NXT HITS & MISSES (7/16): Gallows & Anderson vs. OTM, Oba Femi vs. Duke Hudson, Tatum Paxley vs. Izzi Dame, Ethan Page vs. Dante Chen, more

The Rascalz vs. Gallus: Hit (with a bit of a Miss)

Let’s start with the Miss: I hate seeing Gallus as the Gatekeepers in NXT, BUT the Hit comes from The Rascalz reunion with the NXT audience seemed to eat up. The match itself was fun to watch and I think the right team went over. Good on Gallus for putting over more superstars/teams then I feel they should be.

Joe Hendry: Hit

I believe in Joe Hendry!

Je’von Evans vs. Brooks Jensen: Hit

I give this a Hit for Evans work and a slight Hit for Jensen who I think is working towards an angle with Shawn Spears. Jensen is all over the place, but I’m hoping for a decent payoff at the end of everything.

Ethan Page vs. Dante Chen: Hit

Man, people are into Dante big time (which I LOVE). Page getting the victory was obvious, but I enjoyed the match (short as it was). Page has a great start has a heel Champ so far.

Tatum Paxley vs. Izzi Dame: Hit

It’s Tatum Paxley: what else was I going to give this?? The match was good and I’m definitely into whatever weird combo the Paxley/Choo pairing brings into the storyline (I have a dark side – what can I say???)

Lola Vice vs. Jacy Jayne: Hit

Not much too this match at under 3 minutes, but I give NXT props for embracing the fact that Vice is over with the fans and making her a face, instead of trying to embrace a heel persona. Man, that backfist looks amazing!)

OTM vs. Gallows & Anderson: Hit

Although I think OTM hits more wins, I think a feud with Gallows & Anderson will make a huge bump in their careers. They’ve traded wins and losses and I’d like to see OTM come out on top with this feud would give them a great push.

Oba Femi vs. Duke Hudson: Mega Hit

Man, did I enjoy this match up! Femi has shown an incredible amount of talent based on his relative short time in wrestling and Hudson is an amazing talent who has grown immensely during his run in Chase U. His ‘short’ main roster run was unimpressive (to this viewer), but he has come such a long way and his matches never fail to impress me. Oba is from another world in my opinion. The guy has every tool in the box to become a major player in the industry over the years!

FINAL THOUGHTS: Great show overall, I thought. The continued TNA/NXT partnership has gotten amazing and I would love to see more NXT wrestlers show up on AXS to help boost that brand. As I said last week, this can only help both brands in the long run!