NXT HITS & MISSES 7/4: Creeds vs. Dyad, Ali vs. Bate, Perez vs. Davenport, Paxley vs. Jordan, Jayne vs. Valkyria

ROXANNE PEREZ vs. BLAIR DAVENPORT

For weeks, Roxanne Perez and Blair Davenport have been at each other’s throats and looked to prove who was tougher here tonight.

Perez attacked Davenport during her entrance, and that just set the tone for the rest of the match. While it wasn’t a five star match by any stretch, they did a decent job portraying this match as a personal grudge between the two.

Davenport was on the offensive for the majority of the match with Perez getting a handful of hope spots before Davenport would shut her down.

Davenport picked up the win, but I don’t think this will be the end of the feud.

Verdict: HIT

MUSTAFA ALI vs. TYLER BATE

Tyler Bate and Mustafa Ali have had their eye on Wes Lee’s North American title and even though they’re both probably going to wind up in a triple threat for the title, we saw them in singles action tonight.

The match was a little slow to get started, which is kind of par for the course with a Tyler Bate match. But once it kicked into gear, it was as good as you’d expect them to have. Great false finishes, and fantastic technical and high flying action.

Ali picked up the win after Bate slipped on the ropes and crotched himself. Ali hit a 450 splash from the top to finish Bate off.

Verdict: HIT

KELANI JORDAN vs. TATUM PAXLEY

Dressed in all black to signify her recent heel turn, Tatum Paxley faced the new comer, Kelani Jordan. Jordan had Dana Brooke in her corner after a pleasant backstage interaction last week.

I was incredibly impressed with Jordan in her debut match here in NXT. She still has a bit to learn, but her in-ring ability supplemented by her gymnastics background allows her to  perform some more advanced moves than I’d expect to see out of a newbie.

Jordan picked up a win over Paxley with a Stunner for the three count. Cora Jade made her way out after the end of the match to sarcastically congratulate Jordan. She ran Jordan down and said that any friend of Brooke is an enemy of hers, and it looks like Jade and Jordan will be pushed into a feud in the coming weeks.

Verdict: HIT

EDDY THORPE vs. DAMON KEMP – NXT UNDERGROUND

Because RAW Underground was such a huge success (rolls eyes), they saw it fitting to bring back the Underground gimmick for Thorpe vs. Kemp.

Kemp has been a thorn in the side of Thorpe for a handful of weeks now, and challenged Thorpe to this match last week.

The Underground match takes place in the ring without any ropes and a majority of the rules of a normal match are thrown out the window. Undercard wrestlers also surround the ring, acting as lumberjacks of sorts. The only way to win the match is by KO or Submission.

I appreciated them trying something different in NXT and I think I actually enjoyed this revival of the Underground match. I wouldn’t want to see this stipulation each week like they tried on RAW years ago. But, every so often why not?

Kemp tossed Thorpe around like a sack of potatoes to start the match, and kept the pressure on Thorpe throughout the entire match. Thorpe had moments where it looked like he’d turn the tides, but Kemp had an answer for a lot of the offense Thorpe threw his way.

Thorpe was eventually able to turn the tides, and managed to make Kemp pass out and caused the ref to stop the match.

Verdict: HIT

JACY JAYNE vs. LYRA VALKYRIA

Jacy Jayne hasn’t taken Lyra Valkyria seriously over the last few weeks, and tonight Lyra finally gets to put her hands on Jayne inside the squared circle.

The crowd was nearly silent for this match, virtually no heat whatsoever. Neither Jayne nor Lyra were eliciting a reaction from the audience.

The action wasn’t bad, but nobody really cares about this feud. It seemed like after a commercial break, they were piping in crowd noise as the crowd seemed louder and rowdier, but nobody in the crowd was actually engaged.

Lyra picked up the win with a roundhouse kick to the dome, but was attacked immediately by Jayne who then took Lyra’s wings and ripped them to shreds. And not even that heel move was able to garner much heat.

Verdict: MISS

DYAD vs. CREED BROTHERS – LOSERS LEAVE TOWN

The Creeds and Schism have been at each others throats for quite some time, tonight they faced off in tag action with the losers leaving NXT for good.

With the former Grizzled Young Veterans, now known as the Dyad, looking for their WWE release it seemed like it was inevitable that the Creeds would win this match and let the Dyad ride off into the sunset.

Even with the Dyad wanting out, they aren’t phoning in their performances. It felt like they were legitimately fighting for the jobs.

Surprisingly, the Creeds were on the losing end of this matchup after a new member of Schism ran in from the crowd and caused the distraction. Dyad losing was probably a bit too predictable, and I think this’ll allow the Creeds to move up to Raw or Smackdown in short order.

Verdict: HIT