By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
NXT Hits
Kendal Grey vs. Nattie for the NXT Women’s Championship: Beating Nattie should mean so much more than it does. It’s a damn shame that she’s been booked so poorly for so long. That said, it was still an enjoyable match despite the lack of drama regarding the outcome. The post-match scene with Grey’s potential challengers coming out and staring her down would have been fine had NXT not done this so many times over the years.
Reina Volcan: The former Nikki Blackheart looked the part during her debut at the end of the previous show. She followed that up with impressive mic work during a vignette on the latest episode. It’s early, but Volcan is already showing major upside potential.
Layla Diggs vs. Izzi Dame vs. Lizzy Rain vs. Thea Hail in a four-way for a shot at the NXT Women’s North American Championship: An enjoyable match. Like the tag match, I didn’t think they would go with a heel challenger for the heel champion, so that eliminated Dame. As much as I would like to see the creative team get Hail back on track, a win in this match probably would have led to her taking a clean loss to Zaria, so no complaints. Diggs is fairly new to NXT, so while she will probably lose to Zaria next week, she might gain something in defeat.
Keanu Carver vs. Tank Ledger: A soft Hit for a bounce-back win for Carver. I assume that Carver will face Hank Walker soon. Once that happens, here’s hoping that Carver moves on to working with singles wrestlers, and the fun Hank & Tank duo can be one of the teams chasing Brad Baylor and Ricky Smokes. Props to Vic Joseph, who did a good job of putting over Carver’s offense on commentary.
NXT Misses
Shiloh Hill vs. Niko Vance: Good work from both wrestlers, but the creative team’s infatuation with Hill’s missing tooth remains a turnoff. Hill actually lost the match because Tristan Angels came out and distracted him by stealing his fake tooth. Meanwhile, I always found Shawn Spears’ “10” gimmick to be one-note, but the live crowd reacted favorably to him, so perhaps there is an appetite for the nostalgia.
Sean Legacy and Dorian Van Dux vs. “OTM” Lucien Price and Bronco Nima vs. Uriah Connors and Channing Lorenzo vs. Osiris Griffin and Cutler James in a four-way for a shot at the NXT Tag Team Titles: A minor Miss. Good action and some impressive moments along the way, but it was asking a lot of these wrestlers to work a match where four wrestlers were legal at the same time. There was a little too much going on, which led to some clunky moments. It’s also worth noting that these matches may have benefited from some editing work since this was a taped show. There was no reason to think that one of the heel teams would go over to earn a shot at the heel tag team champions, so it was between OTM and the new team of Legacy and Van Dux. Price and Nima have been spinning their wheels for far too long, but I actually liked the call to go with the fresh faces. Legacy and Van Dux should mesh really well in the ring with Brad Baylor and Ricky Smokes when the two teams meet for the NXT Tag Team Titles next week.
(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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