in the lounge. Cody Rhodes approached her and said he had a gift for her. Cody had a signature brown bag and pulled out one of his protective masks back from his old “Un-dashing” days (when he was injured by a 619 and turned it into a gimmick). Jacy stared at the mask and said it was “dashing”…
The Eddy Thorpe fire return vignette aired saying he’s returning after the break…[c]
John’s Thoughts: My mother actually spent some time in Singapore, and when I was a little kid she used to always scare me not to litter with Singapore Canes (in Singapore, if you do something like spit chewing gum on the street, there was one point in time recently where they were legally able to cane you in the street). Technically pro wrestling uses “kendo sticks”, but real Singapore canes are a bit too sharp and would bloody up people, so I understand. I’m a bit surprised they had King go over here because this felt like a catharsis finale of their feud. I’m okay with it continuing and hope that Dante Chen gets the final laugh. If anything, Lexis King has also been having some of his best in-ring showings in recent months (even dating back to his MLW days where he was overshadowed by stablemate Teddy Hart in terms of being entertaining).
Mia Yim, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson were chatting in front of Ava’s office. Yim talked about how Ava awarded her with the first title shot against Kelani Jordan. Anderson said he’s looking forward to Yim and Styles bring back gold to the OC. Booker T and Vic Joseph tried to check in from commentary. but someone off screen got hands on Vic to disrupt things? weird (did we just get the hands of an idiot fan jumping the barricade? ugh, if so)…
Entrances for the next match took place…
5. Eddy Thorpe vs. Tavion Heights. Eddy and Tavion started the match with chain wrestling with Tavion getting the double leg takedown. Eddy came back with a crossbody and running knee. Eddy gave Tavion kicks and a back suplex. Both men ran the ropes with a Tavion hitting an over-the-head belly-to-belly. Eddy tried to escape a fireman carry, but got hit with a press slam.
Heights hit Eddy with a gut-wrench suplex for a two count. Heights hit Thorpe with a reverse neckbreaker into a Dragon Sleeper. Eddy worked on Heights with clinch knees. Eddy rallied back with right hands. Eddy ran through Heights with axe handles. Eddy hit Heights with a German Suplex. Eddy hit Heights with a Brainbuster for the victory.
Eddy Thorpe defeated Tavion Heights via pinfall in 4:18.
No Quarter Catch Crew were watching the match from backstage. Charlie Dempsey said that Tavion Heights was impressive. Dempsey ordered Myles Borne to go fetch Heights. Myles couldn’t hear Dempsey at first. Dempsey clapped and yelled it again. Myles noted he has a hard time hearing (he’s legally deaf, and this seemed all in good fun). Dempsey said they need more numbers. Kemp joked about Dempsey losing the title with numbers. Dempsey berated Kemp for also losing. Dempsey yelled at Myles again to get Tavion…
Separate shots of Je’von Evans and Shawn Spears were shown backstage as they headed to the ring…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Decent enough return for Eddy Thrope. Here’s hoping it works better for him now that NXT needs new stars. I’m rooting for the local bay area guy. Same problem I saw when he wrestled in the indies, is still visible in WWE in that he’s never really stood out in character work. He’s amazing in the ring if you give him over ten minutes though so I hope they let the man cook. If anything, his in-ring knowledge is valuable to help the NIL wrestlers in the WWEPC. Hopefully he got to catch up with Cody Rhodes backstage because they were a part of the same locker room in the Daly City indie promotion All Pro Wrestling. Weird enough in terms of match though, Tavion Heights actually looked more impressive here, and I’ve been very high on Tavion from his work on Level Up.
Robert Stone told Ava, in her office, that he couldn’t find out what Roxanne Perez was going to talk about in her promo segment. Stevie Turner showed up and said she thinks that Perez might be giving an apology. Ava told Stone and Turner to leave her alone while she takes a phone call…
Entrances for the next match took place…
6. Je’Von Evans vs. Shawn Spears. Evans started the match with quick strikes. Spears came back with a Thesz Press and punches. Evans flipped out of a suplex and hit Spears with a huracanrana. Evans gave Spears a chop. Spears blocked ten punches in the corner with a throat first flapjack on the top rope. Spears rallied with methodical offense.
Evans came back with a front kick and high dropkick. Evans caught Spears with a wrecking ball kick. Evans hit Spears with a PK from the apron heading into PIP.[c]
Back from break, Spears was dominating the match. Spears had Evans in a Half Crab. Spears when to working on Evans with shortarm chops. Evans came back with a hook kick and side slam. Evans rallied with right hands. Evans hit Spears with a flip thrust kick. Spears dodged a slingshot move and superkicked Evans on the apron. Spears slingshotted Evans back in the ring and hit him with a Draping DDT for a two count. Evans rolled up Spears for a two count.
Evans hit Spears with an impressive Top Rope springboard cutter. Evans hit Spears with a Tope Suicida and a cannonball from the barricade. Evans dumped Spears to ringside with a clothesline. Spears dodged a springboard dive, sending Evans into the corner of the announce desk. Spears hit Evans with a C4 Death Valley Driver for the victory.
Shawn Spears defeated Je’von Evans via pinfall in 9:49.
Spears noted that this was Shawn’s biggest win since his NXT return. Evans was shown bleeding from the mouth…
Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate were hanging out with Nathan Frazer and Axiom in the locker room. They were approached by Tony D’Angelo and The Family. Tony D said he wants to educate them on the history of the Heritage Cup. Bate said his name is on the cup. Axiom said his Best Friend A-Kid also had a name on the cup. Tony D said he’ll school them on the Heritage Cup later. Frazer said he also misses the cup…
NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez was shown walking to the ring from backstage…[c]
John’s Thoughts: Good win for Spears, who’s been taking more losses than you would expect coming back to WWE, and Evans loses nothing because he’s a young upstart. If Ricochet is indeed leaving for a few years for AEW, again “if”, I wonder if Evans is being prepped up to fill in the acrobat role that Ricochet held? The guy is freshly 20 years old, so WWE can take their time with him.
Shawn Spears approached Cody Rhodes backstage and said he’s going to get his next week, just like Cody did at the Rumble. Ethan Page said he’s in the picture too and is going to win. Lexis King showed up and also said he’s going to win. Cody stepped back and said everyone in the room looked like they were in a “good place”…
John’s Thoughts: Was that a shot against AEW? (what is true is Spears, King, and Page were all stuck in AEW-Dark/ROH purgatory). If anything, it was the most random former AEW wrestler reunion.
The Number one contender battle royal for the NXT Title and Kelani Jordan vs. Michin for the North American Championship were plugged for next week…
[Overrun] NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez made her entrance for her State of the Women’s Division address. Potted plants and a red carpet canvas were set up in the ring. Perez bragged about being “and still…” Women’s Champion. She said she proved that no one is at her level. She said you don’t have to thank her that the title is still in NXT. Perez said the one person that should thank her is NXT GM Ava. NXT GM Ava made her entrance to her theme.
Ava said she assumed Perez would do something like this. Ava congratulated Perez. She said she’s not sure what she had to thank Perez for, because that comes with the turf of being champion. Ava said it’s not about what you say, but what you do. Perez cut off Ava and talks about how Ava tries to make it all about herself. Perez said no matter who Ava puts in front of her, she’ll find a way to win, because nobody is taking the title off her.
Jacy Jayne and Jasmyn Nyx made their entrance to talk trash about Perez. Jayne said ever since Perez won the championship, she lost her sweet and innocent personality. Jayne said she also lost her memory. Jayne said before Perez signed a WWE contract, Jayne was the reason people tuned into NXT. Jayne said that before Perez won the breakout tournament and championship, you couldn’t talk about anything other than Jacy Jayne. Perez wondered if this is where the line starts?
Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson made their entrance. Lash called Jasmyn a Kim Kardashian lookalike. Legend said that Meta Four were making waves every night. Jackson talked about Lash being inches away from the North American title. Jackson said it was “on sight” for trying to take Meta Four’s spotlight. Lola Vice made her entrance to brag about winning her Underground Match. Lola talked about being the only person at Roxanne’s level.
Jackson told Lola to shake her happy ass to the back of the line. Lola hit Jackson with a high kick. Lola and Perez teamed up to dump the rest of the women to ringside. Perez and Vice stood tall in the ring to close the show…
John’s Thoughts: Uhm? That was a bit of a nothing burger. They teased a big announcement, only to line up a bunch of developmental wrestlers and say nothing. This would have probably been okay if it were in the middle of the show, but they put it in the main event slot for some reason. They didn’t have other segments on the show either that could have taken the slot too. Anyways, this comes off as a bit tepid coming off the big Jordynne Grace surprise last time. On top of that, the contenders were all heels, stepping up to the heel champion (with Lash being the closest thing to a babyface due to her association with Trick Williams).
The “title picture” that walked out felt more suited for the North American title too, which is a better suited title for the developmental wrestlers to use as a stepping stone (Look at Oba Femi and how well the NA title is setting him up for a main title run). I hope they aren’t setting up Lola Vice for a shot against the title. I’ve liked her push so far and feud against main roster stars, but she still feels like a work in progress, even though the progress is going very very well. If she didn’t waste her not-Money-in-the-Bank contract, I thought the North American title would be perfect for her. Let’s see what they have in store for Perez though because this segment really didn’t get us excited for anything.
A solid episode to come out of Battleground. There wasn’t that big segment to close the show, but the usual solid character development and a few fun matches. The Wendy Choo return was fun. Cody Rhodes had a nice enough cameo and got to have a few fun segments backstage. That random reunion with Page, Spears, and King was strange, but cute. The hook next week is the whole “from any locker room” deal with the battle royal. I’m afraid that it might just be Raw and Smackdown, maybe a random Apollo Crews sighting like we get on WWE TV every few months. Here’s hoping that it’s a TNA talent or two because this TNA crossover has been fun.
Pretty sure that was a legit intruder that got to Vic because Booker clearly wanted to belt him and Vic calmed him down. We can do with out that. Fans stay on the other side of the barricade. Hopefully that rat was booted out of the building and banned.
That’s what I thought it seemed like too, especially with Booker’s comments. Doing a live review, I always have to take a few seconds to consider “work”. They also kept it on-air and didn’t cut which you don’t see too often…
Both PW Insider and Fightful Wrestling reviews of NXT mentioned it was Brooks Jensen who went after Vic Joseph.
Ah, there we go… most likely work
He has been working this “I’ve quit” angle for a hot minute, even doing an indie show with his dad Bull Buchanan. This is most likely playing into him “going home” a few months ago. Wouldn’t mind seeing more of him because he did show improvement as the cowboy and has been doing solid Level Up stuff