-NXT did a nice job of recapping the shock and awe of Jacy Jayne defeating Stephanie Vaquer to win the NXT Women’s Championship last week on the show. Set a strong tone for the show this week and maintained that shock feel a bit.
Where’s the chemistry?
-The multi-person match at Worlds Collide for the NXT North American Championship is hanging on by a thread at this point. Ethan Page is holding it together as best he can, but the pieces just aren’t fitting together nicely. Page, Laredo Kid, and Je’Von Evans just haven’t meshed and the fact that Rey Fenix wasn’t on the show this week due to travel didn’t help matters. No chemistry to this at all.
-WWE likes Sean Legacy. He’s an Evolve guy, but he’s getting big spots on NXT. I haven’t seen anything from him yet that shows he deserves this kind of strong push, but I suppose you want to give it someone. He blends in and there are lots of guys like him in NXT and in Evolve.
-Chase University loses again. Here’s the thing … that group has always been a group of lovable misfit losers. That’s the default, so it would be fun to see them actually run together strongly. How many times can they be down on their luck losers? Maybe one more? Two more? Like, they can play that role on the show for a long time. The interest and investment will be stronger if they actually show growth and start to win.
Thumbs up to the Rounds Match
-I’m a fan of the Rounds Match in NXT, so the showdown between Charlie Dempsey and Myles Bourne this week was appealing. They captured the psychology of the match well and Bourne winning is an easy way to jumpstart a real feud between him and Dempsey. Bourne needs more mic time. He shined on promos during the Oba Femi feud, but hasn’t had a chance to since.
-Tyra Mae Steele is going to be getting lots of wins in WWE. She had a good showing against Arianna Grace this week, but has an even stronger star power aura about her. Thumbs up.
-An impressive victory promo from Jacy Jayne. Last week she maintained her composure after winning the championship as a heel and acted like a surprised heel would in a situation like she was in. This week, she leaned into that same attitude and put the audience on blast for even thinking about cheering her. Good heat and good instincts from Jayne. The parade of challengers that walked out to make a case for a title shot was a little too cute and scripted, but it all happened because ….
Mariah is NXT
-Mariah May is in NXT. May had a fantastic debut. She didn’t say much, but what she said mattered. May was literally presented as above the women’s roster and carried herself as such. She’s instantly the biggest star on the show and should be treated like it moving forward.
-Why is Mariah May not on the main roster? It’s too crowded. Would you rather blend in with Stephanie Vaquer, Roxanne Perez, and Guilia as recent main roster call ups or just hold down another show as it’s top star until the time is right to move up? The latter all the way and that’s Paul Levesque’s May strategy right now.
-The fact that the babyface team of Evans, Dragon Lee, and Laredo Kidd beat Team Ethan Page is a tell for the match result at Worlds Collide. Page is retaining and he should. The match was quite sloppy and it wasn’t only because of the Evolve guys being involved.
-Oba Femi and Jasper Troy didn’t say much, but got their rivalry over nonetheless. I liked the tone and I’m glad they didn’t overdo anything. Less was more.
Mike Santana balancing NXT and TNA
-Mike Santana is clicking with the NXT audience and at the same time is representing the TNA brand well as it’s lead babyface. The match this week with Trick Williams was good, but it’s not time for him to win the championship. Glad to see they held off on that win for a bigger moment on a bigger show.
What did you think of this week’s episode of NXT? Let us know in the comments!
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