SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
LEGAGO DEL FANTASMA vs. TONY D’ANGELO, STACKS & TWO DIMES
Losers joins the other faction, that was the stipulation going into this six man tag tonight. Santos Escobar and Tony D’Angelo are both extremely cocky and headstrong. It’s difficult to even imagine one of them bowing down to the other.
Legado del Fantasma were the fan favorites coming into this matchup, though both stables have been booked to be heels. The ability and tenure of Legado made them easier for the NXT audience to latch onto, organically turning them face.
For a man who seems to be on quite the trajectory in the WWE system, Tony D’Angelo seemed to be the least talented in the ring tonight. His two lackeys, Stacks and Two Dimes, have impressed me every time they’re in the ring. They’ve have clean and crisp offense, I just wish I knew who was who. NXT hasn’t done them any favors in terms of story development to give the audience a chance to latch on to them.
Rarely is a “this is awesome chant” warranted during a match when the chant breaks out. This is one of the rare matches where I agreed with the crowd’s favorite chant. This was a solid six man tag, and a great way to open the show.
Ultimately, Legado lost due to a crowbar shot. Where this match was won by shenanigans, I almost expect Legado del Fantasma to push back and try to break away from D’Angelo’s faction rather than join them. However, if not, I could see this making for some interesting TV.
Verdict: HIT
TOXIC ATTRACTION vs. KATANA CHANCE & KAYDEN CARTER – NXT WOMENS TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
With the exception of a brief loss to Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez before they both left NXT, Toxic Attraction has held the NXT Tag Titles for more than 6 months. Unfortunately, they haven’t really had a plethora of tag teams to defend the titles against. In my mind, this was one of the first matches since Gonzalez & Kai where Jane & Dolan’s titles felt like they were in jeopardy.
Carter & Chance have been a tag team for a couple years at this point, but only recently have they started to feel like a team to take seriously. I’ve been in the camp of Chance and Carter for quite awhile, and they’ve come a long way from when they first teamed together. They both seem much more comfortable in the ring, and their mic skills have improved dramatically.
I think this match should have come a bit later on in the show to give us a little bit of a break from tag team wresting. The opening six-man was so good, it made it very hard to follow with another tag match. While all four of these women have improved in the ring, they aren’t nearly on the level of Tony D’Angelo and his stable, nor Legado del Fantasma. The crowd was visibly less into this matchup than the opener as well.
Toxic Attraction retained their titles, but Carter & Chance put up a hell of a fight. I’d like to see them get their time in the spotlight eventually, but that time was not tonight.
Verdict: Lukewarm HIT
CARMELO HAYES vs. CAMERON GRIMES – NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP
My most anticipated match of the night saw Cameron Grimes defend his North American Championship against former NA Champion, Carmelo Hayes. These two men are two of the most polished in all of NXT, both in the ring and on the mic, and they put on a hell of a match for the strap.
I’ve been so impressed with Carmelo Hayes over the last year. When he debuted nearly a year ago for the Breakout Tournament, I really enjoyed his ring style but he had absolutely no gimmick. He seemed like a create-a-wrestler. In a year, he’s become one of the best characters NXT has to offer.
Easily match of the night, though I didn’t expect any less out of these two. High impact moves, false finishes galore. Plenty of drama and storytelling. I genuinely did not see Hayes coming out victorious here tonight. Where Cameron Grimes and Solo Sikoa have had a few interactions alluding to a North American title match between them, I figured Hayes was going to just be a bump in the road from Grimes.
Verdict: HIT
MANDY ROSE vs. WENDY CHOO – NXT WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Welp. I never thought Wendy Choo would wind up in a Women’s title match. Heck, I’ve gone on record both here in this column and on PWT Talks NXT on many occasions to share my distaste for Choo’s character. I love the woman behind the character, Karen Q is a hell of a talent. But this sleepy, juvenile character does not belong within 20 feet of the Women’s Championship.
Mandy Rose may not be the best wrestler to lace a pair of boots, but she’s been a relatively strong champion. I felt as if her time on top wasn’t over yet, and that Dolan and Jane’s win earlier in the night may have meant that she would wind up retaining tonight. I could see a lot of jealousy from Rose if her two lackeys held gold while she lost hers. Ultimately, Rose retained which I think was, hands down, the correct decision.
The match itself was admittedly a bit better than I expected, it was a solid match with the audience invested mostly every step of the way.
Verdict: Lukewarm HIT
CREED BROTHERS vs. PRETTY DEADLY – NXT TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
If the Creeds lose the match tonight, they’ll be kicked out of Diamond Mine. When they made their entrance tonight, they came out wearing bright yellow singlets rather than the grey/blue Diamond Mine colors. To me, that was foreshadowing for a loss, showing that they already consider themselves on their own.
Pretty Deadly also still feels fresh. They just recently came to the US from NXT UK and have been so refreshing in the tag division. Losing the titles at this stage felt like it would have killed their momentum. More reasons that I felt like Pretty Deadly would retain.
Off topic, someone said to me that Pretty Deadly looks like they’re villains straight out of the Final Fantasy universe, and I can’t unsee it. The half shirts could easily fit into FFX.
I think the six-man opener was just a bit better than this match, but not by much. The Creed’s brutal style mixed with Pretty Deadly’s cockiness and more agile in-ring style made for a very entertaining contest.
I didn’t see the finish coming, I really thought we’d see the Creeds lose and leave Diamond Mine. However, now that they have gold and Roderick Strong does not, I can almost see them kicking Roddy out of the group, or Roddy leaving on his own accord. There has been too much dissension between all the members of Diamond Mine, I can’t see the stable lasting much longer.
Verdict: HIT
BRON BREAKKER vs. JOE GACY – NXT CHAMPIONSHIP
For weeks now, Joe Gacy has been playing mind games with Bron Breakker leading up to this match. Breakker can be a bit predictable with his temper, and Gacy made the stipulation that if Breakker gets DQ’d in the match, he will lose the title to Gacy.
Before the bell rang, Gacy continued his mind games, slapping Breakker in the face. They continued throughout the match, with the Gacy’s druids constantly trying to give Breakker a weapon, or distract him from the match.
Gacy and Breakker had a decent match, though they didn’t seem to have the best chemistry in the world. Simple moves like a roll up looked a little janky at times. It wasn’t Cody/Miz levels of bad, but it was definitely noticeable at times.
Joe Gacy pulled the old “Eddie Guerrero Special” and threw a chair at Gacy before laying down on the mat making it look like Breakker hit him. The ref almost DQ’d him before another ref came out to make the save and let the ref know that Breakker didn’t hit Gacy with the chair. It felt like for just a moment, Breakker was about to lose his title.
Breakker did wind up retaining, which made the most sense. If he was to lose after all of the BS that Gacy put him through, it would have severely undercut any push that Breakker’s received so far. Plus, Gacy doesn’t come across as a main event star as of yet. Perhaps in the future, but certainly not as of yet.
Verdict: HIT
The Gacy story isn’t over. We didn’t even get the reveal of his two disciples.