-Was that a pig that just flew overhead? Do my eyes deceive me??? Kelani Jordan vs. Jaida Parker for the NXT Women’s Championship opened up the show this week and Jordan — a heel — won the match clean. This was a wonderful surprise. Jordan and Parker had a nice match together, but the clean win for Jordan was the story. As a newly crowned champion, building credibility is important and she was able to do that with the win. Parker isn’t ruined, but her journey to the title continues. Not everyone needs booking protection and this is a perfect example of how things work without it.
Not buying Wren
-As for the Wren Sinclair attack after the match? I’m not buying it. I get what they were going for and tried to present Sinclair as dangerous and serious, but there is a part of her character that doesn’t jive with that presentation. She very much comes across as Kendal Grey’s number two rather a standalone title contender. She’s out-kicking the coverage a bit when it comes to this kind of booking.
-Does anyone actually believe Myles Borne is going to apologize to Tavion Heights? That’s probably the right move, given the fact it would pull the plug on a silly heel turn, but it’s painfully obvious there is a swerve coming here and the heel turn double down for Borne will be on.
-Match of the night goes to the tag team match between The Creed Brothers and the team of Romeo Moreno and Noam Dar. Tons of action. More than that, it was nice to see The Creed Brothers back doing what they do best. They were called up to the main roster too soon and got lost in the shuffle up there. There is some tag team depth in NXT right now on the men’s side of the roster. The Creeds should be able to find themselves again in this environment.
U-Man-Ga
-Bravo, William Regal. A U-Man-Ga from him this week? Nostalgia in full force. Hell yeah.
-Man, I know it was a total heel attack with the entire Birthright faction needing to act together to take out Zilla Fatu, but huh??? Zilla Fatu is one of the most over guys that NXT has seen recently and the weakest faction in history takes him out? This most certainly ends with Fatu obliterating Birthright, but the questions around the booking remain. Why doesn’t a star like Fatu have something better ready to go?
-Real quick on Birthright — Charlie Dempsey cut a decent little promo this week. He rarely gets that type of spotlight and he was able to show a bit of personality and character.
-Jackson Drake successfully defended his NXT North American Championship this week against Tavion Heights. There’s that flying pig again! Clean finish. Good for Drake. He’s got infinite potential as a heel, but needs wins to keep momentum. Heights doesn’t lose much taking the clean pin in this one. His main feud is obviously with Myles Borne and he’ll continue to get strong television time within that.
-Zaria was more whiny than usual this week. Izzi Dame walked out and claimed a title shot and so did Thea Hail. Dame hovering around this doesn’t make any sense. Zaria vs. Hail is a traditional heel vs. babyface match that shines up both women. Dame’s involvement neutralizes the Zaria heat because everyone will want to see Zaria take out Dame.
Rematch incoming
-A decent main event, but one that was stocked with what used to be the top of the NXT men’s division. Cruz Montana stood out amongst everyone in the match and presents as a stronger star than anyone else involved. We now know Grayson Waller will defend his NXT Championship against either Tony D’Angelo, Saquon Shugars, and Mason Rook. Rematch incoming. Waller against D’Angelo is the match out of the options available that makes the most sense given the fact that D’Angelo is the former champion. Not exactly a needle-mover, though. Look for that title match to occupy a main event slot on NXT television rather than an NXT PLE.
What did you think of this week’s episode of NXT? Let us know in the comments!
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Romeo Moreno has got a lot of upside. NXT’s tag division is deep enough to dust off the Dusty cup. That’ll provide weeks of good matches on tv.
Still no movement on Worlds Collide.