NXT Review: 24/03

Linus O'Howell
2 days ago
5 min read

WreNQCC VS Fatal Influence

After Shiloh Hill once again shocked Mr. Stone with his comments + said he’d help Tatum Paxley out again, this week’s NXT properly kicked off with the WreNQCC taking on Fatal Influence! After Wren Sinclair defeated Fallon Henley for the NXT Women’s Speed Championship last week, Fatal Influence were out for revenge, but they also needed to be careful as Kendal Grey still has her eyes firmly set on Jacy Jayne’s NXT Women’s Championship! I thought this was a good way to start the show; the action was paced well, and both duos actually came across as credible Tag Teams! Eventually, after Wren and Fallon wiped each other out at ringside, Kendal locked in a submission manoeuvre on Lainey Reid, forcing Lainey to tap as Sinclair also brought agony to Henley (again)! After the match was over, Kendal Grey called her shot at Jacy Jayne and the NXT Women’s Championship, only to be interrupted by Lola Vice, who wants the exact same thing! Mr. Stone then showed up to say that Vice and Grey will face off in Madison Square Garden next week, with the winner going on to challenge Jacy at Stand and Deliver! It randomly seems like NXT has just dropped the name “Roadblock” for next week’s show; why?!

Grade: B-

Sol Ruca and Zaria Come Face-to-Face, Kelani Jordan VS Thea Hail

Sol Ruca was out next to cut a promo ahead of her face-to-face confrontation with Zaria! Sol brought up the fact that she’s given Zaria opportunities on bigger platforms, fighting for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships, before she rightly reminded people that she handed Zaria her TNA Knockouts World Title shot! I’m glad that this was brought up, because this being ignored was silly! Zaria then arrived to say that she’s done hiding in Sol’s shadows, that Ruca has been holding her down since day 1, and that this all ends at Stand and Deliver! The most interesting part about all of this was the fact that the crowd were cheering Zaria; I don’t think that was part of NXT’s plans! As for the segment itself, it was fine, but Sol isn’t the best on the mic!

Grade: C+

Ethan Page and Ricky Saints clearly both want the NXT Championship, with Joe Hendry stating that he will get his hands on Tony D’Angelo if Saints doesn’t get the job done later tonight! Josh Briggs was then fuming over Mr. Stone not giving him any time, before Kelani Jordan headed down to the ring to go one-on-one with Thea Hail! This match was set up on last week’s show, with Kelani telling Thea that she needs to become more ruthless (the same comments that Jordan has been on the receiving end of in the past)! However, I can only assume that this is going to be a long-term story for Thea, with Lani scoring the win here in under 3 minutes! After the match was over, Kelani Jordan continued her beatdown of Hail, with Jaida Parker running down to make the save! This was odd, but it may go somewhere!

Grade: B-

NXT North American Championship Number 1 Contender’s Gauntlet Eliminator, The Culling VS ?: NXT Tag Team Championships Number 1 Contenders Tournament (Semi-Finals)

After Jasper Troy explained why he came to the aid of Booker T last week, Shiloh Hill gave Tatum Paxley Blake Monroe’s current location, saying that he’d worked it out through something that isn’t at all illegal! Shiloh and Tatum are so bonkers that they work very well together! We were then set for a Gauntlet Eliminator to determine Myles Borne’s contender for the NXT North American Championship at Stand and Deliver! To my surprise, this wasn’t actually a normal Gauntlet Match, with a new superstar entering every 3 minutes until everyone had been eliminated! I actually didn’t mind this; it felt like the quirky kind of concepts that NXT usually run with, and the match itself began with Shiloh Hill taking on Jackson Drake! Dion Lennox and Charlie Dempsey were then the next two men to enter, before the mystery final man was revealed to be none other than Johnny “Freakin’” Gargano! Candice LeRae came out to say that she’d tried everything to fix Johnny except “bring him home”, but it clearly didn’t seem to have any effect on Johnny’s mood as The Rebel Heart just lay on the apron the whole time! Whilst this was going on, OTM showed up to cost Dion Lennox, allowing Shiloh Hill to eliminate him, whilst Hill also got rid of both Drake and Dempsey! Speaking of Jackson Drake, he looked great once again! Back to the action, Birthright attacked Shiloh Hill, leaving him vulnerable as Candice LeRae just pushed Johnny Gargano into the cover to get the win! So yes, after hitting zero offence all match, Johnny Wrestling is heading to NXT Stand and Deliver! Let’s Go!

Grade: B-

Josh Briggs was once again blanked by Mr. Stone as The Vanity Project wanted to find out who would be replacing Elio Lefleur and Eli Knight in the NXT Tag Team Championships Number 1 Contenders Tournament! A referee then told Stone that no one wants to officiate the match between Keanu Carver and Jasper Troy next week, whilst Jaida Parker got her wish of a match with Kelani Jordan in MSG! OTM then confirmed that they’re going to be facing DarkState in a 6-Man Tag Team match next week, with their partner being revealed as none other than the TNA World Champion, Mike Santana! Cool! The Culling were then set to face mystery opponents in the NXT Tag Team Championship Number 1 Contenders Tournament, and those opponents just so happened to be Los Americanos! In fairness, this did at least make sense, with Rayo and Bravo defeating The Vanity Project last week, whilst they obviously won here too! There isn’t much to say about this match; the crowd cheers Los Americanos in NXT (which I find to be quite amusing), and this felt like a pretty straightforward win for them, with them cheating to win after loading their masks! Whatever show they’re on, whatever reaction they get, Los Americanos still always cheat to win!

Grade: C+

Ricky Saints VS Tony D’Angelo

After Josh Briggs offered his services as Special Guest Referee to Mr. Stone for next week’s match between Jasper Troy and Keanu Carver, and Tatum Paxley showed up at Blake Monroe’s hotel room, it was Main Event time as this week’s NXT ended with Ricky Saints trying to get rid of Tony D’Angelo! Ethan Page accompanied Ricky down to the ring for this match, with All Ego pulling off a couple of good distractions to help Saints take control! I still firmly feel like Tony D’Angelo doesn’t fit into the story that’s been told between Saints and Page, but it must just be a case of NXT wanting to put their biggest prize on Tony D! Eventually, after being floored on the ring apron, Ethan Page jumped Tony D’Angelo to cause the DQ, resulting in Joe Hendry running down to deal with the two Heels! However, Joe rightly hadn’t forgotten about what D’Angelo had done to him recently, with Hendry flooring Tony with a Standing Ovation to stand tall over the rest! I appreciated this from Joe; it made him look smart! The show then went off the air with both Ethan Page and Ricky Saints holding the NXT Championship, whilst Mr. Stone confirmed that the Title will be on the line in a Fatal 4-Way at Stand and Deliver! Poor Joe!