NXT Review: 20/05
- Linus O'Howell
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
Je’Von Evans VS Sean Legacy VS Ashante “Thee” Adonis
After Ricky Saints arrived at the arena and joined commentary, the final NXT before NXT Battleground kicked off with a Triple Threat match between Je’Von Evans, Sean Legacy, and Ashante “Thee” Adonis! This was a really good match, it was great way to start the show as it was just 3 men all going at it to stake their claim to be next in line for the NXT North American Championship! We all know how brilliant Je’Von Evans is, he has to be NXT Champion down the line, and Ashante “Thee” Adonis has always been good in the ring, it’s just his character that lacks anything great! However, this was my first time seeing Sean Legacy in action, and my gosh did he impress me! I don’t think Sean put a foot wrong, he was both powerful and agile, and I was overall very impressed! Ethan Page decided to show up late in the match and attack Ricky Saints, starting a brawl that Je’Von Evans wiped them all out with, but this opened the door for Legacy to his finisher onto Adonis to pick up a major victory on debut!
Grade: B
Trick Williams’ Live Rap Performance, Josh Briggs VS Shawn Spears, Chase University VS OTM
Ava officially welcomed the winners of Season 1 of “LFG” to NXT before we got a video package for Jordynne Grace! Lola Vice then had a run-in with Fatal Influence, setting up a match between her and Fallon Henley for later in the night before Trick Williams arrived for his Liv Rap Performance! Trick’s song was called “Average Joe”, and it was utter madness honestly! I have no idea who signed off on this, on the one hand this was the worst thing I’ve ever seen, but on the other, it was so funny that I enjoyed it a lot! Trick had a great line about Joe stealing his spot in the Royal Rumble, he also took some other shots at TNA and its World Champion, and yeah, Hendry is an “Average Joe” apparently, whatever that means!
Grade: B-
After a backstage promo, Josh Briggs headed into the next match alone as he took on Shawn Spears! Despite Shawn being the veteran, Josh was the more dominant force here, using his size to his full advantage! However, the whole story surrounding Briggs is he is now alone following Yoshiki Inamura’s departure back to Japan! However, Spears isn’t, and with the help of The Culling, The GPS was able to get the win before they attacked Briggs some more, only for Hank and Tank to run down and make the save! There’s actually going to be a 6-Man Tag Team match between these lot this Sunday, and that feels very random!
Grade: C+
Kelani Jordan made it clear to Sol Ruca that she will earn her way to NXT Battleground before Thea Hail tried to reconcile with Tatum Paxley, only for Jaida Parker to wipe her out! The new look Chase University were then ready for their first match as Kale Dixon and Uriah Collins took on the returning OTM! As expected, OTM dominated this match as they need to be repositioned as a threat in the Tag Team Division whilst Chase U are a bit of a joke right now! In fairness, Dixon and Collins did find a little bit of momentum, but that went away quickly as OTM were able to pick up a relatively straightforward win! There honestly wasn’t really anything to this!
Grade: C
Oba Femi and Myles Borne Come Face-to-Face, Fallon Henley VS Lola Vice, Kelani Jordan VS Zaria
It was then time for a face-to-face confrontation between Oba Femi and Myles Borne ahead of their upcoming NXT Championship match at NXT Battleground! Oba called Myles both brave and stupid, but he’s also someone that clearly is a nice guy! However, this isn’t a Disney Movie, good things don’t always happen to good people, people don’t get their happy ending, and that’s exactly what’s going to happen to Borne on Sunday! Myles clapped back, saying he’s been underestimated and doubted his entire life, even by NXT talent scouts, but he’s here, and he’s only one win away from making history! After Myles left, Jasper Troy attacked Oba Femi from behind, and the NXT Champion refused any help from his upcoming challenger! This was another strong promo segment from Myles Borne, he’s doing a great job, and Oba Femi is Oba Femi, he’s just the best!
Grade: B
Ava was sick and tired of Ricky Saints and Ethan Page going at it so she booked a match between them for the NXT North American Championship for next week’s show before Tony D’Angelo had a video promo talking about the betrayal from Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo! What I got from this whole segment is it’s crazy to think just how long The D’Angelo Family storyline has been going on for! Lola Vice then made her way down to the ring as she was ready to go one-on-one with Fallon Henley! I enjoyed this match, I thought it was good, I like Fallon Henley, I think she’s one of the better performers in NXT, and Lola Vice has definitely gotten better since she first walked into the NXT Performance Center! Jacy Jayne was yelling at Fallon for the most part from the outside, telling her what she needed to do (in a very passive-aggressive way), and in the end, the “two leaders” of Fatal Influence got in each other’s way, leading to Lola nailing Henley with a back fist to get the win!
Grade: B-
Stephanie Vaquer had a sit-down interview with Kelly Kincaid where she talked about her struggles in the early part of her Wrestling career, but how it was all worth it to get to where she is right now! Stephanie praised Jordynne Grace’s domination of TNA, saying she’s her toughest challenge to date, but whilst Grace dominated Titles, Vaquer conquered Continents! I’m actually really excited for this match on Sunday, I could see it going either way honestly! DarkState then cut a promo of their own saying their next target won’t know when they’re coming before it was time for the Main Event match of the night as Kelani Jordan tried to earn herself a shot at the NXT Women’s North American Championship by taking on Zaria! This was a decent match, it wasn’t as good as the match before, but I still felt both women did an alright job! I think Kelani is getting to the point where she needs to either turn full-on Heel, go after the NXT Women’s Championship, or just go up to the Main Roster whilst Zaria is very much in a holding pattern until she turns on Sol Ruca! Speaking of Sol Ruca, Zaria accidentally knocked her friend to the outside at the end of the match, opening the door for Jordan to sneak a roll-up victory and earn herself a spot at Battleground!
Grade: C+
Joe Hendry’s Live Concert
The ending to this week’s NXT saw Joe Hendry perform one of his famous Live Concerts! This was actually brilliant, especially the part where Joe showed old footage of Trick Williams getting scared by Dexter Lumis back when he was just Carmelo Hayes’ sidekick! The chorus was also pretty funny, Melo will always live rent-free in Trick’s head because Williams came storming out to attack Hendry, only for the TNA World Champion to smash his knee with a guitar before he delivered a Standing Ovation to stand tall! Honestly, both of the concerts were quite funny, but this was 10 times better!
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