NXT Review: 28/07

Grayson Waller Hijacks NXT, Izzi Dame VS Lizzy Rain

The start of this week’s edition of NXT got completely hijacked by Grayson Waller, as The Arrogant Aussie returned with a scathing pipebomb on the current NXT product! Not only did Grayson carry a flop for a year (that flop being Austin Theory), but he remembers when being the NXT Champion meant something, whilst Tony D’Angelo is only the current Champion because everybody else left! On top of this, Waller took massive shots at TNA, whilst also ripping into the current state of the NXT Men’s Division, stating that the Women’s Division is running laps around them (which is true)! Eventually, Grayson’s mic got cut off, but Waller was still able to make his intentions clear; he wants the NXT Championship! This was awesome; Grayson Waller’s run in NXT was criminally underrated, and it looks like he’s back to finally collect what he deserves!

Credit: WWE

Grade: A

Credit: WWE

After Mason Rook told Myles Borne and Tavion Heights that he wants to get his hands on Kam Hendrix tonight, Izzi Dame and Lizzy Rain went at it in the opening match of the night! These two have been crossing paths for weeks now, whether that be in Fatal 4-Ways or on the outside of other matches! I actually thought that this was a pretty good match, too, with a lot of back-and-forth action that saw the pace of the match much higher than others! Niko Vance attempted to get involved at one point, but he was taken care of by Shawn Spears, opening the door for Lizzy to nail Izzi with a version of Scorpio Rising to score the 3! Big win for Lizzy Rain!

Grade: B

NXT North American Championship: Myles Borne VS Kam Hendrix, BirthRight VS OTM, Shiloh Hill VS Tristan Angels

Credit: WWE

Cruz Montana (the new name for Mike Santana) shook the hands of Noam Dar and Romeo Moreno backstage, but he certainly seemed less thrilled to see Saquon Shugars! Kelani Jordan then warned Cruz not to sign an NXT contract after everything she’s been through, so Montana just left! Two former TNA World Champions there! Speaking of Champions, The Vanity Project aren’t happy with Mr. Stone handing out NXT Tag Team Title opportunities to Myles Borne and Tavion Heights, whilst Jackson Drake feels that he deserves a shot at Borne’s NXT North American Title! Keanu Carver then surprised Mr. Stone by simply asking for a match against EK Prosper next week, whilst Lola Vice was feeling confident heading into next week’s NXT Underground Match! After Jaida Parker thanked Thea Hail for having her back last week, Myles Borne made his way down to the ring as he was set to put his NXT North American Championship on the line against Kam Hendrix! In fairness, Kam had actually earned this opportunity when he pinned Myles ages ago, but this match was only happening because it was the only way that Borne could get himself and Tavion Heights to challenge for the NXT Tag Team Championships next week! As a result, the actual intrigue of this being a Title match was completely lost, as it was just a set-up for next week! Also, Mason Rook stormed down to ringside, with Tavion Heights trying to tell him to wait until after the match! Unlike usual, this didn’t hurt Borne one bit, with the Champ delivering Borne Again to retain his NA Title! As soon as the match was over, Mason Rook got his shots in on Kam Hendrix, before The Vanity Project’s attempts to jump the No Quarter Catch Crew (Borne and Heights) failed miserably!

Grade: C+

After Tristan Angels told Lizzy Rain that she needs to get better role models, Bronco Nima got a nice surprise in the form of Angel and Berto! Those guys are a part of the same faction in AAA! Zaria and Wren Sinclair were then both trying to find out who their next respective challengers are, so Stone decided to give Zaria a shot at the NXT Women’s Speed Title next week, where a win for Sinclair would set up a future NXT Women’s North American Title match! What did I just say about Borne-Hendrix?! Anyway, the crowd were then excited to see OTM in action as they took on BirthRight! The NXT Universe are definitely behind OTM, to the point where they should probably be the ones to dethrone The Vanity Project for the NXT Tag Team Championships! However, that’s probably exactly the moment where OTM will split, with it clearly being teased that Lucien Price isn’t happy with Bronco Nima’s involvement with Los Perros del Mal! Once again, that came up here as Nima got distracted stopping Angel and Berto getting into a fight with Lexis King and Charlie Dempsey on the outside, a moment that opened the door for BirthRight to nail Price to score the win! I completely agree with Booker T; this isn’t good!

Grade: C+

Kendal Grey returned to her roots ahead of next week’s massive NXT Underground Match: training with her father! Julius Creed was also here helping Kendal, with Grey knowing that she needs to be at her absolute best in order to retain her NXT Women’s Championship! Izzi Dame, Kali Armstrong, Kelani Jordan, and Reina Volcan all then got into a discussion backstage, before it was time for the Main Event match of the night as Shiloh Hill once again went one-on-one with Tristan Angels! If it feels like I’ve been speaking about these two together for months, it’s because I have! I like both of these guys; these are two of my 3 favourite wrestlers in the current NXT Men’s Division (along with Jackson Drake), but even I have to admit that it would be best if Tristan and Shiloh got something else to do! Shiloh keeps telling us that “The Fog is Coming”, but I don’t really understand what that’s going to be, as Hill keeps winning anyway, this time with a super version of his finisher! Angels needs to start winning matches!

Grade: C+

Cruz Montana Has Arrived in NXT

The final segment on this week’s edition of NXT saw Cruz Montana address the NXT Universe for the first time as an official WWE Superstar! Cruz talked about his journey to get to where he is today; the battles that he’s won for his daughter, and how grateful he is for his time in TNA! Montana now has his eyes set firmly on the NXT Championship, with Tony D’Angelo interrupting to praise the former 2-time TNA World Champion, although that won’t be enough for him to win the NXT Title! Cruz Montana didn’t agree with this sentiment one bit, but before they could get into it, Grayson Waller jumped the pair of them from behind, with Waller escaping to the outside as Montana accidentally nailed D’Angelo with Spin the Block (I don’t think his finisher has had a name change, thankfully)! We actually have a pretty decent-looking Main Event scene on NXT now that Cruz Montana and Grayson Waller have arrived, so let’s see if it plays out that well!

Credit: WWE

Grade: C+