SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
WES LEE vs. STACKS (w/ “The Don” Tony D’Angelo)
Stacks and Tony D’Angelo attacked Wes Lee backstage with the brawl leading to the ring. Booker T and Vic Joseph said that the two had a scheduled match later in the night, but a ref got in the ring and demanded the two get inside to start their match. While this isn’t the first time they’ve used this start to a match in NXT as of late, I do appreciate something a bit more chaotic than your standard entrances from time to time.
Tony D’Angelo is gunning for Wes Lee’s North American championship, sending his lackey to “soften” the champion up before he can get Lee in the ring for a title match. Stacks is getting much better in the ring, much more fluid than he was even just six months ago. Though his storyline job was to take down Wes Lee, he did a great job of helping to elevate Lee as a strong, fighting champion.
After Lee put Stacks away, Dijak made his way to the ring. While Lee was distracted by Dijak, D’Angelo attacked Lee from behind. I’m wondering if a triple threat for the North American title at New Year’s Evil is in the cards?
Verdict: HIT
TOXIC ATTRACTION vs. IVY NILE & TATUM PAXLEY
The NXT Women’s Tag Champs, Kayden Carter and Katana Chance joined the commentary booth for this matchup, keeping a close eye on their competition.
Considering Nile & Paxley are still a newer tag team, I feel like they still had a halfway decent showing against the former two time NXT Tag Champs, Toxic Attraction. Toxic Attraction taunted the champs sitting ringside, devolving into a brawl between all three teams causing the match to end in a DQ.
I would have liked to see the women’s tag division get a bit more time than this, they’re rarely featured and the titles feel like an afterthought.
Verdict: MISS
VON WAGNER vs. ODYSSEY JONES
In recent weeks, Von Wagner and Mr. Stone have picked fights with Edris Enofe and Malik Blade, Odyssey Jones’ friends. Being closer to Wagner’s size, he looked to stand up for his friends in this matchup.
They had a decent back and forth for two big men, with Jones coming out on top in pretty short order. A feel good moment when a good guy wins, sticking up for his buddies. Plus, Jones is still rebuilding his momentum coming off from injury. He needs a few solid wins under his belt.
Verdict: HIT
JAVIER BERNAL vs. IKEMAN JIRO
Big Body Javy and Ikeman Jiro haven’t seen eye to eye backstage as of late, with Bernal challenging Jiro to a match tonight.
Great to see Jiro performing in the ring for a change, they haven’t utilized him very much. Especially after Kushida’s exit from the company. This was a fun quasi-comedy match where Bernal was put in his place once again.
No sooner did Jiro begin his celebration, the artist formerly known as 24/7 Champ Reginald, Scrypts, attacked Jiro. He stripped Jiro of his jacket and put it on.
For a character that had some pretty cool pre-debut vignettes, Scrypts seems to be a character with a ceiling no higher than the lower midcard.
Verdict: HIT
JD MCDONAGH vs. BRUTUS CREED
The Creed Brothers have Indus Sher in their sights. However JD McDonagh keeps interjecting himself in their conversations backstage, telling them that they’re not strong enough or ready enough to beat the behemoth Indus Sher. This led to Brutus challenging McDonagh to a bit of a match to put him in his place.
McDonagh’s sporting a nice shiner under his right eye after his match at Deadl1ne, playing into the story of the match. McDonagh not coming into it 100%.
Creed, while not completely dominant during the match, did get the bulk of the offense on McDonagh. However, McDonagh was able to use his wit and outsmart Creed on more than one occasion to get the upper hand. McDonagh went to hit Creed with a chair but was stopped by Indus Sher, protecting their future opponent. Shockingly, McDonagh went on to beat the powerhouse Creed. Even with all the shenanigans.
Verdict: HIT
LYRA VALKYRIA vs. AMARI MILLER
The repackaging of Aoife Valkyrie as Lyra Valkyria has been officially completed, as Valkyria made her debut on NXT TV tonight.
This match is what I like to call the “NXT Squash Match”. A match where the rising star still gets a quick dominant win, but the enhancement talent also gets a little bit of their stuff in before they eat the pin.
While I don’t think they needed to change her name, I’m excited to see the former NXT UK star grow here in the states.
Veridct: HIT
DUKE HUDSON (w/Andre Chase & Thea Hail) vs DAMON KEMP
Wow, I almost forgot about Damon Kemp. For someone who was so pivotal in the “will Diamond Mine break up or won’t they” storyline, they’ve had nothing for him since.
This match was the only match not born out of a prior feud or story. Though, Drew Gulak made his way to the ring to keep Chase U on their toes. Hudson got a relatively easy win over Kemp, leading me to wonder what exactly is the plan for Kemp going forward?
Verdict: 50/50
ROXANNE PEREZ vs. MANDY ROSE
Kicking the show off tonight, Roxanne Perez made her way out to address the crowd after her big win in the Iron Survivor Challenge match at Deadline this past Saturday. After Greyson Waller and Bron Breakker made their way to the ring and had their little face off, Iron Survivor vs. NXT Champion, Mandy Rose attacked Perez from behind. Perez demanded her title shot tonight after that attack, and the match was made official.
I was a little worried about the quality of this matchup going into it. Mandy Rose is on the better side of okay between the ropes, and Perez is still far from completely fluid with her moveset. She’s still a great wrestler, but she’s young and has a lot to learn. Without a true ring general as part of the match, would we get the quality matchup that the NXT Women’s Title deserves?
Was it Bayley vs. Sasha in Brooklyn? No, far from it. But they delivered a pretty solid TV main event title match. A match where Roxanne Perez hit the crescendo of her story, dethroning Mandy Rose and her 413 Day NXT Women’s Title reign.
It’s. About. Time.
Both of the main event titles have seemed incredibly stale under Bron Breakker and Mandy Rose respectively. A shakeup in at least one of the title pictures has been needed for quite some time.
Verdict: HIT
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