NXT Review: 13/05

Myles Borne Starts the Show, Oba Femi VS Charlie Dempsey

No Quarter Catch Crew came out at the start of this week’s NXT as Myles Borne cut a fantastic promo talking about his disability and how it affects him! Myles said that he’s fighting for every kid that goes through struggles every day, and he wants to be judged by his ability, not his disability! That was a pretty powerful line, and it was then interrupted by Ethan Page who mocked Borne and said he’s not “Championship material”! All Ego then challenged Myles Borne to put his Number 1 Contendership on the line, and for some reason, Borne accepted! I really enjoyed this segment a lot, I felt Myles’ promo, it was really strong and deep, and Ethan Page is just a brilliant Heel!

Grade: A-

This then led into the first match of the night as Oba Femi came down to take on Charlie Dempsey! Charlie had a gameplan of working down Oba with technical submissions, and in fairness, his plan worked well to begin with! However, this is Oba Femi, The Ruler, the NXT Champion, and he was not going to be outclassed here! After showing some amazing feats of power and strength, Femi was able to drop Dempsey with a Fall From Grace to get the win as he stared down Myles Borne afterwards!

Grade: C+

Tony D’Angelo VS Wes Lee, Stephanie Vaquer Gets Interrupted, Ethan Page VS Myles Borne: NXT Championship Number 1 Contender’s Match

Thea Hail and Karmen Petrovic were walking backstage as Tatum Paxley decided to destroy her dolls and rip into Thea! Ethan Page then had an interesting interaction with Ricky Saints before Tony D’Angelo clashed with Wes Lee! This was a decent match between two of the more star-studded NXT Superstars, it flowed well, and it was good for what it was! Both guys came close to getting the win at different points, especially D’Angelo, but Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo then appeared on the screen to reveal to The Don that he’d found the safe house! This distracted Tony D enough for Wes Lee to hit the Kardiak Kick to get the win!

Grade: C+

OTM had another video package hyping up their return before Stephanie Vaquer came out to cut a promo on NXT Battleground! I think Stephanie struggled a bit with her lines here, understandable given English isn’t her first language, but I actually really liked the fact that she transitioned into speaking Spanish for a little bit, that was really good! However, Fatal Influence clearly didn’t feel the same way as both women wanted to stake their claim for a shot at the NXT Women’s Championship, but this just brought out Jordynne Grace who wants to protect Vaquer heading into Battleground! This segment was okay, nothing more, nothing less, but it did set up the show’s Main Event!

Credit: WWE

Grade: C+ (Because of Stephanie)

After Myles Borne told Charlie Dempsey to stay in the back (Charles was pretty beaten up), the Women’s LFG Finalists were getting some advice from The Undertaker and Bubba Ray Dudley before the likes of Izzi Dame, Nikkita Lyons, Lash Legend, and Lola Vice all made it clear that they won’t be stepping aside for the winner! Tony D’Angelo then dragged a cameraman into the back of his car as he rushed off to the safe house before Ethan Page tried to steal away Myles Borne’s opportunity at the NXT Championship! This was a decent match, nothing too special, but there were some good moments! I like Ethan Page a lot, I think he’s absolutely terrific, and Myles Borne has a massive upside to him too! Whilst the result was pretty obvious, this was a pretty big win for Myles as he pinned a former NXT Champion, and that’s actually pretty cool!

Grade: C+

Thea Hail VS Tatum Paxley, TNA World Championship Contract Signing

Je’Von Evans wasn’t particularly impressed with the way that Ashante “Thee” Adonis was talking to him, and this led Ricky Saints to saying the winner could face him for the NXT North American Championship down the line! Before that, Tony D’Angelo arrived at the safe house, but he was attacked by Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo who is clearly one step ahead right now before Thea Hail went one-on-one with Tatum Paxley! I like both of these women, I think they’re very good in NXT terms, and I think this was a solid match. Thea tried her best to take down Tatum with a Kimura, but Paxley seemed even more unhinged than usual as she racked the eyes of Hail to cause the DQ! Everything here from Paxley was good, I’m intrigued to see where she goes from here!

Grade: C+

The next segment saw Joe Hendry and Trick Williams meet in Ava’s office to sign the contract for their upcoming NXT Battleground clash for the TNA World Championship! This was a really good segment in my opinion, Joe brought up great points as to how much TNA is thriving right now whilst Trick said the match at Battleground is a big deal because he’s in it! Williams said that he’s in fact bigger than NXT and TNA combined, and then he called himself “Hollywood Trick”, and I am honestly so glad that that nickname seems to be sticking! Overall, both men signed the contract for Battleground, and I’m really looking forward to this bout!

Credit: WWE

Grade: B

Stephanie Vaquer and Jordynne Grace VS Fatal Influence

After Shawn Spears got into the mind of Josh Briggs and Chase University got its’ first match back against OTM (Andre Chase was not happy), it was Main Event time as Stephanie Vaquer and Jordynne Grace teamed up to take on Fatal Influence! I enjoyed this match, it was definitely the best match of the night, and I was once again really impressed by both Stephanie and Jordynne! Fatal Influence also deserve praise, both Fallon Henley and Jacy Jayne are very good veteran performers, in fact all four women are, but there could only be one result here! Ultimately, despite Grace taking most of the punishment in order to protect Vaquer, The Juggernaut was able to nail Beast Mode to get the win as she looks to capture the NXT Women’s Championship at Battleground! Before the show could end, though, Ethan Page laid out Ricky Saints, so it looks like we’re getting another match between those two next Saturday!

Credit: WWE

Grade: B-