-Well, Tony D’Angelo didn’t cut a CM Punk pipe bomb promo or anything remotely close to as entertaining as that, but it worked. It checked the boxes of what a championship victory promo should be. He talked about his title run, making history, what his championship win meant to him, and then lined up some potential challengers. D’Angelo comes across as the number one guy on the show right now. Perfect timing for that now that he’s champ.
The art of the non-finish
-Now that’s the time to do a shenanigan, non-finish, finish. Sol Ruca and Izzi Dame had a pretty damn good match and the finish made sense. It did something for both women. Dame got a win over a top star like Ruca and Ruca was screwed by Zaria, which continues that feud. WWE and NXT leans on these exact types of finishes too often and that makes them harder to leverage properly. When it sensible, they can work well and this one did.
-We’re getting another Zaria vs. Sol Ruca match. Last Man Standing. Yay? The angle was good between them this week and Zaria actually got a little heat. Good signs. The bottom line is, Sol Ruca is heading up to the main roster, so why not get Zaria a win over her. Doing another match is the right move.
-Blake Monroe buddying around with Vanity Project fits, but isn’t a great sign for Monroe. Monroe is a singles star and a complete one when she’s allowed to do her thing. Pairing her up with a male duo is going to change the focus from just on her to her and her relationship with them. Just a missed opportunity given the talent that Monroe has shown herself to be. Does NXT know fully what they have in her or is Monroe not bringing it in a way she needs to in order to get the book behind her? Something is off.
AAAA ball
-Jasper Troy vs. Josh Briggs vs. Keanu Carter felt like a match between NXT stars that may not ever get out of developmental. No disrespect at all, but all three guys come across like what would amount to AAAA players in baseball if that level existed. Too good for the minors, but not quite good enough for the majors.
-Not a fan of the big eight-man tag team match between DarkState and what was the Stand and Deliver main event. Ethan Page, Joe Hendry, Ricky Saints, and Tony D’Angelo just beat the hell out of each other a couple days ago and this match didn’t have enough story that tied back to it. Page vs. D’Angelo is where things are going, but this was a silly way to get there. D’Angelo is your budding babyface champion. Why hurt that momentum by making him play nice with heels he’s supposed to hate?
-I’m telling ya, Starboy was more impressive than Lexis King during their match together. King essentially squashed him, but the guy stood out. A testament to where King is right now.
Match of the night
-Match of the night honors go to Shiloh Hill, Tatum Paxley, Blake Monroe, and Jackson Drake. Their tag match was action-packed and with Monroe getting the win, her rematch for the Women’s NXT North American Championship is on track.
-Shiloh Hill is fun to watch, but needs to tone down the crazy end of his personality. The nuance of the act is that he’s a little off, but not out of his mind cray like Paxley is. Hill shouldn’t step on Paxley’s toes in that regard and has a bigger upside with a little more balance to his character.
New champ stands tall
-Lola Vice looked like a champion out there this week. Like Tony D’Angelo, she cut a serviceable championship victory promo this week and got her next challenger, which is a title rematch with Jacy Jayne. Vice had to stand tall this week after just winning the title and she did. This was the right way for the show to go off the air.
What did you think of this week’s episode of NXT? Let us know in the comments!
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