SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
This week’s episode of NXT 2.0 has wrapped. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane and relive some of the madness.
-Solo Sikoa and Cameron Grimes really brought it in their opening North American Championship match. Smooth, but aggressive work that looked like a fight. Grimes is becoming one of those guys that can have a great match with anybody.
-The booking, though? That’s where I have some questions. As a babyface, Grimes winning the match the way he did – essentially with the help of the heels he’s feuding with – doesn’t paint him in the greatest light. If you need that kind of escape hatch to protect both Grimes and Sikoa, just don’t do the match, as good as it may have been.
-Bron Breakker needs to take the cookie cut performance out of his entrance when he’s tell an emotional story. After his father getting abducted last week, he needed to hone in on that feeling with his facial expressions and body language to drive that narrative forward.
-Joe Gacy as a NXT Championship contender? Sorry, don’t see it. Even if the endgame is Harland, I still don’t see it. Their act is too corny and nothing showcased that more than Gacy’s silly attempt at a maniacal laugh as he tossed Rick Steiner’s Hall of Fame ring into the fire.
-Von Wagner continues to be a miss. A personality and charisma behind it don’t exist. He’ll likely get opportunities because he is big, but at this point, I’ll take Omos all day long.
-Pretty Deadly have something and their backstage vignette showcased the personality of the act really well. For better or worse, they have a place in NXT 2.0 and likely the main roster.
-A good little match between Dakota Kai and Mandy Rose. Especially given the fact that drama was hard to come by out of the gate with the outcome a virtual certainty.
-Wendy Choo and squirt guns don’t belong near the NXT Women’s Championship. Sorry, still not buying the act.
-A tale of two promos for Cora Jade. The mission statement, “I’m going to win the championship” part? Excellent. The star struck fangirl part? No. Just no. Jade needs to find a way to be taken seriously and lovingly looking at your idle like a five-year-old doesn’t help find it. The heel turn by Natalya was fine and it’s a decent program for Jade to be in as long as she plays it the right way.
-Nathan Frazer (Ben Carter) was a hot free agent and has been hidden away in NXT UK for far too long. Good to see that he’ll get his shot on the main NXT 2.0 brand.
-Xyon Quinn has a presence about it him, but that’s about it at this point. Lots of development is still needed.
-The NXT Tag Team Championship Gauntlet Match was fine and worked to get over the right talent, but was completely predictable. Not a knock, but a fact. Sometimes predictability is necessary and, in this case, it was.
CATCH-UP: HEYDORN’S RAW RECEIPT 4/11: RK-Bro vs. The Usos teased to genuine intrigue from the live audience
Umm,where’s the part about Natalya’s turn?? It was the major part of your headline for Christ’s sake! Plus she’s been heel for years! No newz there.