By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
NXT Hits
Oba Femi vs. TNA X Division Champion Leon Slater for the NXT Championship: An enjoyable main event. Although I never bought into the possibility of Slater going over, the near falls were well executed. Oba leaving the championship belt in the middle of the ring at the end of the show was a nice cliffhanger for next week. It appears he relinquished the title rather than lose it before heading to the main roster. If so, I’d like to see a tournament to crown the new champion. A 16-man tournament would be ideal, but an eight-man tournament is a more realistic expectation. Either way, it would give NXT multiple weeks of meaningful television, as opposed to a one-night spike in interest for a ladder match or another single match to determine the new champion.
Jacy Jayne vs. Evolve Women’s Champion Kendal Grey for the NXT Women’s Championship: The finish was lousy, but it wasn’t enough to ruin the overall match. The wrestlers did a great job of making the live crowd (and presumably fans at home) believe that Grey was on the verge of winning the title, and she gained something in defeat. If the creative forces do it right, they should be able to generate interest in a rematch. The annoying part of the finish was that the interference was so blatant. It would have been fine if Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid helped Jayne retain her title, but the referee literally watched Henley hold Jayne’s tights to save her from Grey’s finisher. I can live with the idea that referees give more leeway during championship matches, especially to avoid disqualifying a champion to help them keep their title. But it’s ridiculous for a referee to watch someone interfere, yet still count the pin for the person who benefited from it, rather than disqualify them.
Tatum Paxley vs. Izzi Dame: A soft Hit or a well-worked match that was arguably Dame’s best televised bout to date. But more on both wrestlers in the section below.
NXT Misses
Tatum Paxley: Sadly, Paxley running around with a chainsaw wasn’t a one-time thing. I didn’t think it could get any worse than watching her act like a child while playing with dolls, but the chainsaw is even more absurd.
Thea Hail vs. Izzi Dame for the NXT Women’s North American Championship: The creative forces haven’t been able to get Dame over, and now it feels like they are forcing it by booking her to win this championship. This didn’t come off well in the moment, and the live crowd was flat for the title change (well, except for one overly excited guy who made the camera shot). That said, this could still work out in the long run if Dame rises to the occasion as the new champion. The first thing her character should do as champion is ditch the dead weight by leaving The Culling. There’s a place for Shawn Spears and Niko Vance in NXT, but it works against Dame to be part of an undercard faction with no storyline purpose or direction.
Ethan Page’s segment with his potential challengers for the NXT North American Championship: Page’s name might be the one listed in bold, but he was the only thing good about this contrived series of entrances and mostly bad promos. Even the brawl that broke out looked overly choreographed. By the way, why wasn’t Page one of the main roster call-ups?
Elio Lefleur vignette: I hope the White Eagle thrives in NXT, but the folks in charge have to know this came off like an introductory vignette for El Frenchie Americano. Okay, so technically it would be Le Grand Americain, but the point stands.
(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 Jason!
A terrible finish to Jane/Grey.If it wasn’t scripted which of course it is that ref should’ve never made the count and should’ve thrown out Henley.
I rather liked the vignette to the French Luchadore. Had El Generico vibes and that fella has had a decent career
I’m going to defend the Izzi Dame/Thea Hail match, because the hands of the bookers were forced by the unplanned finish and in hindsight rightly looking to punish both Thea and Blake. Thea for the botched trust fall and Blake for not having the wherewithal to get her shoulder up. Not disagreeing with your up front reaction to what was on TV, Jason, but I prefer to look beyond just that. No offence.
They missed a golden opportunity. If they had announced that Oba Femi had signed with Smackdown or Raw beforehand (and they could have done it without announcing which one), there would have been more people buying into the possibility of Leon Slater winning.