-Man, Cruz Montana has come such a long way. He opened the show this week with a very strong promo that came across as serious and passionate. Montana looked comfortable and confident. He addressed Zilla Fatu directly, which was a smart touch. Fatu debuted during his world title number one contender match last week. Too often in WWE, talents gloss over the heat portions of their storylines when they discuss them and feuds get colder because of it. Montana had to address Fatu ruining his opportunity and he did it in a straight up way. Plus, a fun little interaction between Rey Fenix and Montana. And well, yeah … they KIND OF referenced their time together in AEW as being in “hell.” More on these guys in a bit.
-Another win for EK Prosper this week and now he gets a shot at the AAA Cruiserweight Championship, which is held by Rey Fenix. That match will certainly be a lot of what we saw this week. Loads of high impact and high pace stuff, but not a ton of selling or psychology. Not a format that I’m most a fan of, but it works in the right context and with the right background.
-What’s happening? Where is all the edge that was central to Jaida Parker’s character? Parker had attitude. She had an aggressive personality. Fans connected with both those things and she’s being asked to sacrifice them in favor of a more caring and motherly aura toward Thea Hail. Look, Parker is being featured and is in a feud with Nattie. Nobody is saying “no” to that opportunity on television. At the same time, so far, they’ve lost some of the uniqueness that Parker brought to the table.
-Regarding Nattie, it’s odd and downright not believable to see her yucking it up as a heel with her heel faction-mates. Nattie is a legacy star. Nobody really hates her as a heel. The act right now is very performative because of that reality.
-Get ready for an OTM vs. Birthright faction battle. It’s coming. Lexis King defeated Lucien Price to retain his Speed Championship this week, but then Birthright attacked and the fight was on. Yay? At least the bad stuff on the show is gelling together now. Instead of Birthright material and separate material regarding the Speed Championship, it all happens at once. If you were looking for it, it’s during this stuff’s time that you should use the bathroom or grab a beer. Not only is Birthright bad, but Lexis King looks way too comfortable kinda being a nobody inside of it. The group doesn’t have edge, comedic charm, or intensity. Next year at this time, mark my words, this team won’t have a space on the show each week.
-We didn’t exactly get a Grayson Waller pipe bomb promo this week, but collectively, the one this week was better than that newsworthy one from a couple weeks ago. I know. I’m crazy. Listen, though. Waller shocked the system and his character with that out of bounds and meta promo. You can’t do those every week and you don’t want to bury the division you are in every week either. This week, Waller kept the same intense and edgy delivery from a couple weeks ago, but applied it to real television storylines like Zilla Fatu debuting. It landed much better and helped put real heat on the upcoming NXT Championship match at Heatwave.
-Wren Sinclair doesn’t have nearly as high of a ceiling in WWE that Kendal Grey has. That said, Sinclair helps Grey showcase her likable, fun, and competitive personality in a meaningful way. This is pro wrestling, so Sinclair is sure to turn heel on Grey at some point, but hopefully not soon. Grey comes out of her shell more when Sinclair is behind her. There is a different level of confidence for her in that environment.
-Sinclair and Grey against Kelani Jordan and Kali Armstrong was a fine match, but it existed to get Jordan a win over team Grey ahead of her NXT Women’s Championship match at Heatwave. Ummm … she didn’t get the win, though! Armstrong did. Odd booking. Does it brew further disdain between Jordan and Armstrong? Maybe? Jordan is wrestling for the top title in a couple weeks, though. She needed the rub.
-Saquon Shugars and Dion Lennox did it! Let’s call a spade a spade. This is a cold feud. Period and end of story. HOWEVER. Shugars and Lennox gave it some life with their split screen interview this week. They both came across as very natural going back and forth with one another. That authenticity brought an extra intensity to their upcoming steel cage and weapons match. The segment was the highlight of the feud by far. There are plenty of questions around both Shugars and Lennox coming out of this program, but on this night, they delivered.
-And this week’s Shiloh Hill grade is??? B+. Hill limited the silliness and had a pretty damn good match against Jackson Drake. Drake won, but Hill was protected inside of the Naraku interference finish. Drake against Myles Borne at Heatwave for the NXT Men’s North American Championship should be a fantastic heel vs. face match. I’m not making predictions yet, but Drake just may get the victory. Smart business there. Borne on a title chase is money.
-LOL, ok. So at Heatwave Zaria and Wren Sinclair are going to unify the Women’s North American Championship and the Women’s Speed Championship, but there won’t be a Speed style time limit on the match? There ya go. The Speed concept has officially jumped the shark. What good is having special Speed style rules, if the title can change hands in a match that is completely outside the bounds of what the Speed title is supposed to represent? *sigh*
-A strong debut promo from Zilla Fatu this week in the main event segment. The fact that it was in the main event is notable. Fatu showcased his natural charisma in front of the fans, but also laid down a mission statement for himself in the promotion. He’s going after the NXT Championship and now we know that he’ll join the D’Angelo, Waller, and Montana triple threat at Heatwave to make it a fatal four-way contest with D’Angelo’s title on the line. I’m not a fan of multi-person matches, but it makes sense for NXT to do it here. What you’ve seen the last month on NXT was an overhaul in the top level of the men’s division. This fatal four-way is showcasing the four new key guys that make up the top part of the NXT card. There just isn’t much of a better way for the booking to do that without someone on the outside looking in.
How do you grade Zilla Fatu’s NXT debut promo? On my end? B+. Let’s hear what you think in the comments!
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