By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
NXT Hits
Ethan Page vs. Trick Williams for the NXT Championship with CM Punk as special referee: An enjoyable main event with a big title change to close out the premiere episode on The CW network. Page hitting Williams with the late GTS while glaring at Punk was fun, and Punk counting to two and then holding up two fingers in Page’s face was a nice rebuttal. I could have done without the spot that led the announcers to question whether Punk assisted Williams. It looked innocent and wasn’t all that compelling, but hopefully it will lead to a big meltdown promo from Page, who also took a crowd pleasing GTS from Punk after the match. Williams going over was the expected move. I’m curious to see who will be first in line for a title shot once they get through a potential Page rematch.
Roxanne Perez vs. Giulia for the NXT Women’s Championship: A hot way to open The CW premiere. This was one of those times when going with a cheap finish was logical. I’d prefer to see Giulia built up before she wins the title, and it wouldn’t have make sense for her to lose clean in her debut match. Cora Jade playing the mystery attacker role was surprising, as I thought they may have gone with Stephanie Vaquer in that role given that they took the time to introduce her last week. Nevertheless, it made for a good return for Jade and hopefully she will click in this heel role, presumably as an ally of Perez.
Wes Lee vs. Zachary Wentz in a street fight: A strong brawl that lived up to the intensity of the feud while the wrestlers also worked in some of the flashy spots they are known for. You had to feel for Wentz when he overshot the table on the spot after being tossed from the ring, but he ended up continuing as if nothing had gone wrong, so hopefully that’s a good sign. The finish with Lee wrapping the chain around his knees before hitting Wentz with a meteora was a fitting way to end this type of match.
Miz TV with Oba Femi and Tony D’Angelo: A solid verbal segment that set the table for next week’s North American Championship match. It also reestablished the story that D’Angelo’s character has gone through confidence issues since losing to Femi in their previous match.
Lola Vice and Jaida Parker vs. Fallon Henley and Jacy Jayne: An in the middle for a decent match match put heat on the heels while also adding to the friction between Vice and Parker. The post match angle added a dose of needed star power with Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill coming out to help Kelani Jordan, which set up a six-woman tag team match for next week.
NXT Misses
None: This was a good premiere episode. The new silver and black logo looks sharp and they opened the show with crowd pleasing appearances from Shawn Michaels and Paul Levesque. No market has played host to more big pro wrestling events in recent years than Chicago and yet the fans just keep showing up and showing out. The crowd gave the show a great atmosphere and made NXT look big time for the premiere. It’s just a shame the show will be heading back to the Performance Center starting with episode three on the new network.
Bonjour Jason;
That was a big crowd last night in Chicago. Do you have an idea how many people were there?
Thanks
WrestleTix listed it as being set up for 7,763. There were fewer than 700 tickets available prior to the show, so it was likely at capacity in terms of the configuration they went with.