-I love Vanity Project. They had an excellent Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic match this week against the underdog team of Mini Vikingo and Starboy. Action. Freaking. Packed. Vikingo and Starboy certainly brought the pace and speed to the match, but Vanity Project brought the drama. Their heel antics are authentic during matches and they very much help build up whatever babyface team they’re working with. More on the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic in a minute …
In search of a character
-Not a great week if you’re Saquon Shugars. Tristan Angels has lost to everyone and Shugars lost to him. Ouch. The match was passable. Shugars got some time on the microphone during a backstage promo prior to the match and was effective in showing energy. He doesn’t have a character at the moment and that’s hurting his ability to get over.
-Ok … this Izzi Dame and Zaria thing? No. Just no. No no no no no. Dame is going to remind Zaria of her past and that is going to derail her? C’mon. First of all, Dame and The Culling talking to each other in a pitch black room is goofy and makes no sense. Worse than that, Zaria is now a babyface? Since when? For the better part of the last year and then some, Zaria has been built up as the ultimate heel thanks to her feud with Sol Ruca. That was a central NXT story and now it’s essentially been dropped. Dropped in favor forcing a dominant character like Zaria to react to weaknesses from a heel that isn’t all that over. It’s a mess. Zaria is colder, Dame is cold, and nobody really cares about Zaria’s past. The money in Zaria is as a monster heel. They had her there and the pivot in an effort to work with Dame is bizarre.
-If you read last week’s column, you know how I felt about Wren Sinclair winning the number one contender battle royal last week under a mask. NXT punted on the entire angle this week. After breaking her suspension last week to join the match, NXT GM Robert Stone simply reinstated her this week. Suspension lifted? Stone didn’t punish her for returning last week, he just said “ya know what, you’re back.” Are there storyline holes in that? Oh, for sure. None of them are as bad as the story would be had they tried to stay on the Wren Sinclair suspended path. Sinclair vs. Kelani Jordan at Halloween Havoc for the NXT Women’s Championship? Fine. A reasonable final stop on an absolute silly ride.
The feud is hot
-The strongest angle of the week was the Dion Lennox attack on Cruz Montana. This is the best built feud in NXT right now. Lennox came across as a dangerous heel and got heat. Montana getting his hands on Lennox is going to be a thing. Well done.
-La Catalina and Kali Armstrong had a nice match together, but it had a surprising outcome. Armstrong doing the job? A clean job? Armstrong has been a protected up and coming talent in NXT and didn’t lose much at all throughout her time there. Catalina doesn’t get this win unless there are some plans for her.
-Noam Dar and Romeo Moreno vs. Fraxiom in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic was another excellent match, but what’s with the finish?! Fraxiom vs. Vanity Project was right there for the taking in the semis and now … poof! Disappointing, but an excellent match nonetheless.
A mulligan for D’Angelo and Borne
-It’s safe to say that Tony D’Angelo and Myles Borne are going to want a redo. A mulligan. Their main event number one contender match had it’s moments, but couldn’t click into a gear that ignited the crowd. Could it be that NXT is trying to get them to boo a natural babyface in Borne? I’ll rant on that more another day. It mattered in this match, though. The audience was cold. The finish? Botched. Not only did Myles Borne kick out of D’Angelo’s side slam finisher and the referee ignored it, but he stared at the camera man who had perched himself on the ring apron and distracted himself to give D’Angelo the opening to hit it. It was awkward and none of it landed. The pin, the camera guy, nothing. All of it was disconnected and slowed the momentum of the match. My best guess is Borne was supposed to kick out of the final pin, which would have led to a more direct interference in the match by the cameraman — ie. a returning Tavion Heights. Heights didn’t get to directly make that interference because of the botch and it hurt the effectiveness of his big return attack. There is a moment after he strikes Borne where Heights is yelling and the audience just wasn’t along for the ride. None of this worked.
-D’Angelo did get the victory and now faces Grayson Waller for the NXT Championship at Halloween Havoc. Nothing wrong with that. That match makes sense and the two men have recent history. It won’t be the greatest match in the world, but there’s a story to tell.
What was your favorite match on this week’s episode of WWE NXT? Let us know in the comments!
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The two dusty classic tag matches were baller. Dar/Moreno and Swipe Right advancing makes so much sense. It’ll be a big tell if Dar/Moreno somehow get past the tag champs en route to the finals (possibly facing the Creeds again)
Lennox/Montana got personal in no time flat. I suspect this’ll be a one-and-done before Cruz can focus on the NXT title. I’m glad Starboy and Mini Vikingo are sticking around for another week.
Danhausen hosting Halloween Havoc is a stroke of genius. The wheel better return.