It’s always good to see NXT on the road, performing in front of different crowds and in bigger venues. There will be approximately 4,100 fans in attendance at the H-E-B Center in Cedar Park, Texas, so it will be fun to see the NXT superstars get a well-deserved opportunity to show off a bit. Yes, Cedar Park, and not Austin, like WWE is presenting. Yeah, yeah, yeah… Cedar Park is a suburb of Austin, but the fact of the matter is that it’s still Cedar Park that the show is taking place in. Let’s not waste any more time, though, because we have some fun stuff to get to.
Gallus (Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) vs The Family (Tony D’Angelo & Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo) – NXT Tag Team Title Match
The build to this one has been… a thing. I think people are letting their love for Tony D’Angelo blind them to the fact that this entire storyline, and how it has played out, has been mind-numbingly stupid. You need a lot of suspension of disbelief when it comes to watching pro wrestling, but this has been excessive.
This was a fun, crowd-pleasing main show opener. It wasn’t anything that is going to be on year-end lists, but still fun. All four men had their opportunities to shine, but I want to give special kudos to Stacks. He has come a long way in a relatively short amount of time. When WWE had to release “Two Dimes” Donovan damn near as soon as he and Stacks were introduced to NXT, it looked like Stacks could’ve been dead in the water, but he has worked hard to improve and remain a key piece to one of NXT’s biggest storylines.
Again, this was fun, but nothing necessarily spectacular. 3.25 Stars, which is still pretty good.
Roxanne Perez vs Blair Davenport – “Weapons Wild” Match
The build to this has truly defined an “on sight” feud, with both women being attacked and the fights happening any and everywhere imaginable. Therefore, it makes complete sense that this match got underway immediately, without having to wait for any introductions and pageantry. I like it. It’s something different.
Roxanne’s mom and younger sister were in the front row, and I love what their presence added. It was already a personal feud, and that only amplified that. Davenport talking trash to Roxanne’s sister and making her cry was good heel work, reminiscent of when Sasha Banks made Bayley’s superfan, Izzy, cry at Takeover: Respect in 2015.
This was a good, WWE-style brawl. Obviously, you’re not going to see both women busted open and bleeding all over the place, but both Roxanne and Blair kept the proper level of physicality here. Lots of weapons were used, and both women looked strong here. It’s hard to ask for much more than that. 3.5 Stars
Gable Steveson vs Baron Corbin
This is easily one of the more highly anticipated debut matches in WWE history, and that means in wrestling history, in general.
A pretty noticeable “let’s go, Corbin” chant to start things off. Iiiiinteresting. Those chants were met with the dueling “Corbin sucks” chants, but the pro-Corbin ones were louder. That was immediately followed by boos when Steveson went on offense. I’m not sure what I was expecting from the crowd here, but Corbin being the clear crowd favorite wasn’t it.
I’m not even sure how to grade this one, so I don’t think I will. The match wasn’t very long, and it ended in a double countout as both men were too busy fighting at ringside to get back in the ring. That crowd reaction is going to be the biggest takeaway here. As more happened, Gable was booed more, while Corbin’s face pops got louder. It was smart to have Steveson’s debut not get too crazy, but it’s pretty clear that the company doesn’t feel he’s fully ready for much just yet. He looked good on offense, but that offense was pretty much just punches and suplexes. It looks like this feud is going to continue, though, so perhaps we won’t have to wait much longer for Gable’s next match. The company might have to switch things up and make him a heel, though. I can’t imagine that his crowd reactions are going to get better from here.
Like I said, there just wasn’t enough here to properly grade. The match was barely six minutes long, and a lot of that six minutes was spent moving slower than usual, allowing for Steveson to adapt. We didn’t even get to see enough to make proper judgment about Gable’s in-ring future.
Dominik Mysterio vs Wes Lee vs Mustafa Ali – Triple Threat Match for the NXT North American Title
To the surprise of nobody, Dom receives the loudest crowd reaction of anyone so far tonight, and it is all negative. It continues to be crazy watching and listening to live crowds react to this man. He really is the most hated man in all of wrestling right now. It works in the other direction, too, though, because it makes anyone who opposes him a lot more popular.
Man, this match was put together damn near perfectly. Lee and Ali handled the bulk of the action, and they both looked great in doing so. Dom continues to be great in his role, being an insufferable, sniveling little shit. Even Rhea Ripley looked great here, continuing to stand up to the men on the roster, and being the brains and brawn behind Dom’s success. I know that a lot of people are still against Dom’s success, but it continues to make for entertaining television, and that looks to continue on moving forward. Make him the champion for the rest of time. As long as he keeps getting booed out of venues across the globe, WWE should capitalize on that. 3.5 Stars
Tiffany Stratton vs Thea Hail – Submission Match for the NXT Women’s Title
The champion has a Barbie-themed tron and has Barbie-themed ring attire. Makes sense to me. If there’s a Pro Wrestling Barbie, it’s Tiffany Stratton.
Early on in the match, Stratton even received some “let’s go, Barbie” chants. This is a bit of a bizarro crowd. Well, other than with Dominik Mysterio, that is.
The match wasn’t always the prettiest thing, but I really enjoyed it. It’s the Match Of The Night so far. Stratton continues to be on the “next Bianca Belair” path that I proclaimed her to be on a while ago. Hail continues to be a whiz kid who has an insanely bright future if she continues improving the way she has. Lots of stuff to enjoy here, with a finish that potentially opens the door for some drama within Chase U. 3.75Â Stars
Carmelo Hayes vs Ilja Dragunov – NXT Title Match
This match has been in a weird spot as far as build is concerned. With Bron Breakker still around and doing his thing, and with The Judgment Day having a bit of a mini-takeover of NXT, it almost seems like Melo, Ilja, and the NXT Championship have taken a bit of a backseat recently.
This was a great match. Dragunov was a different type of opponent for Melo, and the challenger really worked a slow, methodical style. At least to start. As mentioned on commentary, this was Dragunov taking Melo into the deep waters and trying to drown him. If there’s one way to keep a high-flying wrestler grounded, it’s to beat the shit out of him. To Melo’s credit, though, he was a lot more physical than he usually is, so he was able to dish out an ass whooping as well as receive one.
You could pretty much split this up into two halves. The first half was largely Dragunov exerting his will, dropping some heavy bombs on the champion, while the second half saw the pace pick up a lot, and it turned into a lot more of a back-and-forth battle. I like that this was able to showcase an entirely different side of Melo, letting him show that he’s capable of having a special match with any opponent of any style. Even if you don’t watch the rest of the show, you should do yourself a favor and check this one out. 4.5 Stars, and honestly, I think I might be going a bit too low there. A second viewing of this one might see that rating get bumped up a bit.
Not a Show Of The Year contender, but there wasn’t anything to really complain about. A fantastic main event, and a bunch of solid matches to round things out. I’m fine with that.
