NXT Review: 09/06

Linus O'Howell
Jun 10
5 min read

FRAXIOM VS Noam Dar and Romeo Moreno

This week’s star-studded edition of NXT kicked off with FRAXIOM returning to an NXT ring to take on the duo of Noam Dar and Romeo Moreno! I’m just going to say it; I’ve missed FRAXIOM on NXT! Besides their terrible theme song, there is nothing I can critique Axiom and Nathan Frazer on; they’re the Best Tag Team in the World! In fairness, Noam Dar and Romeo Moreno did hold their own here, with a post-match tease highlighting the fact that they could remain together for a while! Anyway, in usual FRAXIOM style, Axiom kicked Nathan in the face, leading to Frazer pulling off a dramatic late kickout, leading to the eventual finish that saw the former 2-time NXT Tag Team Champions get the victory! Why are FRAXIOM not doing this on SmackDown?!

Grade: B+

NXT Championship Number 1 Contender’s Matches: Naraku VS Mason Rook, Kendal Grey VS Kelani Jordan

Wren Sinclair once again explained why she can’t be in Kendal Grey’s corner tonight, whilst Kendal wasn’t having any of Lola Vice’s apology! We then got Part 1 of the “Mr. NXT” Pageant, where Shiloh Hill and Tristan Angels modelled in a bunch of different clothing! Angels was deemed to have won this round, with Kit Wilson in particular being a massive fan of his fellow Englishman! Personally, I liked Shiloh’s “Willy Wonka” attire! Anyway, it was then time to get into some serious action as Naraku and Mason Rook collided in an NXT Championship Number 1 Contender’s Match! These are two big guys in different ways, with Mason very much giving off “Bam Bam Bigelow” vibes! I also find Naraku being in NXT very interesting; it makes sense in a lot of ways, but he is an awful lot older than the rest of the roster, at least the main hitters! As expected, this match wouldn’t end clean, with Kam Hendrix getting involved, causing a distraction that allowed Naraku to hit the Abyss to score the victory! I would have to expect that Naraku will beat Tony D’Angelo at The Great American Bash; it feels like the natural move to make!

Grade: B-

Tavion Heights is still incredibly insecure when it comes to Myles Borne and the NXT North American Championship, with The Vanity Project looking to take advantage of that! Heights and Jackson Drake will battle in a Number 1 Contender’s match next week! After Tate Wilder explained why he takes too many risks, Kendal Grey and Kelani Jordan clashed, this time to determine the Number 1 Contender to Lola Vice’s NXT Women’s Championship! This was another match that impressed me a lot; Kendal and Kelani are both very good professional wrestlers, albeit in different ways! Grey is all about the technical/grappling side, whilst Kelani is most comfortable on the ropes and in the air! The fact that Jordan is still yet to challenge for the NXT Women’s Title is insane to me, to the point where I expected her to win this match! Instead, I was proven wrong as following a great sequence of reversals/transitions, Kendal dropped Lani with Shades of Grey to book her ticket to The Great American Bash!

Grade: B+

Dion Lennox VS Jasper Troy, Mr. NXT is Revealed

Part 2 of the “Mr. NXT” Pageant was all about special talents, with Shiloh Hill displaying that he can in fact solve a Rubik’s Cube in under 60 seconds, a skill that made Tristan Angels very angry (for some reason)! Angels then attempted to prove that he can juggle well, but even Hill outshone him on this, too! Amazingly, all 3 judges voted for Shiloh in this round, meaning we’re all square at 1-1 heading into the final category, “Public Speaking”! Before that, Tony D’Angelo would receive an invitation from Naraku, whilst Dion Lennox then headed down to the ring to go one-on-one with Jasper Troy! I’d originally forgotten why this match was taking place to begin with, with me finally remembering that DarkState destroyed Jasper Troy in Mr. Stone’s office last week! Anyway, in a show that was star-studded, this was definitely the cooldown match, with not a lot of action to speak of! I don’t mind NXT trying Jasper as a Babyface, given the fact that his Heel run was weak, but other than saving Booker T, there’s no reason to cheer this guy! Despite multiple titantron distractions by Saquon Shugars, Dion Lennox would still end up scoring the win here, before The Shugar Man took out both Cutler James and Osiris Griffin to send a message to DarkState’s leader!

Grade: C

After we saw a clip of Jaida Parker attacking Nattie as The Hart Dungeon, we got the final category of the “Mr. NXT” Pageant, Public Speaking! Interestingly, this segment actually took place in the NXT arena, meaning it wasn’t pre-recorded! Tristan Angels believed that he deserves to be Mr. NXT, simply because he was born to play the role! Shiloh Hill, on the other hand, is still trying to find himself, and that’s exactly what NXT is all about! Comedian Matt Mathews voted for Shiloh, whilst Kit Wilson went with Tristan (even though he did call both of them TOXIC)! The current Evolve Champion, Aaron Rourke, couldn’t decide, leading to a fan vote which saw Hill take the overwhelming W! As expected, Angels took this amazingly well, smashing Shiloh Hill in the back with a steel chair to stand over the first-ever Mr. NXT! All of this was utterly ridiculous, and I loved it!

Grade: B+

NXT Women’s North American Championship: Tatum Paxley VS Zaria

After Keanu Carver sent a warning to Mr. Stone, and Shawn Spears explained to the rest of The Culling why he’s gotten Izzi Dame in the NXT Women’s Speed Tournament, it was Main Event time as Zaria challenged Tatum Paxley for the NXT Women’s North American Championship! I’m still not a massive fan of Zaria being involved in the NXT midcard Title scene; her victory over Sol Ruca should’ve seen her levitate straight into World Title contention, but I guess this will have to do for now! Due to this being hyped as a pretty big edition of NXT, there was a reason to believe that there could be a Title change here, although taking the Title off Paxley could prove to be a mistake! Anyway, multiple Z5s were enough for Zaria to finally win Championship Gold in NXT, and honestly, I’m happy for her! Also, a massive shoutout to Tatum Paxley, as her NXT run just got better and better!