By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
NXT Hits
TNA Knockouts Champion Kelani Jordan vs. Tyra Mae Steele in a non-title match: The big Hit is for Jordan delivering the best promo of her young career earlier in the show. I enjoyed her girl-next-door babyface run, and wasn’t sure how Jordan would fare as a heel, but she actually seems more comfortable in this role. The promo ran a bit long, but Jordan did a really nice job overall. The match was more of a soft Hit. It is a bit surprising that Steele wasn’t pushed as a rookie sensation with squash match victories and wins over undercard wrestlers to establish her as something special while she works out the kinks early in her run.
Je’Von Evans vs. Saquon Shugars: A soft Hit for a match that left me with mixed feelings. This was a strong showcase win for Evans, who beat Shugars while also fighting off other members of DarkState. Yet while this was good for Evans, it continued the “one step forward, two steps back” booking of DarkState. There are weeks when they are made to look like a badass heel faction, and then there are weeks like this where they are booked to look like bumbling fools.
Zaria vs. Wren Sinclair in opening round tournament match for the vacant WWE Women’s Speed Championship: While I have firmly established my lack of interest in Speed matches, I find them to be more tolerable in cases like this when a powerhouse makes quick work of a smaller wrestler. Furthermore, Zaria and Sol Ruca’s disintegrating relationship is an interesting saga.
“Fatal Influence” Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley, and Lainey Reid vs. Tatum Paxley, Lola Vice, and Izzi Dame: A decent opening match despite some clunky moments. Jayne got the bounce-back win she needed after dropping the NXT Women’s Championship. Meanwhile, Dame taking the loss should add to her character’s jealousy of Paxley.
NXT Misses
New AAA Mixed Tag Team Champions Ethan Page and Chelsea Green hold a Muy Grande Championship Celebration: The last thing NXT needed was more title belts. Mixed tag team titles do nothing for me, but at least Page and Green are a lot of fun together, and Joe Hendry and Thea Hail chasing them for the titles has potential. I mentioned earlier that DarkState was booked to look like bumbling fools. While that’s a negative for what’s supposed to be a strong heel faction, it’s actually perfect for the Page and Green characters. The biggest reason this fell into the Miss section is the way that Hendry comes off in NXT. The “say his name and he appears” gag is overused in NXT, and they haven’t even bothered to establish him as a credible wrestler. Hendry feels like a comedy wrestler in NXT, whereas TNA did a much better job of incorporating comedy elements while pushing him as a credible main event player.
El Grande Americano vs. Josh Briggs: I haven’t been crazy about the Americano character because it’s been a one-note joke. In this case, the match was given plenty of time, and Americano’s babyface ring work was fun and got over with the live crowd. So why is this a minor Miss? The weak distraction/interference combo finish involving Tavion Heights, Rayo, and Bravo was to protect Briggs, but when you lose more than you win, it comes off as just another loss, regardless of the circumstances. I really hoped that Briggs pinning Matt Cardona a few weeks ago was a turning point for his character, but they followed it up by having him lose his next television match to Americano.
(Jason Powell, founder and editor of ProWrestling.net, has covered pro wrestling full-time dating back to 1997. He hosts a weekly podcast, Pro Wrestling Boom, and also appears regularly on the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast. Reach him via email at dotnetjason@gmail.com and on social media via @prowrestlingnet.bsky.social or x.com/prowrestlingnet. For his full bio and information on this website, click here.)
I agree about Hendry.
He’s been booked like a clown in NXT.I suppose it’s by design?
I think that Hendry is being treated like this because officially he is still a TNA wrestler unless I missed something. It’s a running gag that I think HBK likes a lot (and let’s face it – it is funny, but not when it’s overdone). Once – as expected – he signs with TNA they’ll focus on the wrestling more. I’m not saying this is fair. I’m saying that it’s my view as to what it is. Good or bad.