NXT HITS & MISSES (8/6): Ethan Page vs. Oro Mensah, Pete Dunne vs. Trick Williams, Jordan vs. Paxley, Hendry vs. Coffey, MSK vs. Frasier & Axiom, more

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Pete Dunne vs. Trick Williams: Hit

A terrific match with a surprisingly clean finish. They gave them almost 13 minutes and Trick held his own against the more seasoned Dunne. Trick doesn’t lose anything in the clean finish, as his popularity is Teflon and he’ll bounce right back easily enough. I think the strongest baby faces are the ones who are vulnerable and not given the super human treatment. After a later segment, it looks like this feud will continue, which I have no problem with.

CHECK OUT THE NXT POST-SHOW FROM LAST NIGHT: CLICK HERE (or search “pwtorch” in your podcast app such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app)

Kelani Jordan vs. Tatum Paxley: Hit

Okay, you know I wanted to give this a Miss because of the Paxley loss, but I’ll be a fair and (partially) unbiased journalist. It was an entertaining match up with two young wrestlers and they worked fairly well together. Paxley received a ton of love from the crowd and based on the Wendy Choo turn after the match, NXT wouldn’t be blamed for making Tatum a delightfully deranged baby face character. Meanwhile, it looks like Choo could be the next challenger for Jordan.

Ethan Page vs. Oro Mensah: Hit

Raise your hand if you even considered Mensah winning this match. Obvious outcome notwithstanding, the match was solid. Mensah has the talent to hang with just about everyone and Page plays the role of egotistical chicken champion just about perfectly. I figure Page will get several of these “beginner” challengers before moving on to a more serious program.

Joe Hendry vs. Joe Coffey: Hit

Say his name and he appears! Nice match between these two with the NXT crowd into Hendry to an unbelievable level. Can you imagine Hendry being introduced on the main roster and the thunderous volume of a far greater audience singing along to his song? I could see that keeping pace with people like Rollins, Rhodes and Orton. I still continue to struggle with why Gallus as a whole are the gatekeepers on NXT, when they’re all so talented (Joe especially). Hendry’s hard work selling himself at such a high level over the years is paying off, as he’s a star on not just one platform, but two. Hats off to TNA and NXT working so well together to swap the talent so freely. Oh and shout out to the crowd for their awesome rendition of “Don’t Stop Believin’”

Wren Sinclair vs. Kendal Gray: Minor Hit

The match itself was fine, but nothing you’ll lose any sleep over if you miss it. Sinclair has won me over lately with her personality and her deals with The NQCC. The earlier set up of this match with The Family was well done, too. Charlie Dempsey has become a guilty pleasure of mine recently and his sulking attitude has good comedic timing.

Axiom & Nathan Frazer vs. MSK: Hit

Well, color me surprised. First off: the match up was stellar, as you’d expect from these two teams. I truly was shocked by Axion & Frazer retaining. NXT has done a fantastic job of teasing dissension between them and I would’ve put money on (and lost) that slight rift as being the catalyst to them losing the tag titles. My second shock of the evening was the Wes Lee turn. Wrestling can be predictable sometimes (not always in a bad way), but this turn I didn’t see coming for miles. I think this will freshen up the Lee character and if the feud between the Rascalz and Lee continues, it’ll be interesting to see who might join Lee in this feud.

The show was fun to watch and their really weren’t any low points. The Je’von Evans sit down was really good, hosts Hank and Tank were silly fun, and the Chase U drama continues. Night Two of The Great American Bash was solid.

OR CHECK THIS OUT AT PROWRESTLING.NET: NXT TV results (8/6): Moore’s review of Great American Bash night two with Ethan Page vs. Oro Mensah for the NXT Title, Kelani Jordan vs. Tatum Paxley for the NXT Women’s North American Title