Leighty’s NXT Level Up Review 5.05.23

-Up next in my Retro Review series is Slamboree 1996 where WCW brought back Lethal Lottery and Battle Bowl. That should be up in the next few days. Until then, we have Level Up tonight. Let’s get to it!

-Announce Team: Blake Howard and Byron Saxton
-Taped: WWE PC, Orlando, FL

Oro Mensah vs. Kale Dixon

-Mat work to start and Mensah gets a token one count. He hooks an arm and Dixon tries to roll out, but Mensah keeps pulling him back to the mat. Dixon lands a forearm to turn the hold, but Oro gets an up kick and then a series of arm drags that takes things back to the mat with an armbar. Mensah snaps off a head scissors and goes for a waistlock, but Dixon goes to the eyes to break. Superman Punch missed by Mensah which lets Dixon pull the hair to get Mensah off his feet. The crowd with a “You Suck Dixon,” chant. Gut-wrench is escaped, and Mensah gets a roll-up for two. He misses a kick and Dixon gets a roll-up for two. Clothesline from Dixon followed by a backbreaker for two. More hair pulling from Dixon as he laughs at the ref and breaks before five. Mensah rallies and throws some chops and hits a running kick. Lionsault Press connects and Mensah looks to go up, but Dixon sends him to the apron. Mensah lands a head kick and comes off the top with another kick. Mensah hits a spin-wheel kick in the corner for the pin at 5:31.

Winner: Oro Mensah via pin at 5:31
-This was fine and Mensah gets a win to get back on track. *1/2

-BOA cuts a promo backstage as he talks about being injured for a year and how it was hard to watch and not fight anyone.

-Thea Hail vs. Lola Vice is next!

-WWE Shop commercial!

-NXT Battleground Sunday May 28.

Thea Hail (w/ Duke Hudson) vs. Lola Vice

-Chase U back in the house for the first time in a while. The Student Section is out in force which is nice to see. I am intrigued by this one, so let’s see what they can do. Rope running sequence to start and Hail gets a roll-up for two and then a standing moonsault for two. She hooks an arm as a dueling chant starts from the fans. Vice tries to push off, but Hail maintains the hold. Vice looks for a slam, but Hail snuffs that. Finally, Hail goes to the eyes and gets a double leg. She hits a spinning kick in the corner and then shakes her ass before hitting a butt splash in the corner. Vice grabs a cravat and grinds Hail to the mat. The crowd rallies Hail but Vice just drops her to the mat. Another rally from the crowd and this time Hail is able to power out of the hold. Hail starts firing off forearms and gets a back splash in the corner. Exploder suplex followed by a springboard Coffin Drop off the bottom rope. She spikes Vice on her head for the pin at 4:10.

Winner: Thea Hail via pin at 4:10
-This was also fine though I was hoping for a little more. Still, good for what it was. Hail winning makes sense as she is the bigger start between the two at the moment with her ties to Chase U. *1/4

-WWE on A&E this Sunday features DX looking for treasure and Steve Austin doing some ax throwing.

-WWE Backlash in Puerto Rico tomorrow night!

Eddy Thorpe vs. BOA

-Boa lands a kick to the chest to start and tries to stomp the arm, but Thorpe rolls away. Boa grabs the arm, but Thorpe rolls and flips his way out and into a side headlock he takes to the ground. Boa pushes off and tries a slam, but Thorpe slides over and reclaims the headlock. Boa escapes again and gets a shoulder tackle. Thye run the ropes and Thorpe follows a leap frog with a crossbody. Reversal and Boa misses a boot, but lands a spinning back kick. He stomps Thorpe in the gut and lands a nice kick to the back. More stomping and Boa gets a two count. He talks some trash and rubs his boot on Thorpe’s head to show him up. Running knee from Boa as he maintains wrist control. He repeats that a few times and then hits a nice butterfly suplex for two. I like what I am seeing from Boa so far in his return. Boa hooks a body scissors and applies a crossface. Boa transitions to a reverse bear hug and then back into a body scissors. Thorpe rolls back to get a one count. Boa back to the reverse bear hug, but gets caught with a jawbreaker. Thorpe fires off some strikes and lands a running elbow. Another followed by a spinning back kick and then a jumping head kick. Running boot in the corner followed by a Saito Suplex for two. Boa goes back to the ribs but Thorpe escapes and then runs into a big boot for a strong near fall. Thorpe starts ducking strikes and lands some of his own. He gets a German Suplex and then fires up and hits a jumping elbow for the pin at 7:09.

Winner: Eddy Thorpe via pin at 7:09
-Sold match where Eddy had to work harder than is previous matches on this show. The middle started to drag a bit, but they picked things up before it went too long. The near fall off the boot was really strong and had me buying Boa was getting the win. **

-Thanks for reading!

5.5

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

-Just a run of the mill episode of this show. Everything was fine and as always it was an easy watch. Nothing was able to get to a higher level to make this a good show, but it was fine as this show tends to be.