By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
NXT Hits
Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams final face-off: The highlight of the night. Hayes has been playing a bit of a chickenshit heel throughout the build to this match. Although he was still flanked by his personal security, he came out swinging on the mic and showed the type of confidence that makes the Stand & Deliver main event feel like a showdown match as opposed to it being all about Williams getting revenge. Williams definitely held up his end, but Hayes shined during the go-home segment.
Nathan Frazer and Axiom vs. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson vs. Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro for a shot at the NXT Tag Team Titles at Stand & Deliver: Frazer and Axiom picked up some momentum coming into this match, so it felt like the right call to have them go over. Frazer and Axiom challenging Bron Breakker and Baron Corbin at Stand & Deliver looks good on paper.
Supernova Sessions with Lyra Valkyria and Roxanne Perez: I was concerned that this would end up featuring too much Noam Dar comedy, but he was good about sitting back and letting the guests be the stars as they set the table for the NXT Women’s Title match.
Lexis King vs. Von Wagner: An upset win for King. It seemed like the creative forces had cooled on King not all that long ago, but this clean win over Wagner suggests otherwise. That said, the story was that Wagner wasn’t the same without Mr. Stone, so it won’t be surprising if Wagner gets his win back once Stone returns. It wasn’t the smoothest match, but it felt like an upset, which broke up the monotony of seeing matches with predictable outcomes.
Lola Vice vs. Karmen Petrovic: A soft Hit for a solid developmental match. Both wrestlers have shown upside potential and it was good to see Vice get a bounce back win after she took a clean loss to Natalya last week. It looks like there’s more to come between Vice and Natalya given the way that Vice won this match by taunting Natalya while using her Sharpshooter as a finisher. Vice has a swagger that makes her easy to dislike as a heel, whereas I’m still not sure who the Petrovic character is.
Ariana Grace vs. Wren Sinclair: A soft Hit for a decent match with Sinclair playing the role of plucky underdog only to have Grace steal the pin while holding the ropes for leverage. The best part about the finish was that it was done in a way that didn’t make the referee look incompetent for not seeing what Grace did. It may seem like a little thing, but Grace ditching the Miss NXT sash was a positive. There’s just something about the beauty pageant aspect of the character that makes it feel campy and fake.
NXT Misses
NXT North American Champion Oba Femi vs. Joe Gacy in a non-title match: The match was stopped due to an injury scare, so this isn’t a Hit or a Miss. If anything, the referee deserves a Hit for taking command of the situation and firmly telling Femi to back off once the recognized that something was wrong with Gacy. The referee wisely called off the match moments later. Fortunately, Gacy was able to take part in a backstage segment and his Stand & Deliver match was made official.
Tony D’Angelo and Ilja Dragunov: The cinematic approach and the general idea that D’Angelo is a mob boss who wrestles are not my style. On the bright side, the cinematic videos are well produced and D’Angelo plays his role so well that the segments don’t come off nearly as corny as they could. The build hasn’t done much for me and yet I am still looking forward to seeing what type of match these two will produce on Saturday.
Jacy Jayne vs. Fallon Henley: A brief match with a weak distraction finish, but at least it served a purpose in terms of setting up the six-woman tag match for Stand & Deliver.
Blair Davenport vs. Sol Ruca: Ruca’s athleticism leads to some impressive moments during her matches. But she also has rough moments such as when the dropkick she threw clearly missed. Ruca has major upside and simply needs more reps. Meanwhile, Davenport has a good look and yet I don’t feel like she has any defining traits as a character.
Be the first to comment