By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
NXT Hits
Jacy Jayne and Lola Vice promo segment: Vice’s story was retold in recent weeks with a couple of good spotlight videos. Vice followed up with a good verbal exchange with Jayne, who did a really nice job of heeling on her challenger before being laid out with a back fist. The creative forces put the work in to build up Vice going into this match. Regardless of what they have planned for the finish, they sold me on the possibility of Vice going over.
Myles Borne vs. Lexis King in a Lights Out match: It turns out that a Lights Out match in NXT is basically a No DQ match with dim lighting. As lame as that may seem for those who didn’t see the show, Borne and King worked hard and produced a gritty match (yes, even with the awful sponsored tables). It was interesting that they showed Borne crossing paths with NXT North American Champion Ethan Page. It sure seemed like they were foreshadowing an eventual title match between the two, but I suppose we can’t rule out the possibility that it was a swerve with Page defending his championship against Tavion Heights at No Mercy.
“DarkState” Dion Lennox, Osiris Griffin, and Saquon Shugars vs. Joe Hendry, Kale Dixon, and Uriah Connors: A quality six-man tag match that exceeded my expectations. Hendry was the star of the match, even though DarkState went over, and Dixon and Conors looked good in defeat. DarkState is starting to click with me, but it feels like they lack a purpose.
Jordynne Grace vs. Arianna Grace: A soft Hit for Grace on Grace violence, er, a showcase win for Jordynne. I still don’t understand why Arianna is likable in TNA, yet continues to play a heel character in NXT. The post-match brawl between Jordynne and Blake Monroe was a simple way to set up their weaponized steel cage match for No Mercy. But is there really a need for weapons? Why aren’t cage matches enough these days?
NXT Misses
NXT Champion Oba Femi vs. TNA World Champion Trick Williams in a title vs. title match: It was pretty easy to see the match would lead to an NXT vs. TNA brawl, so the weak DQ finish didn’t annoy me. The various TNA wrestlers showing up in the crowd made for good television despite taking away from what was happening in the ring, and Mike Santana punching Trick for the DQ plays into their TNA World Championship match at Bound For Glory. The big question now is where they go next with the fighting between the brands. A full-on NXT vs. TNA war could be interesting initially with some unique matchups, but it’s hard to imagine there being a satisfying conclusion because that would require one brand to look inferior. So why did this land in the Miss section? Because the timing sucked. Sure, they had that little moment at the end with Oba and Ricky Saints at ringside while everyone else was brawling, but the start of the brand war occurred on the No Mercy go-home show and took the focus away from the PLE main event.
Lainey Reid vs. Candice LeRae for a shot at the WWE Speed Women’s Championship at NXT No Mercy: I couldn’t care less about Speed matches, Speed tournaments, or Speed championship matches. But it was interesting that Jacy Jayne was actually nice to Reid during a backstage segment. I wonder if the plan is for Reid to replace Jasmyn Nyx in Fatal Influence.
(ProWrestling.net Editor Jason Powell has worked in journalism for 27 years, including as the Assistant Editor of PWTorch.com and as a Senior Editor at Fanball.com before launching ProWrestling.net on Feb. 11, 2008.)
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