Powell’s NXT Hit List: Kelani Jordan vs. Wren Sinclair for the NXT Women’s North American Title, Grayson Waller and Austin Theory vs. Je’Von Evans and Cedric Alexander, Ridge Holland vs. Riley Osborne

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

NXT Hits

CM Punk, Ethan Page, and Trick Williams: Simple and effective backstage segments to establish that Punk intends to call next week’s NXT Championship match down the middle. As much as I’d love to see Page have a lengthy run with the championship, all signs point to Williams regaining the title in a feel-good moment on The CW premiere.

Ridge Holland vs. Riley Osborne: Osborne got the early offense before monster heel Holland came back and put him away in decisive fashion. Osborne has upside, but he’s young and there’s plenty of time to push him. Holland is finally clicking in his new heel role, so having him go over strong was the right call.

Hank Walker and Tank Ledger vs. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson: It was a pleasant surprise when Hank and Tank beat the veterans the first time, and it was even more enjoyable when the creative forces doubled down by the having the developmental duo win the rematch. Gallows and Anderson getting their win back would have felt flat and wouldn’t have done anything for anyone, whereas the back-to-back wins gave Walker and Ledger a nice boost.

Oro Mensah vs. Lexis King: King turning over a new leaf by showing respect and not stealing the pin when he had the opportunity to use the ropes for leverage was an interesting twist. Mensah coming right back and using the ropes for leverage while stealing the pin was an interesting twist. Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson celebrated Mensah’s win, so it didn’t come off like a heel move unless they are all back to being heels.

Kelani Jordan vs. Wren Sinclair for the NXT Women’s North American Title: A soft Hit. There were some awkward moments and visible spot calling, but there was more good than bad.

NXT Misses

CW Press Conferences: If you want to sell me on a fake pro wrestling press conference being real, then you need to have half of the “reporters” gushing over the wrestlers or asking when NXT is going to come to their city. Okay, not really, but I did come away with mixed feelings about this approach. While it made the CW premiere matches feel important, most of these press conference segments were dry and uneventful. They saved the worst for last by having Roxanne Perez and Giulia answer questions inside the ring. Perez did a fine job, but the long stretches of Giulia speaking in Spanish followed by Sho Funaki translating here throwaway comments made for rough television. And while Stephanie Vaquer is a really nice addition the NXT roster, she has limited exposure in the United States, so it’s hard to imagine her surprise “via satellite” appearance did much for anyone other than the hardcore fans. That said, the fact that they felt the need to introduce Vaquer on this episode rather than saving it for The CW has my guard up for her playing a part in the finish of next week’s NXT Women’s Championship match.

Grayson Waller and Austin Theory vs. Je’Von Evans and Cedric Alexander: A good match until the weak finish. Nathan Frazer running out just in time to accidentally knock Evans off the top rope and cost his team the match felt contrived. It was also odd that Evans and Alexander disappeared while Frazer and Axiom bickered amongst themselves before having their staredown with Waller and Theory.

Rosemary and Wendy Choo vs. Karmen Petrovic and Brinley Reece: It was nice to see Rosemary get a win on NXT television. I also get a kick out of Ashante Thee Adonis’s hornball antics. But the finish with Adonis coming out and randomly to give a rose to a woman in the crowd and upsetting Petrovic for some reason made was clunky and took the spotlight off the winning team.