-NXT was coming off a very hot weekend thanks to the Stand & Deliver show the afternoon before WrestleMania and they did a very nice job reminding everyone of that to start the show. The video packages framed the show as massive and honed in on the key developments to set the table for the week. Very well done.
Can it work?
-Roxanne Perez cut her best promo yet as a heel this week. I’ve been down on and continue to be down on not utilizing her natural babyface charisma as the root point of her character, but if she keeps up what we saw this week, she may start to find what the heel character needs to be successful.
-As predicted, Lyra Valkyria will now enter a personal feud with Tatum Paxley and they are going to have some trouble selling this to the audience. Paxley and Valkyria haven’t been able to convey a true sense of friendship week to week and don’t appear to have significant chemistry together. Without those things, this program will likely come across flat. It doesn’t help that Valkyria is on a different level of star power compared to Paxley either.
$$$$$$
-Wellllllll, Andre Chase is a betting man, eh? I guess this was fine? Low hanging fruit, but they want a little more dissension inside Chase University before Thea Hail steps up, beats Jacy Jayne, and fully reunites with her mentor Andre Chase. Sidebar: Jayne was good in this segment. She hasn’t been smooth as a talker, but needed to be here in laying out the crux of the entire story for Chase U. She was.
-Once again, the women’s tag featuring Fallon Henley, Kelani Jordan, Kiana James, and Izzi Dame was what it was. Jordan showed a bit of improvement to me this week, but everyone else just clocked in like they normally do. They need an angle to improve whatever this story is supposed to be.
-Je’Von Evans had a damn good debut. The guy is Ricochet 2.0 in the ring, but so far has shown to have a bit more of a personality than Ricochet seems to. That will help him and elevate the ceiling he has if he ever makes it to the main roster. With Evans featured like this and Ricochet getting a renewed push on Raw, it seems that WWE is a bit peeved that they didn’t sign Will Ospreay. The thing is, as much as WWE would like them to be, neither one of their guys is Will Ospreay.
Seriously?
-Wait, Ridge Holland is back again? Already? I know he had the run-in at Stand & Deliver, but c’mon already. What are we doing here?
-A really good match between Roxanne Perez and Natalya. Of course Natalya did the job there, but had some protection with Lola Vice interfering. It’s fun to see Perez work with someone like Nattie, who can have a strong match with her. As a heel, she benefits from getting a win like that over a legend.
-As for Lola Vice, well, if there is one person on the roster that could learn something from working with Nattie, it’s her. She’ll get her chance as the two are clearly in a feud together at the moment.
-The Family vs. No Quarter Catch Crew was short. Too short. All the guys worked with a quick pace that was crisp, but it just didn’t matter and couldn’t elevate the match itself. With The Family getting the win, I’d expect No Quarter Catch to defend the Heritage Cup against someone with Family connections sooner than later.
Prime Presence
-Oba Femi can talk, guys. He’s got a very strong promo acumen and looks completely comfortable delivering them as North American Champion. This guy is authentic and the sky is the limit. Outside of Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams, he has the biggest presence on the show. We know what will happen in the match with Ivar, but Femi can show a lot of talent and strength that will continue to get his act over by working with a guy like that.
-Yeah, the Brinley Reece gimmick may be the worst in pro wrestling right now. The positive person schtick with someone that always loses is an impossible task to get over. Sorry, Brinley.
-A very good, action-packed main event between The Wolfdogs and the team of Nathan Frazer & Axiom - a Stand & Deliver rematch. A little surprised to see Frazer and Axiom win the titles here because why not just do the switch on a big stage like this past Saturday was. Heck, maybe Shawn Michaels got word that Bron Breakker was part of main roster plans and he had to pivot at the last minute. Either way, the run with Corbin was a nice final NXT chapter for Breakker. It reinvigorated Corbin a bit too. That said, the pairing was always going to be short-lived.
Whoop that Trick
-Trick Williams brought it on the microphone in the closing segment. Wow. He was down to earth, while also speaking like a human rather than Mr. Corporate Wrestler Guy. He conveyed what it felt like to defeat Hayes over the weekend and then used the momentum of that win to ask for a title match. Really smart booking to get Williams the most possible out of the win. The immediate pivot to a Hayes attack on Williams amplified the heat for Hayes and sets up a big cage match main event next week. Again, I expect Williams to win to boost momentum even further for match with Ilja Dragunov for the title in a couple weeks at Spring Breakkin.
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