-Right out of the gate this felt like a special episode of NXT and it should have given the “Heatwave” theme of it. Why? Well, all thanks to the Tony D’Angelo and Stacks pool party video. It’s not for everyone, but fit really well to establish the show.
-Shawn Michaels has something with Trick Williams. Big time. He oozes charisma, but also has a presence in the ring as well. He didn’t beat Ilja Dragunov here, but that is certainly a part of a broader story with Carmelo Hayes. Did you see how he looked at the NXT Championship while in Hayes’s locker room? Trick is turning heel, just a matter of when.
-Ivy Nile looked good, Ava Raine needs some ring time still. Hell, she’s The Rock’s daughter, so she’s going to get plenty of reps, but just isn’t quite there right now.
-The Creed Brothers revealing they were the traitors in Schism was a bit anticlimactic. Everyone knew it was them for weeks, but they do the big reveal in a backstage vignette? A miss or a recognition that the angle isn’t where it should be. The cage fight next week between The Creed’s and Schism is a long time coming, but glad to see the feud come to an end.
-This Heritage Cup nonsense with Noam Dar and the entire NXT mid-card who can work well is pretty tired right now. Like, let’s do something else with these talent guys, eh? The match with Nathan Frazer this week went 19 min! That’s a heck of a long time for this level of a program.
-Alright, Tiffany Stratton. Time to show some range. She was the right call to become champion, but we’ve heard her cut the same promo week in and week out for months. She’s got to extend her gimmick and character to something a little more real and less Barbie-like. It’s time.
-Good to see multiple challengers present themselves for Stratton’s championship and all felt like they belonged. Roxanne Perez is an obvious choice as the next woman to go for the title, but when she does, she needs to win it. It’s too early for Stratton to lose it, so look for Gigi Dolin to get the challenger spot.
-Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio are just a blast. Walking around like they were above NXT fit them perfectly and the finish of the match was well-booked. Raquel Rodriguez costing them the match helps build the feud with Ripley on Raw, gives them a plausible out for losing, but at the same time was a definitive enough loss to give Dragon Lee and Lyra Valkyria a boost.
-Baron Corbin and Von Wagner wrestled. Yawn.
-Will Thea Hail allow herself to be twisted by the mean girl, Jacy Jayne? I’m in on this. NXT has a big pop waiting for them when Hail forgives Andre Chase and reunites officially with Chase U. This is a nice pitstop on the way to that.
-A good main event. I thought it could have clicked into a higher gear a couple times, but hey, it’s a TV main event and now Hayes and Wes Lee have somewhere to go if they rematch down the road.