By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
NXT Hits
Keanu Carver: There’s a realness to Carver’s mic work that makes him special. While most wrestlers, especially at the developmental level, come off like they flip a switch when the camera light is on, Carver makes it feel like he’s the same guy whether the camera is on or off. It was interesting to hear him talk about wrestling for the money because he has a family to feed. It sounded too noble coming from a heel character, but Booker T starting afterward that he may have misjudged Carver seemed to indicate that Carver might be changing course. Emily Agard made an interesting debut by attempting to interview Carver outside the building. She had the cameraman put the camera down, but eventually indicated that she was fully aware that the cameraman tried to pull a fast one by leaving the camera on, and even picked up the portion of the conversation that she claimed would be off-record. It was a nice touch to have Carver call them out on it to establish his savviness. While I’m intrigued by the idea of Agard playing a manipulative and thirsty broadcast journalist, we’ll see if this was just a one-off. WWE officials typically frown upon the interviewers showing a lot of personality because they don’t want them to outshine the wrestlers. Hopefully, Agard is an exception.
NXT Champion Tony D’Angelo vs. Tavion Heights in a non-title match: I’m surprised they rushed to this match rather than have D’Angelo beat Kam Hendrix, but perhaps the plan is for Heights to turn on Myles Borne. Either way, it was disappointing that Heights didn’t take his new look a step further by doing away with the uneven sleeves and pantlegs. Nevertheless, D’Angelo and Heights worked well together and produced a quality match. The distraction finish was weak, but it will be understandable if the idea is for Heights to blame Myles Borne for costing him the match even though Borne was trying to help him by performing a flip dive onto Hendrix. The post-match attack by Mason Rook (a/k/a Will Kroos) was brief, yet impactful. The presentation of Rook has been unique in that Vic Joseph continued to act like he has no idea who he is after questioning last week whether he was a fan.
Kali Armstrong vs. Jaida Parker: It appears that Parker is more over with the fans than the NXT decision-makers. Her push has been inconsistent, but she still has enough credibility with fans that this felt like a quality win for Armstrong. Perhaps there’s light at the end of the tunnel for Parker despite this loss. It seemed like they went out of their way to show her sitting in a corner of the ring looking frustrated by her latest loss. The focus is often exclusively on the winner, so it seemed like they were telling a story with Parker. She eventually threw a fit in her dressing room, only to have Nattie show up and say Parker’s gone soft.
Naraku video: Evil followed up his NXT debut with a good promo video that included his new WWE name. Although several people are targeting NXT Champion Tony D’Angelo, it looks like the plan is to build up Naraku as his top contender.
AAA Mixed Tag Team Champions Mr. Iguana and Lola Vice vs. Niko Vance and Izzi Dame in a non-title match: I couldn’t care less about the AAA Mixed Tag Team Titles, but this was a good mixed tag match. More importantly, the match was used to give Dame a pinfall victory over Vice to set up a future NXT Women’s Championship match.
Jackson Drake vs. Jasper Troy: A soft Hit. Troy had a good outing before a rough ending. He powered up Brad Baylor on the floor and then failed to toss him over the ropes. Myka Lockwood showed up and bodyslammed Troy on the floor, which led to Drake hitting a 450 splash and pinning him. It was a nice way to introduce Lockwood as part of the Vanity Project act, but it didn’t do Troy any favors. Hey, maybe Nattie can pop up in the men’s locker room and say Troy has gone soft. Anyway, call me old school, but it seemed odd for heel Drake to perform so many crowd-pleasing moves, including the 450 splash to win the match. Putting that aside, Drake has the tools to become a big player on the main roster.
NXT Misses
Osiris Griffin and Cutler James vs. Hank Walker and Tank Ledger: Good work from all four wrestlers. I was a bit surprised to see the heels go over. It seemed like an opportunity to give Hank and Tank a win, but they used the match to have Vic Joseph claim that DarkState was unified after weeks of bickering. The minor Miss is because that’s not an accurate description. Dion Lennox and Saquon Shugars have been arguing for weeks, while Griffin and James stood by. In fact, Lennox shot an angry look at Shugars, who was jawing at him while they should have been celebrating with Griffin and James.
(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.)
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