-The opening of this week’s episode of NXT was a perfect showcase of the women’s depth that WWE has in it’s developmental system right now. That division was gutted and they still started the show with viable contenders to the top championship. Lola Vice, Kali Armstrong, and Kelani Jordan are next women up in the pecking order. Each of them are on different levels of development right now, but have been positioned well enough on the show to come across as top contenders. Physically, Armstrong took over the segment, but she lost her way a bit during her speaking part.
-Geez, DarkState can’t even get a win over WWE Evolve talent? That’s a new and low bar. Sean Legacy and Dorian Van Dux got the victory over DarkState and Birthright. The match had it’s moments, but all in was a pretty flat outing. Legacy and Van Dux are most certainly getting fed to Vanity Project. That team is leaps and bounds ahead of anyone in this match.
-As for DarkState and Birthright, the booking of his match is the perfect microcosm of where they are right now. It’s not great.
-One of Jaida Parker’s better pre-recorded promos this week. She appeared confident and did so in a way that was more authentic than ever. She’s really walking the line between babyface and heel right now. Defining that more effectively would help her greatly.
-Saquon Shugars got his own promo time this week and didn’t do much with it. Nothing stands out for him right now. His promo had energy, but manufactured energy born out as if someone said “hey, go cut a stereotypical wrestling promo.” Having the energy is important, but Shugars and his character have to be able to tap into it more effectively.
-Hey! A strong win for Keanu Carver this week. This is how you book this guy. At least, it’s how you attempt to book him. The silliness with the losses to EK Prosper will take some time to wear off, but this is the presentation that has a chance to click.
-Cool video promo from Naraku. Well, the content was. Naraku spoke about continuing to torture Tony D’Angelo and came across heelish in doing so. The look of the promo had the purple color that’s been associated with Naraku since he made his NXT debut. That looked too much like a comic book. Maybe that’s what they’re going for, but it was cartoonish for a character that was saying some serious words.
-Tate Wilder. Kam Hendrix. Mason Rook. These guys seemingly are next in line for the NXT Championship, but aren’t anywhere near being as polished as the same group of women that started the show. Wilder, Hendrix, Shugars, Dion Lennox. These guys have a sameness to them and don’t stand out. Rook does because of his look.
-I’ll tell you what, I was surprised at how good the Lizzy Rain vs. Thea Hail vs. Izzi Dame vs. Layla Diggs four-way match was. A pleasant surprise. Rain was the star of the match. She had an intensity to her work that resonated very well. She also sold believably for Dame and Diggs. Diggs won the match and earned a Women’s NXT North American Championship match against Zaria. Much like the tag title situation from earlier in the night, Diggs got the win here, but is being fed to Zaria soon enough.
-Real quick regarding Lizzy Rain because she was, by far, the standout. In a lot of ways you can picture the presentation of the Rain character on the main roster. Like, a big 80s metal entrance at a WrestleMania. That very much is on brand for WWE at this point. The character itself though? She can’t just be an 80s rocker. There has to be depth and nuance on that side of the house. She hasn’t found it yet.
-Reina Volcan = Nikki Blackheart. There ya go. Volcan’s pre-taped promo was a fine intro into NXT. There is some charisma there that should connect with the audience.
-I’d say the Tavion Heights heel turn is off at this point. This is good news for Heights. Remember the names I mentioned before? Wilder, Hendrix, Shugars, Lennox? A heel Heights merges into that lane of traffic. There is a likability to him as a babyface and he’s in his own lane this way.
-I guess the Shiloh Hill and Tristan Angels feud is still going? Angels has brought out the best of Hill so far. From that perspective, this is a good move. At the same time, there is a staleness to Hill vs. Angels right now and I don’t know that they have a fresh place to take the story.
-Kendal Grey vs. Nattie Neidhart was the exact match I wanted to see. This was a wrestling match and Grey and Nattie complimented one another well. The wrestling was smooth and the audience very much got to see Grey in her element against someone on a different level than her. Not a lot of drama in this one because of the certainty of Grey winning, but a strong main event nonetheless.
What did you think of this week’s episode of WWE NXT? Let us know in the comments!
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