NXT Review: 26/08

Ricky Saints Starts the Show, Blake Monroe VS Kelani Jordan

The first NXT following Heatwave saw Ricky Saints arrive to start the show as The Revolution wanted to talk about his aims to become the next NXT Champion! One person who didn’t agree with this was Josh Briggs as Briggs laid his reasons as to why he deserves to be next in line to face Oba Femi! I thought Ricky’s promo was particularly good here; he’s very good on the mic, but all of this eventually resulted in Ava booking a Number 1 Contender’s match for later in the night!

Grade: B-

After Blake Monroe told Ava that she deserves a shot at the NXT Women’s Championship, Kelani Jordan didn’t agree so that led into the opening match of the night! The action here was decent; Kelani looked good, but it was once again a contest between them that involved interference from Jordynne Grace! However, this time, Jordynne chased Blake back into the ring, opening the door for Kelani to score the win with her “One of a Kind” Split-Legged Moonsault! I’m sort of surprised Monroe lost here, but she was protected in defeat!

Grade: C+

Lexis King VS Myles Borne: Blindfold Match, The Culling VS Wren Sinclair and Kendal Grey, Josh Briggs VS Ricky Saints: NXT Championship Number 1 Contender’s Match

Credit: Tuttowrestling

After a recap package of their feud over the past month, Lexis King and Myles Borne went at it in a Blindfold Match! This was hilariously dumb; I have no idea who decided to do this, but it was both the best and worst thing I think I’ve ever seen! Lexis flying out of the ring and hitting the floor hard was genuinely funny, but him tripping over the steel steps was actually pretty stupid! However, I did really like the ending as King “accidentally” poked the referee in the eyes, allowing him to pull his blindfold down to deliver a low blow to Myles Borne! The King then followed it up with a Coronation to score the win, and yeah, I could honestly give this any grade in the world!

Grade: B-

Whilst Wren Sinclair was pretty worried about her upcoming match against The Culling, Charlie Dempsey managed to find her a partner in the form of Kendal Grey! I actually thought they were a pretty decent pairing; Wren and Kendal worked well together, and The Culling are strong on the women’s side of the group! There were once again multiple stories at play when it comes to that group, with Izzi Dame tagging herself in when Tatum Paxley was on a roll, but at the end of the match, despite Paxley being locked in a submission hold, Dame decided to carry on and drop Sinclair with her finisher to score the win! On the one hand, this was very smart and well done by Izzi! On the other hand, I can see this upsetting Tatum, which is interesting!

Grade: B-

After Trick Williams said he’s going to headline all of NXT’s big shows coming up, Josh Briggs clashed with Ricky Saints to determine who will fight Oba Femi for the NXT Championship at No Mercy! This was a good match; there were a lot of decent near-falls, and I enjoyed it! Briggs is good, he’s underrated, and Ricky has a really strong presence about him! There were parts of this match where the winner actually wasn’t very clear; I could’ve seen Josh cheat to win, but that ultimately didn’t happen as Saints scored the win to book his ticket to Fort Lauderdale!

Grade: B

Oba Femi Interrupts Ricky Saints, Alba Fyre VS Tyra Mae Steele

After Jaida Parker praised Lola Vice, only for Lash Legend to talk trash again, we headed back to the ring as Ricky Saints was still in there as the NXT Champion arrived! Oba Femi cut an amazing promo, saying that whilst Ricky is absolute, he will turn him into “absolutely mediocre” by the time he’s done with him! Saints then fired back with a good promo himself before DarkState showed up, leading to a brawl which forced Hank and Tank to even the odds! This was straight to the point, it was a good start to the Femi-Saints feud, but why are DarkState here?!

Grade: B

Ava announced a tournament to determine who will face Sol Ruca for the NXT Women’s Speed Championship at No Mercy before Alba Fyre went one-on-one with Tyra Mae Steele! The crowd clearly don’t care about Tyra Mae Steele, there’s barely any reaction to her, and they were once again more behind The Secret Hervice! Whilst Alba should’ve won this match in terms of actual in-ring ability, Steele needed the win here, so she was able to grab it, but it didn’t seem to matter much as Chelsea Green attacked her post-match, leading to Ethan Page dropping Tavion Heights with a Twisted Grin! I need this feud to end!

Grade: C

Fatal Influence VS ZaRuca and Lola Vice

Credit: Spaziowrestling

After Ava told Hank and Tank that they’ll be teaming up with Oba Femi and Ricky Saints to face DarkState next week, and Jacy Jayne scoffed at Jazmyn Nyx wanting to go after the NXT Women’s Speed Championship, it was Main Event time as Fatal Influence had to get back on the same page when they faced the trio of ZaRuca and Lola Vice! This match got plenty of time; it felt like it was the last 20 minutes of the show, and that’s fantastic! NXT’s Women’s Division is the deepest in the world, and the talent involved here was very strong! I was always rave about Sol Ruca; she’s incredible, and I’m also a fan of Fatal Influence, but Zaria and Lola Vice also deserve a lot of credit because they made this match good (too)! Jacy Jayne tried to distract the referee to open the door for the rest of Fatal Influence to cheat, but Fallon Henley and Jazmyn Nyx messed it up, with Lola wrecking Fallon with a back fist to score the win! How many times do Fatal Influence lose?!

Credit: WWE

Grade: B-