Powell’s NXT Hit List: Spring Breakin’ Night Two with Lola Vice vs. Natalya in an NXT Underground match, Oba Femi vs. Ivar for the NXT North American Title

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

NXT Hits

Oba Femi vs. Ivar for the NXT North American Championship: There were some clunky moments, but this was still a pretty entertaining big man battle. NXT has done a nice job of humanizing Ivar by showing his interactions with other wrestlers in the backstage area, which is a nice change from him being presented as a one-dimensional grunting viking on Raw. The surprise return of Wes Lee after the match was a cool moment, and I like that Lee immediately expressed his desire to regain the North American Championship.

Axiom and Nathan Frazer vs. “AOP” Akam and Rezar for the NXT Tag Titles: An enjoyable match despite the cheap finish with Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate showing up to help Axiom and Frazer win. There were too many cheap finishes on this show, but the interference served a purpose in this case in that it was meant to protect the monster tag team.

Trick Williams and Lash Legend: Holy shit, it’s a new version of Baby Doll blackmailing Dusty Rhodes with a mystery envelope. Hopefully we actually get a payoff to the NXT version, as the original angle never did because Baby Doll was fired shortly after they started it. I have no idea where things are going with Williams and Legend, but I’m intrigued by the throwback angle. Hopefully it will somehow lead to Meta-Four being a more serious faction.

Thea Hail vs. Jacy Jayne: The match was fine, though it was another match that ended due to outside interference. The post match angle was more intriguing, as I didn’t see Fallon Henley’s heel turn coming. Actually, I didn’t even see Henley’s heel turn until this morning because there was a glitch just as she was about to hit Hail (apparently weather related on my end). The turn left me with mixed feelings. While I’m all for NXT doing more with Henley, she has been one of the most consistently likable wrestlers in the women’s division and it feels like they could have told a story with her climbing the ladder and finally winning the NXT Women’s Championship. But Henley has made a lot of campy material work, so I am looking forward to seeing how she does as a heel.

Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson vs. Tyson Dupont and Tyriek Igwe: The newcomers were given a good amount of offense before the veterans went over clean in the end.

NXT Misses

Lola Vice vs. Natalya in an NXT Underground match: A soft Miss. I get the idea of boosting the gimmick match and perhaps making life easier on the production crew by putting the no ropes match on last, but it still felt out of place in the main event slot. Vice just hasn’t done enough in NXT to feel main event worthy. And while it was good to see her go over, the distraction finish made the victory feel cheap as opposed to being a star making moment. Perhaps the finish wouldn’t have been so frustrating had this match not been preceded by interference or distraction finishes in other matches. The lighting was also a mess. I appreciate the effort to give the Underground match a unique look, there were too many times when the action spilled over to ringside and it was tough to follow due to how dark that area was.

Ridge Holland vs. Shawn Spears: The quiet reaction to this match from the otherwise lively crowd was telling. Spears has done so many jobs in NXT already that it doesn’t give much of a boost to the wrestlers who beat him. Meanwhile, Holland’s struggles to connect with the audience continue.