By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
NXT Hits
New NXT Women’s Champion Kendal Grey’s promo: Grey won the championship on Sunday and then delivered her best promo to date on Tuesday. She was confident without coming off as cocky about her in-ring skills. She came off as down-to-earth while talking about being nervous, and when she mentioned that she wipes off most of the makeup they put on her face before she comes to the ring. Grey was relatable, likable, and marketable, as she comes off like the type of female athlete that parents would want their kids to look up to. Well, aside from the weird issue she has with inhaling cake. Seriously, why is that a thing?
Kelani Jordan vs. Tatum Paxley: A solid replacement main event for the AAA Latin American Championship match that was pulled due to El Hijo del Vikingo’s injury (which NXT officials really should have announced once they knew Vikingo couldn’t wrestle as advertised). Paxley’s parade of jobs continues before she heads to the main roster. It’s always a little strange when NXT wrestlers lose a bunch of matches and then move to the main roster, but it’s the modern-day equivalent of doing good business before leaving a territory. The difference is that when wrestlers debuted in a new territory, the vast majority of the fans had no clue what happened in the wrestler’s previous territory. But I still think it’s the right thing to do for NXT, and the main roster fans are often so excited about a wrestler being called up to care about how many matches they lost on their way out of NXT.
Jackson Drake vs. Mason Rook: A fun match with Rook holding his own despite having to wrestle Drake while contending with the other Vanity Project members at ringside. The match was laid out so that Rook put up a good fight before the numbers advantage got the better of him, which gave him an out for losing. Drake is special at age 22, so I can’t imagine how good he’ll be five years from now.
Brad Baylor and Ricky Smokes vs. El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. and Galeno for the NXT Tag Team Titles: The Vanity Project carried the bulk of the first hour of the show with this good tag title defense and then the Drake vs. Rook match. It was encouraging to hear Robert Stone say the tag team titles should be defended more often. Baylor and Smokes are a great young team for the babyface teams to chase.
NXT Champion Tony D’Angelo’s promo: You had to know something was up when his promo was short and sweet. So while it was a little awkward to have Kendal Grey’s entrance music interrupt D’Angelo’s theme as he was making his exit, it was actually a nice distraction before Naraku’s attack. I also liked the way they used what looked like backstage security camera footage to show that Naraku sprayed mist in D’Angelo’s eye (the other eye was covered) before they entered the studio.
Jaida Parker vs. Karmen Petrovic: A soft Hit for Parker bouncing back after losing her last television match to Nattie. It was interesting that Layla Diggs hesitated and didn’t take a cheap shot at Parker while her Nikkita Lyons was holding her at ringside. Are they working toward Parker and Diggs joining forces?
NXT Misses
The “Who?” heard around the world: A wrestler who had never been on WWE television before entered the ring and attacked Kendal Grey at the end of the show. Rather than identify the wrestler or even act unfamiliar with her, this is how Vic Joseph called it: “Booker, we all know who that is. That is one of the most talked-about women in the industry today, destroying Tatum Paxley. NXT is getting stronger and badder with her arrival. NXT Universe doesn’t like what they see, but for the women’s division, what force of nature or what act of God is going to stop this woman in NXT?” Are you kidding me? Obviously, Joseph is just following orders. I look forward to seeing how Reina Volcan (f/k/a Nikki Blackheart) does in NXT, but I would love to hear the logic behind having Joseph act like she’s a household name. What a strange way to end the show.
EK Prosper vs. Keanu Carver: There’s a lot to like about Prosper, but the Miss is for Carver taking another loss. Sure, he was protected to some extent by Tank Ledger’s interference, but it’s still back-to-back television losses for a guy who should be pushed as a dominant badass. Rather, he’s lost back-to-back matches to Prosper and is apparently now feuding with a tag team. If they don’t think Carver is ready, then have him work Evolve and live event matches until he is.
(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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