Pantoja’s NXT No Mercy 2024 Review

NXT No Mercy

September 1^st, 2024 | Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado

I’ve got so much wrestling to catch up on after spending yesterday doing a big fantasy football draft with my family. After this, it’s two Marigold events and the 5STAR Grand Prix Finals whenever that becomes available.

I have to start watching these NXT specials live because for the second straight time (or two out of the last three), the audio is pretty bad.

NXT Tag Team Championship: Chase U [c] vs. Axiom and Nathan Frazer

Technically these teams had a banger earlier this year though the Chase U duo was Andre and Duke, not Andre and Ridge as it is here. I also have to say that I love Thea Hail. She’s such a fun, energetic performer. Onto the match, it was good right from the start. Axiom and Frazer bring a ton of speed and aerial stuff to a match while Ridge got to play the powerhouse, and Andre was the glue guy who kind of brought it all together. You can tell that he’s an experienced tag guy. The spot where the Spanish Fly off the top got cut off only for Andre to bust out one of this own was fantastic and the kind of twist on typical spots in a tag match that I live for. They just kept delivering on great close calls and spots without ever overdoing it. It helped that the crowd was hooked on every bit of it. The finish did kind of come from out of nowhere as Andre got hit with the Spanish Fly followed by the Phoenix Splash and we got new champions in 13:33. A hell of a match that was a ton of fun and just what you want from this sort of opener. Not sure on the title change though I like Axiom and Frazer as champs. [****]

Post-match, as most predicted, Ridge attacked Chase U. Thea Hail looked on helplessly as he laid out everyone and ended with a DDT on the table on Andre.

Wes Lee vs. Zachary Wentz

Maybe it’s just me but I feel like this feud would work better for me if the heel/face dynamic was flipped. The early goings focused on the idea of these two knowing each other so well that they had counters for everything. I do find it weird when a grudge match has a lot of high flipping moves but they did well to incorporate that stuff and keep up the intensity. Wentz took control about midway through with a handspring kick, pretty good looking pump knee, and Swanton Bomb though it wasn’t enough to get the win. Lee got going with his own mix of strikes and aerial offense that even included the Cardiac Kick for two. That near fall didn’t really get the reaction they were hoping for. The fight spilled outside and Wes kicked Wentz, who fell back onto the table softly only for it to break, so they had to pivot and make the next spot just a double stomp to the outside rather than through a table. When Wes went to use a weapon, Trey Miguel popped up in the crowd to stop him. Wentz then hit a Destroyer outside and won with the UFO inside in 13:38. Didn’t expect the TNA guy to win but that was welcome. A very good back and forth match here. [***½]

NXT Women’s North American Championship: Kelani Jordan [c] vs. Wendy Choo

This Wendy Choo gimmick is really not working for me. It wasn’t good when she was just a narcoleptic and it’s much worse now that she’s some kind of zombie narcoleptic. The focus here was on Kelani doing her athletic offense while Wendy tried to be spooky and zombie-like. The crowd sat on their hands for basically all of this, even when Kelani would bust out something impressive or when Wendy did something like a solid little apron dropkick. The fans just do not care about or buy into this Wendy Choo gimmick. It’s not working. Kelani fought back from a Wendy control segment and got two on a nice Frog Splash before having her next aerial attempt cut off and taking a suplex on the outside. Kelani survived a sleeper hold and hit her 450 splash followed by the split-legged moonsault to retain in 13:19. They tried but the feud was cold, the gimmick isn’t working, it dragged, and the crowd was silent. [**]

 

After the match, Tatum Paxley choked out Wendy Choo and left the doll next to her.

 

NXT North American Championship: Oba Femi [c] vs. Tony D’Angelo

Tony has such a goofy gimmick yet he’s made it work, gotten over, and had way more staying power than I ever expected. Oba is a guy who has “it” and that was on display here. Every move he does just feels like it hurts and is a big deal. A simple clothesline to the back or something like that got replayed because of the impact of everything he does. That kind of offense put Tony on the defensive, especially after he rolled his ankle when stepping on Oba’s foot. Tony ducked a lariat and hit an impressive belly to belly, giving him the opening he needed. His rally got boosted by Oba trying to use a crowbar and getting sent into the steel steps. The near fall on a Spear was solid though I didn’t believe it. They started trading big stuff from there for close calls, capped by Oba hitting two powerbombs to win in 13:46. Yeah, Oba is him and more people should appreciate how good Tony D has gotten. [***½]

NXT Women’s Championship: Roxanne Perez [c] vs. Jaida Parker

I really like Roxanne and her title reign has been very good so far. Some of the storylines and angles haven’t hit but her matches are typically strong. Jaida is very new and this is her biggest opportunity by far. The early goings were a battle of Roxanne using speed and Jaida throwing her around with her power advantage. Roxanne’s Curb Stomp style move into the steel steps was the kind of vicious stuff we need more from of her as a heel. The crowd was into this, getting behind Jaida and her comeback attempts. I liked Roxanne hitting Jaida’s signature corner move and mocking her taunt. Jaida got her back and did a big version of that move but then went for a running hip attack outside and went through the guardrail. Roxanne pounced with Pop Rox onto the barricade. Jaida beat the countout but took another Pop Rox inside to lose in 14:49. Very good match, a big performance for Jaida, and another feather in the cap of Perez. [***¾]

Perez’s celebration was cut short by the lights going out and unfamiliar music hitting. Then out stepped Giulia, the goddamn star that she is. She got a great reaction and had a staredown with Roxanne. There goes what should be your Halloween Havoc main event. Giulia beats Roxanne, the latter goes on to the main roster, and NXT has a new top queen.

NXT Championship: Ethan Page [c] vs. Joe Hendry

The main event scene in NXT is…something else. Trick Williams is our guest referee. I think a big issue here is the setup for the match. Ethan Page is playing the typical heel champion and it’s hard to buy into a title change when his challenger is from another company and is mostly a meme. Nothing against Joe Hendry as I like his whole schtick but it doesn’t feel like the kind of thing that would lead to a brand’s top champion. Anyway, they went out there and had a very solid, perfectly acceptable match. Nothing they did was bad and nothing really stood out either. Trick mostly played a fair referee as the two guys went back and forth. They went into the cheap stuff late like a ref bump and the title being used as a weapon. In fact, a DDT onto the belt somehow got no reaction from the second official. Page used a low blow and hit the Ego’s Edge to remain champion after 15:07. Like I said, that was good and nothing more. Crowd was into it though. [***]

Post-match, Trick Williams got attacked by Pete Dunne.

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

Kind of the norm for NXT specials. Very good stuff for the most part. Four of the six matches are ones I’d recommend, the main event is solid, and then there’s that Kelani/Wendy stuff that just didn’t work. Plus, it’s under three hours and we got Giulia.