SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
DIAMOND MINE (Roderick Strong & Damon Kemp) vs. PRETTY DEADLY
Last week, Roddy verbally cut down the Creed Brothers and he and Damon Kemp made a challenge to the NXT Tag Champs, Pretty Deadly, before the Creeds have their shot at the tag titles at In Your House. There seems to be a lot of dissention within Diamond Mine lately, and one wonders how much longer the stable is going to be… well, stable.
Pretty Deadly continues to impress, feeling like a polished product and a great breath of fresh air for the tag division. Very rarely is a tag team able to come into a new territory and make waves quite like this.
Damon Kemp, while far from the worst male performer on the roster, was easily out wrestled by every other man in the ring – though that’s to be expected with his experience in comparison to Strong and both members of Pretty Deadly. That said, he still managed to look like he belonged out there.
Pretty Deadly picked up the win after they attempted to hit Roddy with the tag titles. Julius Creed pulled Roddy out of the way and ate the belt himself. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough for Roddy to capitalize on, and he was found crying over “Spilled Milk”.
Verdict: HIT
ELEKTRA LOPEZ vs. CORA JADE
Cora Jade and Elektra Lopez have had some bad blood backstage over the past few weeks, culminating in this match tonight. A bit of a clunker, if I’m being honest. A botched arm drag and a seated dropkick that was so far from connecting, they may as well have been on opposite sides of the ring are just a couple examples.
I worry what may happen to Lopez when Legado del Fantasma eventually gets called up to the ring. While she has her character work down, her in-ring work, timing and ring psychology are all far from main roster ready.
Verdict: MISS
WES LEE vs. XYON QUINN
Last week, Lee was unable to topple the giant Sanga, but he won the respect of the big man. Sanga showed support for Wes Lee while Lee was being interviewed before this match. He pumped Lee up, and wished him luck. I thought this was a good development for Sanga, as he needs to be rebuilt to be perceived as anything but a lower card guy.
Quinn finally made it into the ring against Lee, and the match started explosively. Perhaps a bit too explosively, as they botched their first move after the bell. They managed to get things back on track fairly quickly, and it turned into an entertaining contest. Quinn was tossing Lee around like a ragdoll, and Lee was selling like his life depended on it.
I feel like Lee is trying his best and putting 110% into his performance since becoming a singles star. He’s been so used to tag wrestling over the years, you have to imagine this feels foreign to him. As far as I’m concerned, he’s succeeding. I never cared about MSK, something about them never clicked with me. However, I am getting into this underdog Wes Lee story. He lost to Sanga, he lost to Frazer. But when he scored the three count against Quinn after looking like he was down and out popped the crowd in a big way. It popped me in a big way.
Verdict: HIT
SOLO SIKOA vs. DUKE HUDSON
Earlier in the night, Solo Sikoa and Duke Hudson crossed paths backstage and they squabbled over who was next in line for the North American championship. Hudson challenged Sikoa to a match, leading us here.
This may have been the most offense that we’ve seen someone get on Sikoa. Duke Hudson was in control for a good chunk of the match. While I think it was a smart move this time, I don’t want to see someone manhandle Sikoa like this all the time. Hudson is physically larger and he’s also being pushed as a top guy on the brand. Well, top-ish guy. I think keeping him strong here will only help him down the line. Sikoa is over like rover and he can afford to take a bit of a beating right now if it means elevating someone else.
Sikoa wound up going over with a top rope splash, keeping him strong going into his North American Championship match against Grimes at In Your House.
Verdict: HIT
GREYSON WALLER vs. JOSH BRIGGS
Earlier in the night, Waller was talking smack about Fallon Henley backstage. Briggs snuck up from behind him and defended his girl, challenging to a match. During entrances, Waller grabbed a mic and said that having Brooks Jensen and Fallon Henley at ringside was unfair, and the ref made them go backstage.
With Brooks Jensen out of action for awhile with a broken arm, I’m glad that they’re telling the story of Briggs & Jensen rather than writing them off of TV until Jensen heals. While the country bumpkins didn’t win me over out of the gate, I do think they’ve come a long way and I look forward to their segments each week.
Sofia Cromwell and Mr. Stone made their way to the ring to watch the matchup. Von Wagner was close behind, clocking Waller behind the ref’s back and allowing Waller to pick up a quick win.
Wagner continued the assault on Briggs until Jensen made the save. Cromwell pulled her heavy back, and walked away. Von Wagner by himself, in my opinion, isn’t a credible threat as of yet. He needs some people around him to make him feel like a bigger deal. Adding Mr. Stone and Sofia Cromwell to the mix seems like an interesting direction and I’m very intrigued to see what this means for Wagner.
Verdict: HIT
IVY NILE vs KIANA JAMES
Kiana James and Ivy Nile had some words backstage when James said that the Creeds had a 12% chance of beating Pretty Deadly for the Tag Titles this Saturday at IYH. As most matches are made lately, this lead to a match later in the show.
Both women still have some work to do between the ropes, but this was a perfectly fine match. James is starting to impress, and Nile continues to do so. The crowd was solidly behind Ivy Nile, which is another feather in her cap.
Diamond Mine got a lot of TV time tonight. With so many individual stories forming for the group and the stipulation added by Roddy that if the Creeds lose to Pretty Deadly at IYH that they’re no longer part of Diamond Mine, it just adds credence to my theory that Diamond Mine won’t be around much longer.
Nile picked up a win and Pretty Deadly made their way to the ring immediately after the bell rang. They asked her what she was going to do when Diamond Mine “closes”. The Creeds came to back up Nile, and attacked Pretty Deadly. The Creeds held the tag titles high as the next segment aired.
To me, the fact that the Creeds got a visual “win” over Pretty Deadly tonight signals that they’ll be losing at IYH. Typical WWE booking.
Verdict: HIT
CAMERON GRIMES vs. NATHAN FRAZER
Nathan Frazer immediately won me over simply because he’s got a fantastic name. I mean, I’m not biased because we have the same name whatsoever… Okay, maybe a little bit. But my praise is not unfounded. He absolutely tears it up any time he’s in the ring. Frazer vs. Grimes was a main event that didn’t quite get me excited on paper. But then once I saw it in action, I was along for the ride. I knew it was going to be a good match, but there isn’t much of a story for the matchup. Story didn’t matter with the level of wrestling we saw. Grimes is one of the best in NXT, and Frazer just solidified himself as such in my mind tonight.
After Grimes’ win, Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes attacked, as they were ringside at commentary for the match. Grimes thwarted them off and they stared each other down to end the show. I feel like Hayes is just a bump in the road for Grimes’ North American championship at In Your House. Grimes could be a solid NA champion heading into the summer.
Verdict: HIT
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