-It’s hard to believe what I’m about to write, but here it is — I thoroughly enjoyed Dijak vs. Shawn Spears to open the show this week. Crazy, I know. These two guys beat the tar out of the other like only two big guys can and the audience bought it all the way through. Good stuff.
Poor Dijak
-Dijak is a part of the triple threat North American Championship match at Stand & Deliver along with Josh Briggs and Oba Femi. Again, though, he’s the bridesmaid and not the bride in that match. Femi is the bride and the focus. Frankly, he should be. So, for as fun as this mini run Dijak has been, it’s ending at Stand & Deliver.
-Aww man! Roxanne Perez cut up a scrapbook filled with early NXT memories this week. So sad. This was what it was. Perez is a heel now, so she’s doing heel things like this. Anyone buying it more than last week? I didn’t think so.
-On the flip side, the vignette that was aired on Lyra Valkyria was very well done. Valkyria (like Perez) has a natural babyface charisma about her and conveyed that charm during the video. Valkyria was able to detail why it was so important for her to beat Perez and it gave the audience an added reason to invest. The notion that Valkyria needs to keep the title away from Perez to protect it is intriguing and should manifest well as desperation inside of the match they are going to have.
-Thea Hail vs. Jazmyn Nyx was fine and seemed to setup a multi-person match with Jacy Jayne, Kiana James, Izzy Dame, and some combination of Fallon Henley and Kelani Jordan. The big match is Hail vs. Jayne. Whatever combo match they do here, it’s all to setup that one down the road. It’s smart not to jam Hail vs. Jayne in on the Stand & Deliver card given all that is already there.
Prime target on point
-Man, the Trick Williams vs. Carmelo Hayes Prime Target video was just wonderful. Absolutely fantastic. It captured the essence and personal nature of the feud by highlighting early moments together in NXT. Then, it moved on to when Hayes had his giant run, before pivoting to Williams building himself up. From there, it captured the downfall of the relationship. This covered all the basis from a narrative perspective and then also featured key interviews and some nice talking points from WWE stars like Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, Randy Orton, and others. Williams and Hayes are going to have a final face-off in the ring next week, but if they can’t for whatever reason, this could easily serve as the final chapter of their feud heading into the match. It was that effective. It’s smart of NXT not to pull these types of videos out until they are needed. It was in this instance and did a great job of elevating the intensity and drama of the feud.
-Ilja Dragunov is heading to dinner with Tony D’Angelo. Yeah, we knew this was coming, right? It was only a matter of time, but not an awful way to conclude the build to their feud before Stand & Deliver. As for Dragunov vs. Stacks, it was fine. The best part BY FAR was Stacks naming a move “Concrete Shoes.” I mean, how great is that?
Take a seat, Ridge
-Here’s the only nice thing I can say about the Ridge Holland stuff. At least it was consistent. Now, it was consistently horrendous, but they stayed that course with whatever the hell that was in the ring. So, Holland is so good at beating up and injuring opponents as a wrestler that he has to retire??? Beating up and injuring people is the idea. It’s like a UFC fighter retiring because he hurts people too often. What?? This story never made a lick of sense and it ended not making a lick of sense either.
-The Wolfdogs continued to do Wolfdog things this week. Some was good, some was bad. The match itself was a fine little main event that showcased what Baron Corbin and Bron Breakker do in the ring. Look, this isn’t going to last long, so might as well enjoy it while you can. This week, I did.
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