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PETE DUNNE vs TONY D’ANGELO – WEAPONIZED STEEL CAGE
Kendo sticks, trash cans and chairs. Oh my!
Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
The cage was adorned with weapons galore, hanging from the cage walls. Tony D’Angelo has been booked to look like a bit of a fool the last couple of weeks, with Pete Dunne outsmarting his attacks. Simply because of the lopsided booking, I expected D’Angelo to walk away victorious tonight. They’ve pushed him too strongly since his debut, with the exception of the last couple weeks of course. He’s also a member of the 2.0 class, and we all know that NXT is strongly pushing these new talents.
D’Angelo zip-tied Dunne’s hands together mid-match, a brilliant move to thwart any opponent. But this feud has been focused around Dunne trying to break D’Angelo’s fingers, I felt like this spot nicely tied in to the feud’s overall theme.
This match pleasantly surprised me. A few years ago, WWE tried a version of the weaponized cage match with the Ambrose Asylum, Dean Ambrose(Jon Moxley) vs. Chris Jericho. The Ambrose Asylum was a disappointment, though it did have a few good moments. D’Angelo and Dunne put on a great performance, though the finish was not what I expected. Pete Dunne walked away victorious. While I’m always in favor of a Dunne victory, I feel like D’Angelo should have won his first major feud with a top tier NXT star. I’m curious to see what this means for D’Angelo. Does this define him down the card, or do they book him to get angrier and more intense after losing a match he feels he should have won?
Verdict: HIT
TOXIC ATTRACTION vs. INDI HARTWELL & PERSIA PIROTTA – NXT WOMEN’S TAG CHAMPIONSHIPSS
Toxic Attraction kicked this match off by jumping their challengers to try and get an upper hand early on. Mandy Rose also tried inserting herself into the match, getting kicked out of the arena by the referee before we were even three minutes in. Without Mandy ringside, Indi and Persia’s odds of winning certainly seemed to increase.
The Women’s Tag division has felt like a bit of an afterthought since the inception of the Women’s Tag Titles. Toxic Attraction have probably been the most protected tag team to hold these titles, always being booked strongly. However, there hasn’t been another tag team that’s seemed like they’ve even come close to being serious contenders for the titles. Indi Hartwell and Persia Pirotta haven’t had a heck of a lot of TV time, but it’s been more than virtually any other women’s tag team. They’re the only ones where an argument could have been made for them to be in this match, which is a sad glimpse into the state of the Women’s Tag division. That’s not a knock on Persia or Indi, but the company has not positioned anyone to feel like credible contenders. When Toxic Attraction retained, it was hardly shocking.
Verdict: MISS
LA KNIGHT vs. FLORIDA POLICE DEPARTMENT w/Greyson Waller
Weeks ago, Greyson Waller took out a restraining order against LA Knight and looked to have him arrested after breaking the restraining order last week. In reality, Waller attacked Knight first and Waller protected himself. Knight then showed the officers that Waller attacked him two weeks ago from behind, which also broke the restraining order.
The Police immediately backed down and walked out of the ring, leaving Waller alone with Knight. Knight destroyed Waller and sent him packing. He challenged Waller to a match next week.
I’m surprised that they didn’t try to have the match tonight during Vengeance Day, but I am looking forward to seeing it nonetheless. They’ve done a great job building it up, and it’ll be good to see the annoying Waller get his comeuppance.
Verdict: HIT
CAMERON GRIMES vs. CARMELO HAYES – NXT NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP
For the first time in recent memory, a Cameron Grimes matchup was not one of my more anticipated of the card. Cameron Grimes and Carmelo Hayes haven’t done the greatest job in making this matchup feel important. The way that this has been booked up to the match, the focus has been on Hayes and less so on Grimes, almost foreshadowing a Hayes retention.
The match was entertaining enough, as I’m convinced neither man is capable of having a subpar match at this point in their careers. But I was finding it hard to get invested in it, simply because of the subpar booking.
I can’t help but give this a split decision. The match did not warrant a miss by any stretch of the imagination, but nearly everything leading up to it certainly did.
Verdict: 50-50
MSK vs. CREED BROTHERS – DUSTY CLASSIC FINALS
Two years in a row, MSK made it into the finals of the Dusty Classic. In the other corner, the new hoss tag team of Julius and Brutus Creed. The Creed brothers have been booked to be the most dominant part of the Diamond Mine faction, destroying everything in their path. MSK had their work cut out for them in this match.
I’ve talked about it both here in this column as well as on PWT Talks NXT, but MSK is not a team that’s resonated with me so far. I feel like they check all of the boxes for a team I’d get behind, but something about this team just hasn’t clicked for me. That’s why I was rather surprised that I got into this match as much as I did.
MSK and the Creeds seem to have great chemistry together, with MSK bumping like crazy for the brutal newcomers. MSK did get some offense in, but largely they were bump machines for the new 2022 Dusty Cup Winners.
Verdict: HIT
BRON BREAKKER vs. SANTOS ESCOBAR (w/Legado del Fantasma) – NXT CHAMPIONSHIP
The first title defense for Bron Breakker saw him take on Santos Escobar, leader of Legado del Fantasma. Last week, we saw Tommaso Ciampa and Dolph Ziggler also make a claim to the NXT Championship, both challenging Bron Breakker and glossing over tonight’s challenger. That looked to be foreshadowing for the outcome of this match, as Bron Breakker vs. Ciampa or Ziggler certainly appeals to the NXT brass instead of Escobar taking Breakker’s place.
Breakker was on the offensive for the majority of the first half of the match, only losing his momentum after Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde distracted Breakker, allowing Escobar to get in a sneak attack. Just as it looked like Breakker was about to make his comeback, Dolph Ziggler ran in and superkicked Breakker while the ref was distracted. Breakker still kicked out when pinned, leading Tommaso Ciampa to the ring to deal with Ziggler.
Breakker wound up hitting a spear on Escobar and then Press Slammed him for the win.
I’m a little torn on this finish. The correct person won the match, but I feel like all the interference made his win feel a little bit underwhelming. Now that this is a show that’s booked more closely like the main roster, I’m not surprised at the chaotic end to this match. Yes, it did get all four men involved in the title picture involved in this segment. But, I feel like there has to have been a better way to book it that made Breakker feel stronger than he does after this particular finish. It’s mostly a nitpick, because the finish was certainly passable. I just feel like it could have been a little bit better.
Verdict: HIT
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