Kevin’s WWE NXT Review 5.18.21

WWE NXT

May 18th, 2021 | Capitol Wrestling Center in Orlando, Florida

Toni Storm vs. Zoey Stark

These two had a good match on the Kickoff Show of TakeOver: Stand and Deliverbut their feud has heightened since then. After some choice words at the bell, the two went at it with intensity and Stark came out with a lot of fire. Her springboard dropkick looked very good. When Toni got back on offense, she also brought a lot of aggression of her strikes. I still don’t think she should’ve turned heel but she’s doing her best to make it work. What I didn’t really like what the ending here. They did a Storm Zero kick out and I’m so over finisher near falls. A finisher should be a finisher. None of them matter anymore, especially if you’re doing kickouts from them in a simple show opener. What I did like what was Storm busting out a SICK DDT right after to score the win in 11:30. While that was good, I do think I preferred their first match. Good to finally get Toni a win though. [***]

Toni Storm’s spotlight was immediately stolen as Franky Monet had a grand entrance and posed on stage. She debuts next week.

Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde were interviewed and said not to worry about where Santos Escobar is. They want their Tag Team Title shot but were interrupted by Ciampa and Thatcher, who say they never lost to MSK or Legado. Wilde and Mendoza agree to add them to the list of teams they beat. Thatcher says, “the cat has no shoes” in Spanish for some reason.

Earlier today, Cameron Grimes arrived and found that his parking spot was taken by Ted DiBiase. He gave his car keys to Jake Atlas to park it for him and it leads to a match between them tonight.

We get a segment of Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell getting massages at a spa. Their eyes are covered and of course, Dexter Lumis was giving the massage. However, Indi agreed with Candice that Dexter was a creep and he sadly slumped out of the room.

Time for a Prime Target on Kross/Bálor II. Their first match was very good and the best I’ve seen from Kross but I’m still not excited for the rematch, particularly since nothing Kross does interests me.

Cameron Grimes vs. Jake Atlas

Before the bell, Grimes played a video that showed some of Ted DiBiase’s most embarrassing moments but it just made the crowd chant for the Million Dollar Man. Most of this match was pretty basic and was meant to allow Atlas the chance to strut his stuff and show that Grimes was overconfident at times. Just when Grimes got going, DiBiase’s theme hit and he came to the stage, distracting Grimes to allow Atlas to win with the WWE Special Rollup in 4:51. At least the rollup was done creatively . THAT DAMN TED DIBIASE! [**]

A video package aired recapping Bronson Reed’s career and how much he has gone through to get to tonight.

Next came a sit down interview with Pete Dunne. He said he proved he can beat KUSHIDA, he can get his title back from WALTER, he already beat Johnny Gargano, and that he wants the NXT Title that eluded him. He called out every champion because he could win their title whenever he wants. Dunne said he never had a bad match and even when he loses, people leave a different person. He doesn’t set goals but noted that it was time to conquer NXT the way he did the UK.

Alexander Wolfe vs. Killian Dain

This was supposed to happen last week but Wolfe is now cleared. There wasn’t much to this. It was hard hitting and Wolfe was given a chair to use. He hesitated against his old buddy and Dain beat him with a running cross body in 1:49. Post-match, Imperium turned on Wolfe and attacked him. [NR]

Backstage, Ever-Rise interrupted an interview with Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai. They said Ember and Shotzi were the top contenders for the Women’s Tag Titles and plugged their social media show, so Raquel decked Matt Martel and made him spill his coffee.

Legado Del Fantasma vs. Timothy Thatcher and Tommaso Ciampa

An odd choice for the hour one main event. On paper, this feels like a clash of styles. The bruising tandem against the high flying, fast-paced duo. In the early stages, they quickly proved that this would be one of those cases where differing styles worked out well. Legado bumped like mad men and then used their wits and quickness to take the upper hand when the time was right. Mendoza got his nose busted and possibly broken by a vicious forearm from Ciampa, showing how violent this got at points. Down the stretch, things broke down and saw the guys play to their strengths. Wilde hit a big dive onto Thatcher but was nailed with Willow’s Bell, only for the pin to get broken up. Great camerawork there as nobody was able to see the pin break up coming. Grizzled Young Veterans interfered to jump Ciampa, setting up Legado to win with their finisher in 15:41. Better than I expected though that finish is cheap. Like, clean losses aren’t a bad thing in a competitive tag division. [***½]

Bobby Fish was interviewed and said that he helped Kyle O’Reilly more for revenge on Pete Dunne and Oney Lorcan than for friendship. He had to sit on the sidelines while UE imploded. He challenged Pete Dunne next week, which should be great.

More from our Women’s Tag Champs at the spa. They were told that Candice’s credit card was declined because Candice bought flowers three weeks ago, which triggers Indi noticing that Ember and Shotzi’s flowers probably came from her and not Dexter. Hartwell shouts that Dexter still loves her and isn’t even mad at Candice. Beth Phoenix hilariously said “Index is back!”

Johnny Gargano cut a promo about how he beats the unbeatable.

Aliyah vs. Sarray

It’s wild that Aliyah has been with NXT since Breaking Ground on the WWE Network in 2015 and is the only one still down there. She’s also still jobbing. You know the deal here. This was a Sarray showcase as Aliyah only got in a few brief moves since Sarray isn’t an overpowering babyface. She won with a high collar suplex in 2:24. [NR]

Ember and Shotzi cut a promo saying this is far from over with The Way. They also aren’t here for Dakota and Raquel jumping the line. They’re a well-oiled machine but they are fine-tuning.

Ariya Daivari and Tony Nese vs. Hit Row

Top Dolla and Adonis teamed here. They worked wonderfully together. Top Dolla’s double slam spot was awesome. These guys could work great as a big man/little man duo. Dolla pinned Daivari after a DVD style move in 2:20. [NR]

Post-match, they spit some okay bars and Swerve said he’ll be watching the main event.

William Regal was interviewed in the back. In two weeks, Legado del Fantasma will get their title shots against MSK. He will bring in more cruiserweights in the coming weeks and next week, it’s Ember/Shotzi vs. Dakota/Raquel. I love the way NXT sets up marquee TV matchups and announces them ahead of time with build.

NXT North American Championship Steel Cage Match: Johnny Gargano [c] vs. Bronson Reed

I’ve mentioned it often but WWE is known to do really poorly with steel cage matches. Here, they told a straightforward story. Johnny was trying to escape early rather than be trapped in a cage with a monster. Reed cut him off and Johnny sold the hell out of everything he was hit with. Then, Gargano found shortcuts to give him the upper hand but Reed kept proving to be too much for him. Near the end, there was some assistance from Austin Theory but I liked how it wasn’t overdone. The point of the cage is to prevent those kind of shenanigans and level the playing field, so when they’re riddled with interference, I don’t like it. Reed fought them both off and then hit the Tsunami off the cage to win the title in 15:25. A very good steel cage match that played off of everything the feud was built upon and gave Reed a shining moment. [***¾]

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

Once again, NXT delivers a great week of TV. While nothing was a MOTYC, the entire show came off well. There are two matches that stand out, a good opener, and several angles and squashes that moved things along and built for the future.