NXT 2.0 is live this week from the same place! I’m your host this evening, or morning, or whenever you’re reading, and my co-host Claire is at the ready with the best blog on the internets.
Let’s talk NXT 2.0!
ON SIGHT!
Lash Legend and Nikkita Lyons have the best feud in the territory. I said I before and I will shout it as loud as I can from the tallest mountain I have enough guts to scale.
The two ladies opened NXT this week and wasted no time getting into it as Lash was on the hunt. The violence felt real and for a moment, a little too real. There was a scary spot where Lyons narrowly escaped landing on her head when Lash dumped her out of the ring.
The two women aren’t polished in the ring yet but make up for it in pure watchability and character work. Plus, it’s just an engaging feud. While Lyons got the win with her normal martial arts-inspired offense, it wasn’t over. Not even close.
Nattie, remembering Nikkita stepped to her last week, assaulted the victor with Lash’s help. Then along came Cora Jade to even those odds, and now we’re getting a tag match between all four women at Spring Breakin’.
I don’t know what else to say about this feud other than it’s just fun and feels real. And at times, that’s all I need.
Spring Gacy
The NXT crowd chanted “we want wrestling” as Joe Gacy lulled them with his promo that ended the show this week. That was the least of my issues here.
Remember, these are just my thoughts, right or wrong, it’s how I’m feeling at the time. And right now? This sucks.
Last week, we got this baffling conclusion where Bron Breakker was tossed off stage with bunch of minions in robes waiting for him. They swarmed him, he screamed, and the show went off air.
How do we follow that up this week? Gacy talks about an injury Bron suffered but won’t disclose, Rick Steiner comes out to the worst music ever and says Bron is A-OK, Gacy’s robed minions circle Rick, Bron’s music hits, and the NXT champ beats up a couple minions only to get laid out by Gacy.
What exactly was the point of last week then if we get no follow up? I complained about this last week and on the latest episode of our podcast, but this is piss poor storytelling. In fact, this entire thing between Gacy and Bron is mired in haphazard plot and even worse logic. These cliffhangers from one episode to the next mean nothing if we keep missing the interesting stuff. Or, and this is a big problem, there is no actual reason for the events.
Bron screamed for his life last week but now he’s just fine? Rick Steiner was previously kidnapped by Gacy and now he’s just cool with walking out to the ring? Actually, better put, Bron was okay with his dad walking out to the ring by himself? It’s insulting because as a horror geek, I can throw a dart and hit some pretty good plot points NXT can utilize. It’s not rocket science at all, but they’re making it that way because they refuse to do the work.
I fail to see how this angle makes anyone look good, least of all Bron. The last image of the show isn’t even worth mentioning so I won’t. But, it’s a thing that happened and was entirely meh.
Extracurriculars
The Don? Sure
Von Wagner defeated Tony D’Angelo in a match that bored me almost to tears. Von Wagner just isn’t it and it’s sad Tony D took an L here. Even though, it was with an asterisk. Santos Escobar and LdF interfered for a bit of revenge, taking out Tony’s Monty Python Goons and Tony in the process.
Later in the show, we got the names of said goons: Troy “2 Dimes” Donovan and Channing Lorenzo. Shoutout to Troy for doing the universal sign for money when he stepped to the screen. Ya know, because his name is “2 Dimes.”
Santos should make this interesting because everything he does is dope.
I want Nate Frazer
Grayson Waller wants sone of Nathan Frazer, and Tiffany Stratton wants to help. Frazer’s debut didn’t happen because Waller beat up his opponent and talked a lot of trash on the mic. Waller then ran down Chase U, trashing their school, their women, and their overall way of life.
Nathan attacked Waller while the latter was running his mouth, and now Waller is heated.
Return of the Macks
Katana Chance & Kayden Carter narrowly defeated Valentina Feroz & Yulisa Leon in an okay match. I expected more here even though it was a fun match. Chance & Carter have a really high bar while Feroz & Leon impress every time I see them. The match suffered due to a lack of time, which is a constant theme on NXT 2.0: Not enough time to really let every match shine because there’s so much happening.
Legado Takes Advantage…
What was supposed to be a trios match featuring Legado del Fantasma on one side of the ring and Briggs, Jensen & Fallon Henley on the other side. But a mystery assailant took out Jensen before the match, turning the three-on-three into a three-on-two.
Now, before we get to the match results, let’s dig into why Jensen missed the match. Earlier in the show, Jensen’s wandering eye noticed the same woman hovering around Robert Stone and Von Wagner. To be fair, she did get right in homeboy’s face, so it was hard not to notice her.
Stone and Wagner didn’t take too kindly to this, apparently, as Stone appeared on the commentary table and took full credit for the beatdown.
I disagree with the story decision here. Briggs and Henley were convinced Legado were the culprits. Rather than let that story play out and give us some mystery for next week or even the next two weeks, we immediately take the air out of that and know exactly who did it. And we know why: Jensen looked at a woman Stone believes belongs to him. Okay, cool. But there’s still mystery about that particular relationship so it’s hard to truly get engaged in the story.
LdF got the W because three people are better than two any day of the week. I just wish we had a stronger story built around all of it and didn’t let all of the cats out of their respective bags.
No Tricks, No Treats
Trick Williams is still the man. Even though he took a loss to Solo Sikoa, he came out looking like the man with the brighter future. Mostly because he sells well and makes everything, and everyone, look good.
Cameron Grimes on commentary sowed some interesting seeds as it relates to Carmelo Hayes and his best friend. Grimes said Trick is the star and Melo is not only holding him back, but selfish as well. I don’t want these two to breakup any time soon, but it looks like we’re at least laying the foundation for what their breakup might look like if it happens. Something worth our attention.
On another note, once the match ended, Grimes and Melo went at it verbally, only for Sikoa to knockout Grimes. It looked like he was aiming for Melo, but he didn’t look remorseful at all. Intrigue I can get behind.
RAID
The Viking Raiders came to NXT at the behest of Roderick Strong. Why? Strong thinks The Diamond Mine is getting soft and believes the Brothers Creed need to toughen up. Clearly setting up a moment where Strong is pushed out of the Mine because, as stated here before, he just doesn’t fit anymore. Especially with The Creed’s recent run that basically made them good guys.
Unfortunately, that means someone has to lose to them. Edris Enofe and Malik Blade, come on down!
Which sucks, because these two started with a spark. Now they’re a bit of a comedy duo and fodder for other teams. Or for Toxic Attraction. Or any woman with a pulse on the show.
After The Vikings raided all over them, the Creed Bros. showed up for a patented wrestling stare down. These two teams square off at Spring Breakin’ and honestly, I’m more interested in the implications than the match itself.
I’m Over This
I want to say something nice about Mandy Rose and Roxanne Perez. The match itself wasn’t awful. That’s about it.
Wendy Choo showed up after the match and…dropped a net on Toxic Attraction after they evaded her super soaker. Wendy and Roxanne then sprayed TA with silly string.
Yup, this ain’t it.
I wasn’t feeling NXT this week. The show kicked off with its hottest angle even if the match left a lot to be desired. And it was downhill from there with small peaks but mostly valleys. The NXT championship story is a dumpster fire. Sadly, there’s not enough extinguisher in the world to douse the flames. And since it’s the focal point of the show, everything around it suffers.
We got some prep for the Women’s breakout tournament, Kay Lee Ray is now Alba Fyre, and Wes Lee is on a journey, and that stuff was probably the most interesting.
Grade: D
That’s my grade and I’m sticking to it. Your turn.