-It’s way more fun watching Zilla Fatu demolish Birthright than it is seeing Lexis King have a 50/50 match with the guy. Holy smokes. Fatu is a bright star for NXT, but his booking since making a massive splash debut has been less than ideal. It’s one thing to feud with Birthright if the plan calls for weekly destruction of that faction. Taking nearly ten minutes to beat King this week? What are we doing?
Context is key
-Well, the battle royal main event to crown an NXT Women’s Championship number one contender was billed as massive. Women from many different promotions were scheduled to compete — including barely known names from NXT. Each person in the match couldn’t have reasonably been given time to talk about that opportunity, but some of the lesser known names did. Chantel Monroe and Layla Diggs for example. They didn’t cut good promos by any stretch of the imagination, but did put a little context behind why they are in the match. It’s a low bar, but NXT cleared it. More on the battle royal in a second.
-After Cruz Montana’s career video last week, Dion Lennox responded with his own this week and it took the form of a pre-recorded promo. Lennox mocked Montana for his journey and disrespected his path to NXT. Lennox was solid in delivery. He came across as arrogantly confident, but with a tone of serious at the same time. Lennox has a long way to go, but this was one of his best character showcases yet.
-Hank and Tank got the win and advanced in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. A nice little win in a nice little match, but here’s hoping they get stomped by The Creed Brothers in the quarterfinals.
Gaze into the crystal ball
-Let me take out my trusted crystal ball real quick. Ok, so it’s Myles Borne vs. Tony D’Angelo and the winner gets a shot at Grayson Waller and the NXT Championship. BUT. Tavion Heights returns during that match from the ruthless attack by Borne and costs him the shot at the title. A layup. Mark my words, this is the booking.
-Waller has to be careful as a heel champion while his challengers are weak babyfaces. Opposite Borne and D’Angelo, Waller’s cool factor bounces out of the television. He’s more charismatic than both of those guys and needs to work harder on being hated, so that they can get over stronger.
-And EK Prosper gets a little sprinkle of the William Regal dust. Prosper has been a highlight reel performer throughout the last few months and his run-in with Regal is notable. It means he’s getting a bit of a push and since I expect Regal to join Birthright, a Prosper vs. Birthright clash is on the horizon.
-Shocker! A disqualification ended a hyped television match in WWE. This week it was Shiloh Hill vs. Naraku. Naraku misted the referee, which caused the abrupt finish. These outcomes are frustrating. Hill and Naraku have been building their feud for weeks on NXT and this match was billed as the blowoff. Until it wasn’t. Just book something else, NXT. It’s easy. If the endgame is to do Naraku against Hill at Halloween Havoc, announce that and do something else this week with the two men that doesn’t make people less interested in the match.
-We got to see yet another Kendal Grey therapy session this week. Yay? These have been a solid way to keep Grey on television, but hearing her articulate what amounts to a wrestling obsession makes me feel a little bad for her. Grey can very much still be the star of the show when she finally returns to the ring.
A total waste of Wren
-The main event battle royal was a good match with a totally awful finish. So, a suspended Wren Sinclair becomes number one contender while wearing a mask, but then unmasks after she wins and reveals the ruse? It should be so easy for Robert Stone to take the number one contendership away from her now because she did that. A classic case of WWE wanting to showoff a fun moment, even if that moment doesn’t have any basis or root in logic. This was a waste of Sinclair’s big return that the audience has been humming for since she was sent home from NXT. Just silly.
What was your favorite part of this week’s episode of WWE NXT? Let us know in the comments!
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