Well, NXT Battleground certainly wasn’t a home run PLE inside of the UFC Apex on Sunday night. The show had it’s moments here and there, but a flat crowd and drama-less finishes stunted the show’s ability to kick into a high gear.
Don’t get me wrong, the talent worked hard and a lot of the matches had action in them, but nothing felt like it had consequence behind it. Mediocre booking? An audience that sat on it’s hands? Which was it? The chicken or the egg? Let’s find out.
Here are my Brass Ring Ratings for the event and here’s how they work … I call it like I see it. Period.
Sol Ruca vs. Kelani Jordan vs. Michin vs. Jaida Parker vs. Lash Legend vs. Fallon Henley - NXT Women’s North American Championship Ladder Match
There was a lot riding on this match being a success. What exactly? Oh, you know, just the entire WWE talent development philosophy. Outside of Michin, these women are all products of the NXT Performance Center and needed to have a strong showing as the next crop of women’s talent that will run the show week to week for the next few years. They did enough. The action wasn’t perfect and not everyone shined, but collectively they pulled off a good enough match to warrant the time and the stakes it had.
Sol Ruca was the stand out performer by a wide margin. She had the strongest presence and the biggest spots in the match. She hit them all. The Sol Snatchers off the ladder were impressive and she helped lead the other spots too. Kelani Jordan winning the match was a surprise. The babyface that had more momentum going into the match and is more over in general is Ruca. That seemingly was the choice, but WWE is clearly behind Jordan and want this title to take her to another level.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO 3/4
Axiom & Nathan Frazer vs. The Good Brothers - NXT Tag Team Championship
Man, it was fun to see The Good Brothers work and old school style tag match again. They had to work hard to keep up with Axiom and Frazer, but they did and it made for a match with dynamic near falls. Axiom and Frazer created all the movement in the match and broke out some new team spots that played nicely in the flow of things. Axiom and Frazer were destined to win this, so the match had a hard time building to a significant crescendo.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOO
Shayna Baszler vs. Lola Vice - NXT Underground Match
Another solid outing for Lola Vice inside the NXT Underground environment. She’s so much more effective leaning into her history as an MMA fighter than she is when she’s dancing to the ring. She was vicious in this match. Baszler too. There’s only so much you can do with the Underground match style, so a lot of the action was one note. Effective, but one note nonetheless. With Vice getting the win, I’d say she’s on a path to Kelani Jordan and the Women’s North American Championship.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO 1/2
Oba Femi vs. Wes Lee vs. Joe Coffey - NXT North American Championship
Oba Femi got to show the world why he’s a prized WWE talent prospect, but that’s about all this match had. Lee and Coffey were role players because Femi stood out and flexed his dominance as an alpha. The result were some cool Femi moves on the other guys with Femi getting the win. Coffey was the odd man out in this as the deeper rooted issue seemed to be Lee chasing Femi down to win back the title he never lost. That story is still out there if NXT wants to go with it.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO
Roxanne Perez vs. Jordynne Grace - NXT Women’s Championship
Match of the night. This had a big match feel to it and the action lived up to that hype. Jordynne Grace looked supremely comfortable out there — a testament to not only her WWE potential, but overall charisma and talent. Grace getting distracted by Tatum Paxley as a finish was eye roll inducing, but thread the needle through a tough booking terrain of wanting to keep Grace important, while having her lose to Perez. With that finish out there, it seems like Paxley will be headed to TNA at some point to lose clean to Grace.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOO
Trick Williams vs. Ethan Page - NXT Championship
Short, but sweet. This didn’t overstay it’s welcome, but had some key moments designed to make Trick look good as champion. Ethan Page had a big spotlight on him for this and did business the way it should have been done. The story here was Trick and it absolutely needed to be.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOO
What did you think of NXT Battleground 2024? Leave a comment!
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