Cook’s WWE NXT Review 8.4.26

Hey kids! Steve Cook here with you for the latest edition of WWE NXT on the CW! We’ve got a huge NXT Women’s Championship match tonight in the Underground, as Kendal Grey will defend the title against Lola Vice. Will Lola regain the championship, or will this be her last hurrah in NXT before taking her talents to a different roster? And if it has to be a different roster, why does it have to be the one that I’m not reviewing? I tell ya, life isn’t fair sometimes, but an old saying comes to mind: “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened”. I think Bruno Sammartino came up with that, not really sure.

If you already subscribe to the 411MANIA Wrestling Newsletter, earlier today you received some of my thoughts on Kevin Owens’ return, Chelsea Green & WWE Busted Open Radio. If you don’t already subscribe, do so right now! Yes, before we get to the show because if you’re like me you won’t remember to do this a minute from now.

In Memoriam: Dory Funk Jr. was a big part of WWE’s early attempts at developing future talent in the late 1990s & early 2000s before OVW got involved and long before this Performance Center business. He ran training camps at WWE’s headquarters in Connecticut before opening a school in Florida where countless wrestlers would learn tools that would make them successful at their craft. Dory was a respected grappler across the world and widely considered one of the greatest NWA World Champions of all time. Dory’s father created the Texas Death Match and was a key figure in developing his sons’ careers and a tremendous wrestler in his own right. Dory Jr. and his legendary brother Terry were the most successful brother pairing of all time, two of the most popular American wrestlers in Japanese wrestling history, and in their own ways they each paved a road for future wrestlers to follow. Dory Funk Jr. passed away today at the age of 85. I send my best wishes to Dory’s family, friends & fans.

Cook’s WWE NXT Review 8.4.26

Then. Now. Forever. Together!

We go back to last week when Grayson Waller was talking some stuff.

Jaida Parker & Thea Hail vs. Karmen Petrovic & Nikkita Lyons (w/Nattie): Jaida & Karmen start. Jaida gets the early upper hand. Karmen kicks Jaida down and tags Nikkita. Nikkita works to the upper hand, but Thea tags in and she & Jaida take their opponents outside. We go to Non-Stop NXT!

Nikkita & Karmen work Thea over during the commercial break. Thea tries to fight back, it doesn’t go anywhere and we go back full-screen. Nikkita clotheslines Thea down. Thea finally gets the tag and Jaida has to do some stuff. Gordbuster to Karmen. Nikkita distracts the ref so Karmen can hit a slingblade. Jaida kicks Nattie off the apron and gets rolled up for two. Thea hits her finish for the three count!

Winners: Jaida Parker & Thea Hail (8:39 via pinfall)
Match Rating: **
Jaida & Thea are very over with the local NXT audience, so giving them the win was the right move here. Nattie’s girls will probably have their day.

Things break down after the bell.

Myles Borne & Tavion Heights talk about their match later tonight. Tony D’Angelo is WALKING, we’ll hear from him next!

Vic Joseph & Booker T are our hosts, and they throw us to a Brock vs. Oba recap. We see clips from the Pat McAfee show where Brock says he’s retired. Well, we’ll see. I never believe anything I hear on that show, most of it isn’t true.

Tony D’Angelo comes down to the ring! He says that Grayson Waller disrespected him and everyone on the brand last week. Grayson appears and says he’s already bored by Tony’s talking. Tony says they used to be teammates back in the old days. Grayson responds to talk him down, and then there’s Cruz Montana at another corner of the arena. Cruz kept working week after week to be the man he says he is. Cruz has no other option. He accuses Grayson of rehearsing his promos and says no one notices him. Tony doesn’t care about any of their motivations; they can have a #1 contender’s match and meet him after.

Wren Sinclair talks Kendal Grey’s ears off about what they have coming tonight.

Women’s Speed Championship Match: Wren Sinclair (c) vs. Zaria: Five minutes are on the clock! Wren tries to get pins as early as possible. Shoulderblock and a facebuster get one. Wren keeps the upperhand until Zaria finally yanks her off the turnbuckle. Some strikes and an elbowdrop by Zaria. Big boot to Wren in the corner. Wren fires back. The clock ticks down. Wren with some forearms. Zaria catches her in the corner. Wren hits a dropkick. Wren hits a butterfly suplex for two. Crossbody by Wren, Zaria catches her, they tumble outside. This leads to the time limit draw.

Winner: Nobody (5:00 via draw)
Match Rating: *1/2
I didn’t love this, as Zaria should have been dominating instead of Wren to avoid the rematch. Based off of the booking later on, maybe Wren is becoming the dominant personality of the women’s division. We shall see.

Zaria F5s Wren after the decision.

OTM mend their fences before BirthRight wander in. Lucien Price wants a match with Lexis King, we’ll see if that happens.

Kelani Jordan lets Grayson Waller know that she’ll win a championship. Mason Rook comes in after she leaves and that leads to fisticuffs.

NXT Tag Team Championship Match: The Vanity Project (Brad Baylor & Ricky Smokes w/Jackson Drake & Myka Lockwood) (c) vs. Myles Borne & Tavion Heights: Heights runs over Smokes to start, hits a big slam. Borne tags in, hits a slam. Baylor tags in and gets dropkicked. Varsity Project takes advantage as we go Non-Stop NXT.

Heights slams Baylor over and tags Borne. Borne hits a spinebuster. Drake interferes and that leads to Baylor taking over. Borne gets speared in the corner and kicked down. Double back suplex on Borne. Some more double teaming and dancing.

We go back full-screen, Borne still has control until getting kicked into the corner. Lola Vice works out backstage while this is going on. Borne gets out of a double suplex and tags Heights, who goes all ham on Vanity Project. Dropkick into a powerbomb gets two for Myles & Heights. Dropkick/spinebuster gets two on Borne. Baylor gets suplexed. Double powerslams on Vanity Project. The ref gets distracted by Lockwood & Drake and sends them to the back. Heights hits the belly to belly suplex for three and HISTORY HAS BEEN MADE IN ORLANDO!

Winners: Myles Borne & Tavion Heights (10:48 via pinfall)
Match Rating: **1/4
We’ve been waiting for the split between Borne & Heights for awhile, giving them the titles pretty much ensures it’s happening at some point, probably at one of these major shows coming up.

Vanity Project loses their minds backstage, Myka gets another good look at Keanu Carver before being shooed away.

Shawn Spears & Lizzy Rain will take on Izzi Dame & Niko Vance next week. Lizzy lets Spears know that she doesn’t trust him, and Spears says she’s a smart girl.

Keanu Carver vs. EK Prosper: Carver takes Prosper down. Prosper starts jumping around, kicks Carver and hits a top rope move for two. Carver hits a dropkick of his own. Prosper sends him over the top rope and kicks him. Carver sends Prosper into Booker, apologizes and Prosper takes advantage, We go to commercial!

EK fights back as we return. He gets clotheslined down. EK hits a stunner out of a suplex. EK with a Lionsault, then a DDT! Blockbuster gets two on Carver. Carver hits a pop-up German suplex for two. Carver hits a big powerbomb for two. EK with a quick rollup for two. EK with a big dropkick, then a shining wizard. Carver avoids a moonsault and rolls Prosper up for three!

Winner: Keanu Carver (7:08 via pinfall)
Match Rating: **
I really like the story here for Carver. He’s been proven to be a hothead and not in control of his emotions. The last couple of weeks he’s been more serene, and he’s finding more success. He’s doing things like hitting rollups to get wins. I love that for him, it makes him more complete as a wrestler.

The DarkState members talk about their place here. Dion Lennox is especially pissed and wants to put Shaquon Shugars in his place.

Shiloh Hill tells us about his weird injuries and takes some shots at Kam Hendrix before rattling a lot of names off. He seems to be a weird conspiracy guy, which should make him relate even more to the Florida fans. Vic & Booker send us to a video package honoring the memory of Dory Funk Jr.

Robert Stone lets Cruz Montana know that he’ll take on Grayson Waller next week and the winner will be the #1 contender for the NXT Championship. Tristian Angels tries to impress Montana but doesn’t do too well. That could be a good match at some point.

Next Week: Montana vs. Waller! Zaria vs. Sinclair! Spears/Rain vs. Vance/Dame! Shugars vs. Lennox!

NXT Women’s Championship Underground Match: Kendal Grey (c) (w/Wren Sinclair) vs. Lola Vice: We got a lot of people around the ring, the ropes are down, Lola’s father is in attendance, let’s go! The only ways to win here are knockout, submission or referee stoppage. Lot of back & forth early. They roll to the side and break. Grey ranas Vice into the announce desk! Lola has a hold on Kendal and gets driven into the steps. Kendal runs at Lola and gets driven into the steps! Kendal seems to be bleeding from the ear as we go to Nonstop NXT!

We got folks checking on Kendal. From the look of that cut, it should take up much of this split screen gimmick. They wrapped her up and she’s ready to go! Grey fights back but Vice hits some kicks. Lola hits some suplexes.

We go back full screen, Grey hits a suplex! She puts her straps down and falls over. Lola kicks her outside, back into the ring and Lola hits a knee. Grey gets an anklelock! Lola gets out and has one of her own. Shots exchanged. Quick kicks from Lola! Hank & Tank shove Grey into Vice! That seems sketchy! Lola with a choke on Kendal, Grey slips out and gets an armbar. Grey ducks and Lola hits the referee! Lola has a choke on Kendal but there’s no referee. Wren hypes Kendal up, Kendal hits a kick, Lola with a spear but Kendal gets an armbar! Lola taps out!

Winner: Kendal Grey (10:30 via submission)
Match Rating: ***
Unfortunately for me, I was correct in thinking this could be Lola’s swan song in NXT. Good for her, and great business by putting the new dominant woman over. That’s the right way to do things.

We see some mutual respect afterwards. I think Lola was screwed here, but she’s doing the right thing and showing respect to Kendal as our live event comes to an end. So long for now!

If you’d like to chime in with your own thoughts on tonight’s show, feel free to join your fellow 411 Maniacs down in the comment section! As the legendary Larry Csonka always said: Have fun and don’t be a dick. When I’m not here you can catch me on social media from time to time. To be honest, e-mail is a better option and you can reach me at [email protected]. I’ll be more likely to respond there.

6.5

The final score: review Average

The 411

I really liked the main event as the right way for Lola Vice to leave us. The rest of the show left a bit to be desired, but we saw some things built for the future. See ya next week!