Leighty’s NXT Level Up Review 2.18.24

-Hollywood Rock is back and that makes for great TV. Even if the point he was trying to make doesn’t really hold any water as Cody earned his rematch. Good thing he is a heel and can lie through his teeth. Oh, and thanks for reminding my 49ers lost last week. I almost went an hour without remembering and going over it in my head. Stupid punt! Let’s get to it!

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

Brooks Jensen vs. Je’Von Evans

-It’s debut time for Evans. Only 19 years old! Wow! Let’s go young man! They announcers refer to him as a prodigy and it seems he calls himself The Tupac of this generation. Jensen controls the arm to start and breaks Evans down to the mat. Evans kips up but gets mowed down with a shoulder. Evans flips out of a move and gets an armdrag. He starts flying all over the ring and yells “that boy is bouncy,” as he springs off the ropes. The crowd actually gives him a standing ovation. The man is an athlete, and I am going to enjoy watching him develop on this show. Jensen backs Evans into the corner and throws some forearms. Dueling chant from the crowd. Jensen with a suplex and Evans sells the pain well. Jensen buries a knee in the back and hooks a chinlock. Heavy forearm to the base of the skull from Jensen. Basement clothesline from Jensen as I am digging the aggression. Reverse chinlock from Jensen as the crowd tries to rally Evans. Jensen doesn’t care about that and just grinds Evans to the mat. That’s right Brooks, screw this crowd! Evans back with heavy forearms of his own and they start trading blows. This crowd is electric for this match. Evans ducks a clothesline and hits a series of running forearms. Evans with a springboard clothesline for two. The crowd really wanted that! “That was three,” chant from the crowd. Jensen with a roll-up for two that Evans counters for two. Another roll-up by Evans for two. He tries to come off the middle rope with a crossbody, but Jensen catches him with a powerslam. Jensen head sup and drops the flying knee for the pin at 6:23.

Winner: Brooks Jensen via pin at 6:23
-This was enjoyable thanks to the crowd. I am digging Jensen’s gimmick more and more each week and I appreciated the aggression he showed this time. Evans didn’t get to do much, but the crowd loved him and I want to see more. **1/2

-Izzi Dame and Kiana James get promo time backstage!

-Elimination Chamber! Rhea Ripley! Australia! One week from tomorrow or I guess today if you are in Australia. For some reason I though the show was this weekend.

-Love and WWE: Bianca and Montez is on Hulu. I haven’t watched it yet, but will try this weekend.

-So this is where I lost the live feed and now I am picking up the show from Hulu on Sunday morning.

-Since this is the Hulu version they always include something from RAW to get the run time over 50 minutes. This week it’s not a match and instead the entire Cody promo that included Seth Rollins. Yep, all 17 plus minutes of it!

-Man, I thought the live feed of Level Up was short and apparently it was only a two match show as now we get the entire Nakamura vs. Sami Zayn match from RAW. Nakamura gets the win and Drew McIntyre helps attack, but Cody makes the save. I am sure there is a tag match coming on some episode of RAW soon.

Gigi Dolin vs. Izzi Dame (w/ Kiana James)

-The crowd is happy to see Gigi as she brings some star power to Level Up. We get a dueling chant as the men seem to be cheering for Izzi. Dame dumps Gigi on her stomach on the mat and tries again, but Dolin sits out and transitions to a side headlock. Dame gets to her feet, shoves off, and gets a shoulder block. Another go and Dolin gets a head scissors. Butt splash against the ropes followed by a basement dropkick from Gigi. She heads up top and comes off with a crossbody for two. Dame regains control and stomps away in the corner. She chokes on the middle rope and that lets James get in a cheap shot from the floor. Clothesline from Dame as the dueling chants starts again. Slam from Dame gets two! She hooks a reverse chinlock and yells for Gigi to give up. Maybe if she said please? Dame drops an elbow and goes back to the chinlock. A second elbow misses and Gigi starts her comeback. Knee to the face followed by a clothesline. Head kick kind of connects and we get a rough looking Flatliner. Another kick to the back as that looked kind of rough as well. Dolin goes after James who got up on the apron and that lets Dame hit a running forearm. Dame finishes with a modified version of the F5 for the pin at 5:44.

Winner: Izzi Dame via pin at 5:44
-I understand the result as they want to give Izzi a big win and get the pairing with James over more. It wasn’t clean so Dolin was a bit protected. The match was going okay before it kind of got off a track a little during the end as Dame seemed to be out of place a few times. *1/2

-Thanks for reading!

5.5

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

If they are going to do two match shows, I wish they would give the two matches some more time. Instead they run the same and it makes for a shorter show. I only ever grade this show on the matches from Level Up even if I had to watch most of it on Hulu. The opener was fun and as of now is the match of the year for this show. The second match was solid at first before getting rough in spots at the end. That makes for a mixed bag this week. Hopefully next week we are back to three matches or two longer matches.