Pantoja’s NXT Battleground 2024 Review

NXT Battleground

June 9^th, 2024 | UFC Apex in Enterprise, Nevada

A day late but let’s get it Uce.

I respect that our host, Sexyy Red, opened by basically dropping an F bomb and doing a split with some twerking thrown in for good measure.

NXT Women’s North American Championship Ladder Match: Fallon Henley vs. Jaida Parker vs. Kelani Jordan vs. Lash Legend vs. Michin vs. Sol Ruca

Outside of Joshi promotions, Shawn Michaels is the best around when it comes to booking women. HHH and certainly not Tony Khan can match him these days. He’s made all of these ladies (most of whom are still very new) feel important in some fashion. As usual in a match like this, they got off to a hot start with each woman getting a moment or two to showcase their unique brand of athleticism. That meant we got a handful of creative moves that felt specific to each woman, which is welcome. I prefer that to paint-by-numbers spots that so many ladder matches have these days. That included Parker crushing Kelani on a ladder with her ass. If it works for Toni Storm, might as well try it too. I loved Lash Legend getting the powerhouse spots and want to point out that she has improved greatly over the past year or so. The spot where everyone press slammed her onto a ladder outside was a dope way to get her out of the fray for a bit. The Sol Snatcher is a move I feel like I’ll always pop for and the two she hit here were great. Jordan hit One of a Kind (split-legged moonsault) on Michin on a ladder and then pulled down the title to win in 12:23. A super fun match though a handful of spots weren’t as crisp as they’d have liked. Still, that was a hell of an effort for a match filled with mostly new talents. [***¾]

NXT Tag Team Championship: Axiom and Nathan Frazer [c] vs. The OC

It is next to impossible to get excited for an OC match. Remember when New Japan fans believed this was a top tag team in the world? Anyway, this followed a formula that made sense. The champs brought the energy and excitement while the veteran challengers slowed the pace, acted like bullies, and had to be overcome. It’s a simple formula and not the most fun to watch but it makes sense and works well enough. Axiom and Frazer used their quickness to turn the tide and when Gallows got trapped in a sleeper by Axiom, I actually believed that might be it. That speed helped them take out Gallows, leaving Anderson to take a super Spanish Fly from Axiom and a Phoenix Splash from Frazer at the 11:37 mark. Shockingly, the best OC match I’ve seen in years. Axiom and Frazer are an enjoyable team that works well together. [**½]

Underground Match: Lola Vice vs. Shayna Baszler

If you remember that weird Raw Underground era, the rules here are that there are no ropes and you can only win via submission or knockout. Also, various wrestlers/trainees are hype people/lumberjacks. Shayna threw Lola around with ease in the early stages, making this look like it would be one-sided. Lola used a rear naked choke to swing the momentum a bit but Shayna fought her way free by sending them both to the floor outside. The fight spilled over to the announce table where Shayna wailed on Lola but missed a charged and hit her knee on the table. Coming into this, the idea was Lola’s strikes vs. Shayna’s submissions but Lola did her fair share of submission work. Shayna missed another knee and took a spinning back fist that knocked her to the floor. Lola survived one more rally and sent Shayna into the steel steps. She capitalized inside with another fist and laid more shots onto her until the match was stopped in 10:17. A different kind of match but one that mostly worked for me. [***]

NXT North American Championship: Oba Femi [c] vs. Joe Coffey vs. Wes Lee

Gallus has been among my least favorite acts in wrestling since they debuted, Wes Lee is very good at what he does, and Oba Femi gives me vibes that he could be The Guy down the line. The challengers jumped Oba to start but he got going by suplexing both of them together and he seemed unstoppable afterward. Then, we got one of the best spots I’ve ever seen in a wrestling ring, which is saying something. Oba shoved Coffey off on a superplex attempt only for Wes to climb him. Oba LAUNCHED Wes from the top at Coffey and you really have to see it to appreciate it. That was kind of the trend for this match. Joe and Wes would do some wrestling with Oba down and once the big man was up, he tossed people around with relative ease. Gallus got involved and took Oba out, leaving it down to the challengers. Joe nearly won but Wes Lee hit his finisher only for Gallus to pull the referee out, so he took them out with a tope con hilo. That left Oba to come back in where he hit Joe with a release powerbomb, caught Lee with one, and then hit another on Joe to retain in 12:03. Oba Femi is a star. The Coffey/Lee stuff without him wasn’t nearly as interesting. [***½]

NXT Women’s Championship: Roxanne Perez [c] vs. Jordynne Grace

A first as the NXT Women’s Champion faces the TNA Knockouts Champion. Honestly, this should’ve headlined. Grace obviously overpowered Perez at the start and when Perez slapped her, the TNA champion responded with some strong offense. Perez had to resort to things like eye rakes to get any momentum going. Grace kept coming back though and the Bret’s Rope TKO that she pulled out was pretty sweet and deserved a better reaction from the crowd. Their chemistry was clicking here with Perez bumping like a madwoman and Grace playing the powerhouse so well. Even a simple clothesline looked vicious and folded Perez. Grace even pulled a Bryan Danielson and started kicking Perez’s head in. When she tried to deadlift Perez, the counter into an armbar over the ropes was well executed and clever. Grace countered Pop Rox and both women are down, triggering the arrival of Tatum Paxley to steal the Knockouts Title. Out came Ash by Elegance, formerly known as NXT’s Dana Brooke, to fight her off only for Grace to level them both. Back inside, Perez countered her finisher into a cutter and hit Pop Rox to retain after 13:56. One hell of a match and I’d love to see a rematch at some point. They clicked well, I liked Perez being the underdog but a heel who resorts to underhanded tactics, and we need more crossover stuff like this. [****]

NXT Championship: Trick Williams [c] vs. Ethan Page

I like Ethan Page. Interviewed him once, talked to him on Twitter, and met him at Toyhio. He’s a cool dude with a lot of charisma and I wish AEW/ROH did more with him, so I’m intrigued to see what he does in NXT. Page came out as the aggressor which makes sense as he’s out to cut corners and win as soon as possible. Of course, Trick withstood that and did the heroic babyface stuff while Page cut him off at every turn. Like the Tag Title match earlier, it followed a simple formula that works well enough. The problem was that it all felt kind of hollow. The crowd wasn’t all that into it unless Trick got something going and even then it wasn’t the way it has been for his bigger matches. I think the issue was that Page only just debuted so this felt rushed and it had no heat. Trick kicked out of the Ego’s Edge, causing Page to argue with the referee which allowed Trick to retain via Trick Shot in 12:12. That was largely fine but it had no heat. [**¾]

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

Nothing bad, two solid enough matches, a unique Underground match, the two North American Title bouts were very good, and Perez/Grace ruled. Plus, at under two and a half hours, this was an easy watch and that’s important to me.