NXT Review: 08/07

Linus O'Howell
Jul 9
4 min read

Ricky Saints VS The Vanity Project: Gauntlet Match

The final NXT before The Great American Bash kicked off with a Gauntlet Match as Ricky Saints had to run through The Vanity Project in order to get a shot at Ethan Page and the NXT North American Championship! The match started off with Ricky taking on Brad Baylor, I rate this guy the highest of the three, I think Baylor has a strong upside; he looks very promising! Of course, this proved to be Saints’ easiest win as the next competitor was Ricky Smokes! This completed Swipe Right, but they didn’t exactly do a very good job as a clever cover resulting in Saints scoring another win! The final challenge came from Jackson Drake, the reigning and inaugural WWE Evolve Champion, so in theory, this actually should’ve been quite a challenge for The Revolution! Instead, Ricky Saints was able to hit the Rochambeau to get the win before he confirmed to Ethan Page that their match on Saturday will be Falls Count Anywhere! The problem with this is there wasn’t any jeopardy; we knew Ricky was going to win, and it didn’t make the Evolve Champion look particularly great either!

Grade: C+

Charlie Dempsey VS Tavion Heights, Joe Hendry and Mike Santana VS The High Ryze, Oba Femi and Yoshiki Inamura Come Face-to-Face

ZaRuca were delighted about their inclusion at Evolution whilst Lainey Reid was getting cocky whilst talking to Lola Vice and Kelani Jordan! Jordynne Grace was then training before Blake Monroe called her, saying she has her own training planned, before Charlie Dempsey clashed with No Quarter Catch Crew teammate, Tavion Heights! Charlie Dempsey clearly didn’t want to let Tavion go his own way, he was vicious here, way more than he was to Myles Borne! In fact, it got so bad to the point where Wren Sinclair threw the towel in, resulting in a Dempsey win, meaning Heights couldn’t leave the NQCC! There’s actually a lot of layers to this, because Wren could’ve been doing this because she didn’t want to see Tavion in pain, but she could’ve also done this because she doesn’t want Heights to leave! Also, Tavion Heights’ reaction is something I’m eagerly waiting for!

Grade: B-

Hank and Tank were being hyped up by Je’Von Evans before Jasper Troy attacked Je’Von! It was then time for some Tag Team action as TNA’s Joe Hendry and Mike Santana teamed up to take on The High Ryze! This match was totally fine, Hendry and Santana worked well together, Wes Lee got involved at one point, opening the door for Trick Williams to throw Joe into the steel steps! However, despite all of that, Mike Santana was able to deliver Spin the Block to get the win before the Babyfaces got jumped by the Heels to close out the segment! There’s going to be a Contract Signing this Saturday, so that should be interesting, at least!

Grade: C+

After DarkState said they were going to cause suffering on both NXT and TNA, Oba Femi made his way down to the ring for a face-to-face confrontation with Yoshiki Inamura! Yoshiki said that whilst Oba is his biggest challenge to date, with the support of his fans, his friends, and his family back in Japan, anything is possible! Oba thought this was hilarious, but this seemed to fire up Josh Briggs who made it clear that he will do whatever it takes for Inamura to leave NXT The Great American Bash as the new NXT Champion! A brawl then broke out between Femi and Briggs, with Inamura eventually getting the last shot in!

Grade: C+

Kelani Jordan VS Lainey Reid, Hank and Tank VS The Culling: NXT Tag Team Championships

Whilst Jordynne Grace seemed very reluctant at first, she eventually enjoyed Blake Monroe’s little makeover session before Kelani Jordan was set to go one-on-one with Lainey Reid! Lainey Reid was adamant that she deserves a spot in the Evolution Battle Royal, so this was her chance to prove it! Unfortunately for her, Kelani is another step above, she’s one of NXT’s best, and the finish here was incredible as Jordan delivered an insane “One of a Kind” Split-Legged Moonsault onto Reid, meaning Lani was able to pin Lainey!

Grade: B- (Just for the finish alone)

Je’Von Evans was getting checked on by medical before he was once again attacked by Jasper Troy before Adrianna Rizzo returned to call one final Family meeting! Tony D’Angelo, Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo, and Luca Crusifino all said their piece, making it clear that they don’t like each other, but Rizzo said she had had enough and that next week, there will be a Triple Threat match to culminate all of this! I would assume Stacks would win, albeit this match isn’t for his NXT Heritage Cup! Jasper Troy was then adamant about being added to this weekend’s NXT Championship match which resulted in Je’Von Evans attacking back before Tatum Paxley officially joined The Culling as they battled Hank and Tank for the NXT Tag Team Championships! This was the Main Event match of the night, and it was pretty solid, Izzi Dame interfered a little bit, but she got dealt with by Sol Ruca whilst Zaria just carried Tatum to the back! There were moments where I actually thought The Culling could win here, like that was genuinely possible, but in the end, it was Hank and Tank who scored the victory with their finishing manoeuvre, and I need to see a lot more of the NXT Tag Team Champions!

Grade: C+

Evolution Summit

After Kale Dixon was shown to be too nervous to compete, Ava closed out this week’s edition of NXT by announcing the NXT representatives in the Evolution Battle Royal! The list contained Kelani Jordan, Lola Vice, Jaida Parker, Lash Legend, Izzi Dame, and Tatum Paxley before Fatal Influence came out to talk about wanting to be shown more respect! This brought out Jordynne Grace who said she’s going to take the NXT Women’s Championship at Evolution, before Lash Legend said she’s going to win the Battle Royal! Stephanie Vaquer then showed up to the biggest reaction of the night before Jaida Parker cut her own promo, resulting in a brawl breaking out! This included the likes of Zelina Vega, Candice LeRae, Natalya, Maxxine Dupri, and even Giulia! I would’ve added Fallon Henley and Thea Hail to the Battle Royal list, but other than that, this served its purpose!