HEYDORN’S NXT RECEIPT 9/27: Main event delivered, but leave it to commentary to drive home final angle

This week’s episode of WWE NXT 2.0 has wrapped. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane and relive some of the madness.

-Ilja Dragunov is a nice addition to the main NXT roster, but this week he didn’t exude “top guy” stuff out there. Dragunov is a great wrestler and one that undoubtedly will help Bron Breakker progress — like Tyler Bate and JD McDonagh have done — but he isn’t likely to be a mainstay at the top of NXT roster each week.

-Breakker came across well again this week. He was less rushed on the promo and looked like a bad ass taking on two real challengers for his title at one time — or agreeing to take them both on, anyway. A good night at the office for him.

-Mandy Rose decimated Fallon Henley in just a few minutes, but hell, what else did you expect, right? Rose is functioning at a high level right now and though she hasn’t progressed as much as some would like in the ring, she is a star that jumps of the screen. Not sure what’s taking so long, but if I’m Shawn Michaels, I’m booking Rose against Roxanne Perez as soon as possible.

-Grayson Waller was pretty damn funny this week during his backstage interview. Say what you want, but he’s got a personality and he uses it.

-Ouch! It looked as if Tony D’Angelo hurt his knee during his North American Championship qualifying match against Wes Lee. It looked like a non-contact knee injury and the match wrapped up right after it happened. Here’s to hoping D’Angelo can come back soon, but his injury creates an opening for opportunity for Lee. He’s got a ladder match to work with and should shine in that environment. Lee has had a hard time trying to reinvent himself since MSK broke up, but this ladder match may be the best opportunity for him to do so.

-That Pretty Deadly vignette had me laughing out loud. Just great stuff.

-Sol Ruca pulled out a lot of stops in her debut and looked great doing so. Look, obviously she is a green act right now, but the look is there, the athleticism is there, and the overall feel of being in the ring looked to be there too. A good sign.

-Annnnnnnnd the Joe Gacy vs Cameron Grimes storyline continues. Both guys are doing what they can with this, but the fact is, the Gacy with Dyad act just doesn’t have enough punch to be taken seriously. Any story with it involved stagnates because of that reality.

-Nikkita Lyons got a victory over Kayden Carter, but sorry folks, I’m still not seeing it with Lyons. Her stuff did not look good out there.

-Nathan Frazer vs. Axiom 3 is now to get into the North American Championship ladder match at Halloween Havoc? Yes, freaking, please.

-Poor Xyon Quinn. The guys looks to have all the tools needed, but can’t find his presence while performing. Dare I say he’s the Nikkita Lyons of the men’s division? Yeah, that’ll work. That’ll work just fine.

-Whenever The Creed Brothers get their hands on Damon Kemp, that’s gonna be something can’t miss. Shawn Michaels is building the story properly with tease after tease and near encounter after near encounter. Crowd will come unglued when it all comes together.

-Ya know what? I was all in on the street fight brawl match between Gallus and the team of Briggs & Jensen. It had the street fight spots you’d want and Briggs and Jensen got the big win. The angle at the end saved the heat for Gallus too. Listen to how the announce team sold their attack on the NXT officials. It was paramount to the success of the angle and made it not only feel important, but troublesome and dangerous as well. Great work from Barrett and Joseph.

CATCH-UP: HEYDORN’S WWE RAW RECEIPT 9/26: Sami Zayn brings hot Bloodline storyline to Raw