Leighty’s NXT Level Up Review 11.01.24

-Announce Team: Blake Howard and Byron Saxton
-Taped: WWE Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, FL

Carlee Bright vs. Lainey Reid

-There is a fan in a Cowboys jersey and that gives me a chance to mock Dallas as my 49ers own you. Reid turned to the dark side recently and it paid off by getting her a win for the first time. Lockup they jockey for position. Reid gets a slam, but a heel trip puts Bright in control. He controls the arm as the crowd starts a Lainey chant. She reverses and works the arm herself, but Bright breaks. Dropkick from Bright gets two. Something gets a little wonky and they cover a bit to get back to the spot. Bright ends up on Reid’s shoulders and she drops her face first on the top buckle. Cool! Grounded Blockbuster from Reid. She fires off a forearm and chokes on the middle rope. Forearms from Reid and then she snaps Bright’s throat off the top rope and that gets a two count. Bright blocks being thrown into the buckle and gets a roll-up for two. Reid back with a loud chop. She slams Bright face first into the mat for another two count and then hooks a reverse chinlock. Howard mentions that Saxton made his debut in WWE 15 years ago as part of the ECW announce team. I totally forgot Saxton was part of ECW. Bright starts her comeback as she hits knees in the corner and comes off the top with a head scissors. She hits a standing moonsault for two. Bright up top, but Reid moves out of the way. Bright ducks a kick and gets a Code Breaker. She puts Reid on her shoulder, but uses the hair to escapes and hits a knee. She finishes with a modified neckbreaker for the pin at 6:35.

Winner: Lainey Reid via pin at 6:35
-This may have been a bit too long for them, but things picked up in the final few minutes. The crowd was behind Reid as they seem to be buying into her new cheating ways. The crowd was rather quiet for most of the match and it hurt things in the early going. *1/2

-Crown Jewel! Tomorrow! 1 PM Eastern!

-NEXT 2300 at The ECW Arena! Wednesday thanks to that little US Presidential Election thing.

-Lainey Reid is interviewed backstage and she notes she is on a winning streak. She seems freaked out about facing Layla Diggs, but thinks Layla can’t handle her.

Oro Mensah vs. Niko Vance

-It seems like it has been a bit since Oro has been on this show. This is our Main Event as I assumed this was going to be a two match show when the opener topped 6 minutes. Vance controls early with his power as he runs Oro down with a shoulder. Oro snaps off a head scissors that sends Vance to the apron. He kicks Vance off the apron and gets a two count back in the ring. Vance goes back to the power as he dumps Oro on the apron and hits a chop-block. Back in the ring he drops a series of elbows on the damaged knee and works that for a bit. He gets a two count and then slugs Oro back down again. Heavy whip into the corner as they are working a good formula with Oro bouncing all over the ring to sell the power of Vance. Oro fires off an occasional shot to show he has life, but Vance slugs him down again and chokes in the corner with his boot. Vance with a trip and he bounces the bad knee off the apron. Mensah tries to throw a knee and that doesn’t do him any good. He does land an elbow in the corner and gets a roll-up for two. He tries a moonsault over Vance, but the knee buckles. Vance with a suplex for two and he goes for the pin again, but only gets two. Knee-bar from Vance and he stands on Oro’s face for good measure. Cool! Oro throws up kicks with his good leg to get back to his feet. They get sloppy with a powerbomb escape and that looked a little rough. Mensah hits a moonsault press from the middle ropes and makes sure to sell the knee which I appreciate. He rams Vance into the buckle and springs off the top with a kick for two. Byron notes the sloppy cover was due to the damaged knee. Mensah misses a kick in the corner and Vance hits a powerbomb for two. Now Vance is heading up top, which doesn’t seem smart. Oro springs off the middle ropes and does a flip kick to knock Vance down. He hobbles around and connects with the spin kick in the corner for the pin at 7:45.

Winner: Oro Mensah via pin at 7:45
-This was solid as they had a ready made story with power vs. speed. A couple rough spots, but still a solid match. Mensah knew how to bounce off Vance and make his offense look good. That flip kick at the end looked pretty cool as well. **1/4

-Thanks for reading!

6.0

The final score: review Average

The 411

A two match show this week and they were okay with some rough spots. Basically, just your average week of Level Up. The crowd has been a little quiet the past few weeks, so I am hoping we get some more energy as this show continues. As always an easy watch and I enjoy seeing the new faces develop.