By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
NXT Hits
Mason Rook vs. Tony D’Angelo vs. Saquon Shugars in a Triple Threat for a shot at the NXT Championship: Rook followed up his win in last week’s six-man tag main event by pinning a former NXT Champion to earn a title shot. I could have done without Tristan Angels costing Shugars the match. It was fine to use the match to create issues between Shugars and Angels, but it took something away from Rook’s win by showing that Shugars would have won had it not been for Angels pulling the referee to the floor. Nevertheless, they picked the right guy of the three to challenge Waller, assuming the title match will air on NXT television. Rook is more over than Shugars and fresher than D’Angelo. I don’t sense much fan interest in D’Angelo getting his rematch. Shugars is unique, and there’s a lot to like about him, but he hasn’t connected with the fans yet.
NXT Tag Team Champions Brad Baylor and Ricky Smokes vs. Cruz Montana and EK Prosper in a non-title match: Baylor and Smokes stealing wins in creative ways works for their characters. I wish someone had come up with a story to make this a title match since the champions were going over anyway.
Kali Armstrong vs. Lizzy Rain: A solid opening match. The live crowd lacked a real rooting interest, but the fans got more invested as the match went on. Rain is a babyface. Armstrong seems to be a heel, but her persona has not been well established. The in-ring reps are great, but Armstrong needs mic time and character development. It looks like Armstrong will be feuding with Skylar Raye, who ran out and attacked her after the match. They both need wins, so we’ll see how it goes.
Kelani Jordan, La Catalina, Zaria, and Thea Hail: In the middle. It started as an interesting segment with the NXT Women’s Champion and the Reina de Reinas Champion in the ring together. Zaria? Well, at least she’s a fellow champion. It became just another overcrowded segment involving the NXT women’s champions when Hail came out. Don’t get me wrong, I like Hail, but what started as an intriguing segment turned into an uneventful setup for a tag team match. If nothing else, this is one of the only segments of the night that didn’t overstay its welcome.
NXT Misses
Myles Borne apologizes to Tavion Heights: Some NXT wrestlers don’t get enough mic time, while others are given too much dialogue. You could literally see a growing number of fans in the live crowd lose interest as the segment went on. Heights’ acting got better as the segment went on, but he and Borne took a long road to get the expected outcome of Borne turning on Heights… again. The outcome was so predictable that I actually hoped Borne would sincerely apologize and they’d reunite, simply because it would have been something different. Rather, Borne turned on Heights, who came out of this looking like an imbecile for believing his partner when no one else did.
Shiloh Hill: Why could we see Hill’s acid trip hallucinations? Listening to Hill explain the chemical makeup of Naraku’s mist brought back terrible memories of Qui-Gon Jinn’s speech about midi-chlorians.
Osiris Griffin and Cutler James vs. Sean Legacy and Dorian Van Dux: A good match that became a minor Miss due to the lousy Dion Lennox interference finish to help his DarkState allies win. DarkState is cold, but the BirthRight faction is even colder, and yet they are suddenly being pushed. At least they are trying some new things with BirthRight. The only thing that’s changed with DarkState since Saquon Shugars left the group is that James’s hair is in the awkward stage as he grows his hair out.
Kendal Grey: A sports psychologist for phantom concussion issues? Ugh. To close on a positive note, the trainer who made the recommendation to Grey was believable in her role.
(Jason Powell, founder and editor of ProWrestling.net, has covered pro wrestling full-time since 1997. He hosts the 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.)
Mason Rook is a sort of athletic Peter Griffin.