Powell’s NXT Hit List: Roxanne Perez vs. Chelsea Green for the NXT Women’s Championship, Wes Lee vs. Josh Briggs, Karmen Petrovic vs. Shayna Baszler, Michin vs. Arianna Grace

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

NXT Hits

Wes Lee vs. Josh Briggs: Lee looked good in his return from a long injury layoff. The match was laid out logically with Briggs using his size and power while targeting the surgically repaired back of Lee. The involvement of Ivar gave Briggs a bit of an out for losing while also setting up what appears to be a four-way with all three men challenging Oba Femi for the NXT North American Championship.

Roxanne Perez vs. Chelsea Green for the NXT Women’s Championship: A bit of an oddball match with two heels. Main roster talent who return to NXT are typically cheered, so it worked out even if there was no real mystery regarding the outcome.

Shayna Baszler vs. Karmen Petrovic: A solid match. It’s nice to see Baszler back in NXT where she actually gets to win matches. As the veteran in developmental, one can only assume that Baszler will eventually put over one of the younger wrestlers and that’s cool, but it’s good to see her showcased in the meantime.

Michin vs. Arianna Grace: A soft Hit for a brief match. Grace is a work in progress in the ring. As much as her beauty pageant character feels like a sports entertainment throwback, she plays the party very well. Grace could be a player on the main roster someday and working with veterans like Michin can only help with her progress.

Lexis King vs. Duke Hudson: A soft Hit for King picking up an opportunistic win. Ridge Holland is a jinxed loser. We get it. Are we any closer to wherever this is drawn out story is going?

NXT Misses

Super Nova Sessions with guest Trick Williams: We never found out what Baby Doll had in the envelope that she blackmailed Dusty Rhodes with back in the day. And after watching Lash Legend reveal that her envelope contained merely a photo of Dar’s foot under the rope when he was pinned by Williams, perhaps it would have been better if the contents of her envelope had also remained a permanent mystery.

Fallon Henley vs. Kelani Jordan: I’m high on both wrestlers, but this was a rough match that overstayed its welcome. Henley still screams way too much during her matches.

NXT Combine: I am an NFL fanatic and even I can’t suffer through the annual NFL Scouting Combine for more than five minutes. These brief clips of the wrestlers performing various feats in the gym did nothing for me. On the bright side, they explained how they selected the 12 wrestlers who will meet in qualifying matches for the ladder match that will crown the first NXT Women’s North American Champion. But why are the qualifying matches random? Why not list the top 12 and then have the highest ranked wrestler face the lowest ranked wrestler and so on?

Tyson DuPont and Tyrek Igwe vs. Myles Borne and Charlie Dempsey: A clunky tag match, which is not all that surprising given the experience level of most of the wrestlers involved. The story of Tony D’Angelo’s crew making the referee disappear and inserting Stacks to screw over No Quarter Catch Crew because they owe him money was silly and yet it goes with the territory.