By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
NXT Hits
Tony D’Angelo vs. Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo vs. Luca Crusifino in a Triple Threat: Say what you will about the silliness of mobsters becoming pro wrestlers, the D’Angelo family saga has played a big part in NXT over the last several years. It wasn’t always for me, but the family deserved the big sendoff that it received, complete with historical video packages that recapped their history. It was the right call to have D’Angelo go over to close out this chapter of his career. He was the star, and it was his talent and charisma that carried the group. D’Angelo played his part to perfection, and I am anxious to see what comes next for him. This should also be a new beginning for Stacks and Crusifino, and I look forward to seeing how they do outside of the family drama. But where was Adriana Rizzo? She was shown in the video packages, yet she didn’t appear in person during the group’s swansong show.
Oba Femi, Josh Briggs, and Yoshiki Inamura: The promo exchange was a bit clunky, but I like the basic idea of Inamura being honorable while his partner Briggs is willing to win by any means necessary. It’s a shame they are rushing to the Triple Threat next week. Briggs could use several weeks of all-out squash matches to get over his new persona and establish himself as a badass.
Trick Williams, Mike Santana, and Joe Hendry vs. “DarkState” Saquon Shugars, Osiris Griffin, and Dion Lennox: A soft Hit for a solid opening match that had a lousy finish. The match gave a final push on the NXT side for the three-way Slammiversary main event. This felt like an opportunity to give DarkState a win by having their opponents self-destruct. Rather, they had The System faction from TNA run in for the weak no-contest finish. What is DarkState’s purpose? At this point, it seems like the company invested more time in putting their light show together than coming up with a storyline direction. Are there plans for this faction beyond having trivial six-man tag matches?
Masha Slamovich, Sol Ruca, and Zaria vs. “Fatal Influence” Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley, and Jazmyn Nyx: A soft Hit for a solid showcase for Knockouts Champion Slamovich, who pinned NXT Women’s Champion Jayne clean. Will they double down on Sunday, or does the outcome of this match mean they’ll do the opposite at Slammiversary? The creative approach to Zaria continues to be baffling. She has the big monster entrance and has a cool look, but she’s booked in a fairly comedic odd couple tag team with a partner who holds two singles titles.
NXT Misses
Kali Armstrong vs. Karmen Petrovic for the Evolve Women’s Championship: The brief match was interrupted by an angry Jordynne Grace, who became the NXT version of Anakin Skywalker by slaughtering the innocent Evolve younglings. There are too many title belts on NXT television. NXT has its title belts, TNA’s title belts, occasional WWE main roster champions stop by with their title belts, and now we’re seeing Evolve title belts. I get the need to plug the Evolve show, but titles lose their significance when so many wrestlers have them. This has been a problem in AEW, and now it’s becoming an issue in NXT.
Lexis King and Ava: King sat in the crowd wearing noise-cancelling headphones during the main event until Ava scolded him. It’s unclear what he was doing or why Ava cared, but it felt hokey and didn’t leave me anxious to see what comes next.
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