Jeremy’s WWE NXT Review 6.7.22

Hey there, NXT watchers! It’s Tuesday, so it’s time for another episode of WWE NXT. I’m Jeremy Thomas, here as always, and tonight we come off NXT In Your House which took place this weekend. That event saw a new NXT North American Champion crowned in Carmelo Hayes, who will almost certainly have to deal with Solo Sikoa soon. We also had the Creed Brothers save their spot in Diamond Mine by winning the NXT Tag Team Championships, while Toxic Attraction held onto their titles and Bron Breakker did similarly. Tonight, we will likely deal with the fallout of all of that as well as Legado del Fantasma being forced to join Tony D’Angelo’s family.

But that’s not all; we also have the finals of the NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament as Tiffany Stratton battles Roxanne Perez. Plus Josh Briggs takes on Von Wagner, Tatum Paxley faces Alba Fyre and more. That’s a lot to get into and hopefully we’re in for a good time.

Here at Thomas Central, it’s been a rough week and I didn’t get to watch as many movies as I usually do. I still got a few watched though, including Men which I admired but didn’t love by any stretch of the imagination. Much better was the period crime thriller The Outfit which was a twisty little affair, while The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent was fun if not amazing. And The Contractor starring Chris Pine was a completely forgettable but watchable action-thriller. I also continued my Marilyn Monroe watch project with the iconic-for-a-reason Some Like It Hot and the well-made Argentinean true crime documentary The Photographer: Murder in Pinamar on Netflix.

Anyway, we’re gonna have a lot to cover tonight so let’s hop right in.

As a reminder, the GoFundMe for Larry’s daughters is still active and if you can make a donation, that would be awesome. Thank you so much to everyone who’s done so thus far.

* We get a recap of NXT In Your House to start the show with Vic Joseph narrating as we see highlights from the various matches.

* We are LIVE in Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center as Alicia Taylor introduces Carmelo Hayes. Hayes comes out with Trick looking celebratory.

Trick says that at last things are back to normal: Carmelo is champion again, plus more. Melo takes the mic and says he has to give credit where credit is due and says the best version of Cameron Grimes showed up and gave him a challenged. But the goal was to get him back to the championship and now he is the goal. Melo doesn’t chase dreams; dreams chase him and he’s what all the audience aspires to be. They wish they could do what he could do, but they could never be him. He’s standing on top while the losers are reaching for their goals. He is the most illustrious NXT North American champion in history and he’s got right now.

And here’s Solo Sikoa! Solo comes out with a mic and Melo doesn’t look impressed. Solo tells Melo congrats, but says nobody wants to hear all that. This is NXT 2.0 where we do less talking, more fighting. So he’s going to keep it short and sweet; everyone knows he has next.

Trick says the agreement was between him and Grimes and that’s no longer relevant. Melo says Solo bet on the wrong one. Solo asks if they see any fear in his eyes and says he has Melo’s number.

And here comes Grayson Waller! Waller says hold on, UCE! Who does he think he is? He isn’t famous enough to have Melo’s number and even if he did, he’s leaving Solo’s ass on voice mail. He doesn’t care who Solo’s family is, he doesn’t get opportunities just because he is one. He takes shots at the crowd for not having friends, and then says no one likes Solo — that’s why he’s called Solo. Solo tells him to shut the hell up and says he fights alone in the ring, but tonight he’s with them (the crowd).

Solo asks if Waller wants a fight and then goes after everyone. It tuns into a beatdown and officials come out to break it up. Melo, Trick and Waller leave as officials tend to Solo.

* We get a vignette with Von Wagner vs. Josh Briggs recapping the issues between them and hyping their match tonight.

* Earlier today, Tony D and his posse arrived. Tony has Santos Escobar open the door and he asks if Santos took care of that thing he told him to do. Santos said the papers are set for Friday. Tony asks about the other thing and Joaquin Wilde asks why he wants to rezone anyway? Tony says he has a lot to learn and tells Santos to put his ring gear on, because he has a match tonight.

Josh Briggs vs. Von Wagner

Brawl right at the bell and Briggs is pounding on Wagner in the corner. Wagner turns it around and sends Briggs into the corner, hitting a shoulder thrust to the gut. They jostle and Briggs sends Wagner into the ropes and knocks him down, then slides under the ropes for an uppercut. He slides back in and eats a big boot. Wagner pounds on Briggs in the corner, then pulls him into a high knee. Kick to the head of Briggs on his knees, but Briggs fires back and sends Wagner into the corner. He charges, Wagner moves, Angle Slam and cover for two.

Mounted punches by Wagner to Briggs, he goes for a arm stretch but misses the boot Briggs is back up to fire off with strikes. Wagner into the ropes, he catches himself and kicks Briggs into the gut. Out to the ringside area, he slams Briggs into the apron and then slams Jensen’s cast hand into the apron. Jensen slides the cast into the ring after Wagner slides in, Fallon Henley distracts the ref and Briggs nails Wagner with it! Cover for three.

Winner: Josh Briggs (3:04)
Rating: ** 1/4
Thoughts: Standard big guy match here, but cut off at three minutes. It was what it was, I didn’t love it.

* Solo is getting his shoulder iced when McKenzie asks how he’s doing. He says sometimes you get it, sometimes you don’t. Solo says he wants Waller and Melo tonight and doesn’t care if someone shows up to join him. He promises to leave both of them the way they left him.

* Earlier today, Andre Chase presented a scholarship for the 2022 to 2023 academic year to Thea Hail. Hail is excited and wants a picture, but Pretty Deadly walk up and say that’s pathetic. Bodhi says it does need something more in terms of star power and suggests they go grab their titles — but oh yeah, they lost them. PD leave and Chase U poses for the pic.

Nathan Frazer vs. Santos Escobar

The D’Angelo Family is out with Santos and Tony joins tha table. Circle by Santos and Frazer, Santos with a waistlock and Frazer hits the ropes. Break and they lock back up, Santos with an armdrag and shoulderlock, he turns it into a monkey flip. Waistlock takedown by Santos, he controls Frazer, Tony tells him that’s boring and to do something else and Frazer gets free. They run the ropes, Frazer with a rana off the ropes.

Frazer charges and Santos dodges, says something to Tony and gets knocked out of the ring by Santos. Santos yells at Tony to stay out of his match and climbs in, Frazer counters a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker into a roll-up for two. Santos kicks Frazer, knocking him out of the ring, and then dives onto him! He rolls Frazer in and Tony yells at Santos to get the dive out of his repertoire as we go to PIP break.

We’re back and Santos is in control, but Frazer fires back with shots until he gets whipped hard into the corner and comes out into a backbreaker for two. Santos with an elevated surfboard, but Frazer manages to power out into Santos kicks him face first into the mat for two.

Santos lies in wait, he takes Frazer down locks in a Boston crab. Frazer battles but gets pulled to the center of the ring. He crawls again, and gets a hand on the rope to force the break. Santos starts shouting at Tony and goes back to Frazer, but Frazer to his feet and a takedown for two. Off the ropes, Frazer with a big crossbody! Both men are slow to get up, Frazer charges with clotheslines and then hits an inverted DDT and standing shooting star press for a nearfall.

Frazer goes up top, twisting moonsault but Santos rolls out of the way and hits a high knee. Phantom Driver countered, but Escobar with a superkick. Santos is slide a crowbar but he slides it back, the distraction allows Frazer to hit a kick and climb up for the spinning moonsault for the pin.

Winner: Nathan Frazer (11:52)
Rating: *** 1/4
Thoughts: Great match between the two, dragged down by the D’Angelo antics. I see what they’re getting at here but at this early stage it’s a wee bit choppy.

* McKenzie is with Xyon Quinn and he cuts her off to talk about how Nathan Frazer, Wes Lee are all just lucky. He said that for seven days straight he had to listen and watch as Lee was praised on social media for beating him when all he did was get lucky. So he has a rematch next week and it won’t be the same result for Cinderella Man. He hopes Sanga is there to pick Wes up next week because after he’s done with Wes, he’ll be unconscious.

* Here comes the NXT Champion in Bron Breakker. Bron says NXT In Your House was a battle and says Gacy challenged him physically and mentally, making this personal. But no matter what he did, he wasn’t taking the NXT Title. He says it wasn’t just about him, it was about NXT and that this place is special. (Cue the “NXT” chants.) Bron says after he went though the curtain he could see the looks on everyone’s faces. He knows everyone wants a shot at the title and asks who’s going to step up?

“APOLLO!” Apollo Crews is back in NXT! Apparently you lose your accent when you enter the Capitol Wrestling Center in some cases, because Crews is talking without his. He gets the mic and says this is the type of energy that he has missed. The crowd chants for him. Crews says he wasn’t here on Saturday but he’s here now, and here as long as he wants to be. He tells Bron congratulations on his title defense and says he’s watched Bron’s meteoric rise to the top. He says Bron is one of the best athletes in all of WWE and agrees this place is special. He says when he left for the first time, he left way too soon and left a lot of things he wanted to accomplish on the table. But he’s back to make history. He envisions that they’ll be making history together and says until that day, he’ll see Bron down the road. They shake hands and part.

* We get a vignette previewing tonight’s Roxanne Perez and Tiffany Stratton match for the NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament finals.

* Joe Gacy is talking babble about how his servants cleared their minds and opened themselves to him, and there are people who don’t understand they’re shaping the world by maximizing their exposures. Their mesage is more important than any worldly possessions or symbols. Forget what they were called; they are the Dyad, and they will compete next week in the ring for the first time.

NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament
Roxanne Perez vs. Tiffany Stratton

Lockup to start, Stratton pushes Roxanne into the ropes and after the break shoves her down. Roxanne with a headlock that she cinches in, Stratton sends Roxanne into the ropes and knocks her down with a legsweep. Handspring by Stratton, Roxanne with a headscissors rana that Stratton lands on her feet from but Roxanne with a dropkick. She stomps on Stratton’s hand and locks in a wristlock, Stratton reverses it. She drops Roxanne to the mat and starts to twist her fingers into painful positions. Roxanne tries to get up and Stratton slams her back to the mat with a knee on her neck.

Roxanne finally gets to her feet, reverses the wristlock and flips Stratton to the mat. Stratton gets Roxanne on her shoulders but Roxanna takes her down, Irish whip reversed, more wristlocks and Stratton is sent into the corner, charging Euro uppercut. Roxanne with a slap to the chest, she grabs onto the hand and goes up top but Stratton pulls her down and she falls to the outside as we go to break.

We’re back and Stratton has Roxanne on the ground, she locks in an armbar in the center of the ring. Roxanne escapes and rolls Stratton up for two, then hits some strikes. Stratton grabs Roxy and throws her into the corner, then flips her over and hits a handspring splash in the corner. Kick off the ropes, cover for two.

Stratton puts Roxy on her shoulder but Roxy counters out. She gets set up on the top and kicks Stratton back, diving Thesz press and mounted punches. Stratton sescapes to the outside, Roxy dives on her. She gets her in, Downward Spiral, cover for two and a half.

Handspring standing moonsault by Roxy but she lands on her shoulder, she covers for two; Stratton turns it into a crucifix for two. BIG powerbomb and cover for two. Stratton goes to climb, Roxy grabs her leg but gets knocked down. Stratton goes for the top rope moonsault — Roxy moves! Pop Rocks for three!

Winner: Roxanne Perez (12:19)
Rating: ** 1/2
Thoughts: It started off very slow and repetitive but picked up okay by the end. The right person won here, but I think that was a given.

After the match, Cora gives Roxanne the contract — and here comes Toxic Attraction! Mandy congratulates Roxanne, noting the the sacrifices and all paid off. She should be proud of herself, and she has her best friend standing beside her to soak it all in. Mandy says enjoy the moment because unfortunately, it’s all downhill from here. Rose says if she thinks she’s gonna cash in the contract on her, she has a better chance of going to Raw or Smackdown — or better yet, leaving it in her closet. She says if she challenges her, she’ll fail, and says Cora had two chances and failed both times. She says if Cora thinks her skateboarding ass — and the brawl begins! Indi comes out to even the odds, and Toxic Attraction get kicked out of the ring!

* In the back, Bodhi Haywood has been attacked. He says it was Pretty Deadly. Chase says to get him some medical attention and says he’s gonna go whip PD’s asses.

* McKenzie is trying to interview Wendy Choo and Stratton runs in screaming about how her loss was unfair and she wants a rematch. Wendy tries to address the matter but Stratton blows her off until finally she turns around and gets orange drink in the face.

Pretty Deadly vs. Andre Chase

Chase attacks right off the bat and knocks Kip to the outside, then sends Elton into the ropes and tackles him for punches. He nails Kip and back body drops Elton, sending Kip to the outside. Elton sends Chase into the corner and Chase comes out with a clothesline, but he gets tripped right after by Kip. Kip tags in and starts beating on Chase, Elton in now for a boot choke.

Kip tags in Elton, who drops Chase into Kips knees. Bodhi is crawling out to head to the ring and Thea Hail tries to stop him, then runs up onto the apron to call for the tag. ELton gets in her face and gets SLAPPED! Chase takes over and sends Elton out of the ring, knocks Kip down and does the Chase U stomps. Kip on Chase’s shoulders but he slides down and sends Chase into the corner. Elton in, big kick to the head, Spilled Milk, cover for three.

Winner: Pretty Deadly (3:10)
Rating: ** 1/4
Thoughts: It was more angle than match.

* Melo and Trick are walking backstage when they walk up to Tony and his crew. Tony suggests he fall under the Don if he wants his title reign to last longer. Melo says he’s Gabagood on any offer that Tony has, so no thank you. Tony tells Melo to stay out of his way or his title reign ends in the blink of an eye.

Alba Fyre vs. Tatum Paxley

Fyre with a waist lock into some counter wrestling, Paxley with a rollup. More counterwrestling, Fyre with a crucifix for two. She flips Paxley and goes for a nearfall. Fyre with hits a forearm, Irish whip, cover for two. Big punch to Paxley, they counter each other’s whips but Fyre gets Paxley into the corner. Front suplex and a cover for two again. Gory bomb, and Fyre goes up top but Paxley rolls a bit — Fyre hits the Swanton anyway for the pin.

Winner: XXXXXXXXX (Less Than Three Minutes)
Rating: N/A
Thoughts: RIP Tatum Paxley.

After the match, Lash Legend attacks Fyre from behind as she’s going back to the back.

* Roderick Strong walks up on Diamond Mine and says that he knows he’s said some harsh things but they’re still Diamond Mine. He congratulates them on winning the titles and brings it in. In walk Edris Enofe and Malik Blade who praise their win. Edris thinks maybe they can earn a shot. Julius says Saturday was a big day and yet they still heard them talking that talk — and they appreciate it! Brutus says if they want a title shot, they’d be honored. Edris and Blade leave and Strong says you don’t hand out title matches for free; you have to earn it. But they’ve never been champions before and he has. He said they made some mistakes but are lucky to be champions. They just made their one mistake as champions.

* We get a new vignette for Giovanni Vinci. He’s next week.

Set For Next Week:
– Giovanni Vinci debuts
– Toxic Attraction vs. Roxanne Perez, Cora Jade, & Indi Hartwell
– NXT Tag Team Championships Match: Creed Brothers vs. Malik Blade & Edris Enofe

Solo says as he brought someone with him who also wants to kick Carmelo and Grayson’s asses — APOLLO!

Carmelo Hayes & Grayson Waller vs. Solo Sikoa & Apollo Crews

Apollo and Solo send the heels over the ropes before the match starts. Melo steps in against Solo and the bell rings — and Melo tags in Waller. Waller goes for some kicks that are dodged and hits a jab, headbutt backfires against him. Solo with another headbutt, Crews tagged in for a slingshot senton, delayed vertial suplex! He held him up for a 30 count before dropping him!

Solo tagged in and he nails Waller in the gut. Whip into the ropes and a back elbow, elbow drop off the ropes and cover for two. Crews tags in and hits a double hammer to the arm. Whip into the ropes, Waller holds on and hits a back elbow, he gets a stealth tag and distracts Crews so Melo can hit a headscissors facebuster.

Melo and Waller beat on Crews in the corner, Melo leaves and Waller stomps Crews down before hitting a suplex. Front facelock, whip into the hostile corner and a charging back elbow. Melo tagged in, snapmare and kick, cover for one and Hayes with a quick kick to the head. Melo with a front facelock, Crews gets up and tries to go for the tag, picking Melo up. Melo comes off the ropes and goes over the back but gets kicked down, Crews makes the tag! Solo in hot and he knocks down Waller who tagged in, big superkick and he charges in for a hip slam. Waller to the outside, and Crews dives onto them as we go to PIP break.

We’re back with Waller hitting a jawbreaker on Solo to escape a hold, but getting nailed by Solo. Solo throws Waller into Melo, which counts as a tag apparently. He yanks Meloa into the ring and tosses him, knocks him down in the corner and charges in for a hipcheck, but Waller pulls him to safety. Trick with the distraction which allows Melo to hit a Sling Blade off the ropes. Waller tags in now and Solo whipped into the ropes, Waller trips him and holds the legs as Melo stomps the head. Waller tags in and they flip positions. Solo fights back against Waller but gets caught with a trip takedown. Waller on the second rope, he leaps off for an elbow drop for two.

Waller stomps at Solo and showboats, he tags in Melo who goes for a slingshot legdrop but Solo moves. Solo with a big shot to Melo, but he gets caught with a knee. Waller tags in and lays in shots, he catches Solo and delivers knees to the head. He puts Solo on the mat for one. Waller goes into a crossface, Solo scrambles and fights and gets to the ropes. Waller with a knee to the side and stomps to the head, Solo knocked back into the corner but fights out. Waller with a waistlock to prevent the tag, Solo backs Waller to the apron and Melo knocked down. Solo gets the tag! Crews hits a series of German suplexes on Waller, dodges a knee by Melo and suplexes him! Diving splash on Waller in the corner, clothesline and a standing moonsault for two, broken up by Melo.

Solo tags in and stares down Melo. Solo with big punches, a superkick and they both go over the ropes. Waller hangs Crews on the ropes, goes for his diving Stunner but Crews catches him! Powerbomb and that’s it.

Winner: Apollo Crews and Solo Sikoa (13:45)
Rating: *** 1/2
Thoughts: Very hot main event that utilized all four guys very well. Great way to send the show out.

And with that, we’re done for the night!

6.5

The final score: review Average

The 411

For the first half of this week's NXT, it was a very meh show with only the Frazer vs. Santos match standing out -- and even it was marred by the angle. Things picked up with the return of Apollo Crews, we had a solid moment for Perez with her win after that and the main event match was great. That makes for an uneven but very watchable show all in all.