Pantoja’s NXT Worlds Collide 2022 Review

NXT Worlds Collide

September 4th, 2022 | Capitol Wrestling Center in Orlando, Florida

The Kickoff Show had feed issues and didn’t start for 10-12 minutes. I got myself a glass of rum to make up for it.

NXT North American Championship: Carmelo Hayes [c] vs. Ricochet

Hayes’s entrance was cool as it had graphics of jerseys hanging up for everyone he’s beaten including one for Ricochet. This started with the expected quick exchange to a stalemate. They did a second one but Ricochet snapped off a dropkick to put down Hayes. Their exchanges only got better as the match progressed with them feeling like perfect opponents. It built to a spot where they both did springboard cross body blocks into each other. I’ve never seen that before and it ruled. Hayes sold the SHIT out of the Recoil and was saved by Trick pulling him out of the cover. They continued at a ridiculous pace filled with tons of spots. However, it was the kind of spotfest that I like. It made sense within the story. This wasn’t just spots for the sake of it. Like the controversial Ospreay/Ricochet match from years ago (that I gave ****¼), this was two guys trading athletic stuff and trying to one-up the other. It made sense and was crisp as hell. The finish ruled too as Hayes avoided a Ricochet top rope move and rolled him into an inside cradle to retain after 15:57. What an absolute spectacle that I’d put slightly above what Ricochet did in a similar situation in 2016. [****¼]

NXT & NXT UK Tag Team Championships: Brooks & Jensen [c] vs. The Creed Brothers [c] vs. Gallus vs. Pretty Deadly

All four teams brawled before the bell and even when it actually got going, things didn’t calm down by much. That pace was kept up early on with Brooks and Jensen getting shine until they were eliminated by Gallus about four minutes in. That included some big dives. Pretty Deadly had to toughen up and go toe to toe with Gallus right after. I like how every team had someone in their corner (Damon Kemp, Fallon Henley, Lash Legend, and Joe Coffey). The Creeds got going with a variation of the Doomsday Device to get rid of Gallus after about eight minutes. That allowed this to become more of a traditional tag with Brutus getting isolated by Pretty Deadly in solid fashion. Julius came in and did his thing, including a ridiculous show of strength that wowed me. Seriously, it’s nuts. Kemp got involved to save the Creeds only to hit Julius in the back with a chair. He rolled the referee back in and Pretty Deadly took home the gold in 15:03. That was a good match that kept up a solid pace. I didn’t love the start but once we got to the Creeds against Pretty Deadly, I was all in. [***]

Backstage, Tony D’Angelo and Stacks offered up a friendship to Cameron Grimes since Legado Del Fantasma are gone. He wasn’t interested.

NXT & NXT UK Women’s Championships: Mandy Rose [c] vs. Meiko Satomura [c] vs. Blair Davenport

Who invited Blair Davenport to this party? Mandy had a slightly special entrance coming from her car and sporting Captain America style gear. On paper, this was a WEIRD mix of styles. Early on, Rose and Davenport worked together to beat on Satomura. That section wasn’t all that great and I couldn’t get back into this until we got Satomura vs. Rose. I love that Mandy threw shots right back at her, not backing down at all. People still don’t give Mandy enough credit for her ring work. Meiko laughing at some of her shots was also totally in line with who they are as characters. Their exchanges made me really wish this was a singles match. Davenport returned to the fray and came close to winning a few times but pins kept getting interrupted. The finish worked well as Meiko had Blair set up for something only for Mandy to hit the pump knee on Davenport, which knocked Meiko outside. That gave her the win in 13:17. This had some awkward moments because of the triple threat setting but was really good. [***¼]

NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship: Katana Chance and Kayden Carter [c] vs. Doudrop and Nikki ASH

Nikki still having this gimmick as a heel is odd. The gimmick is weird either way but still. I happen to really like Chance and Carter as a team because they’re innovative as hell and really fun. My friend and I have dubbed them the Motor City Machine Girls. Chance and Doudrop are actually ideal opponents because Chance could fly around but once Doudrop caught her, she ran her over and Chance could bump like a champ. After some fun tandem offense, the champs got in trouble when Chance ended up as the face in peril. Carter got the hot tag but also ended up trouble as the size and experience of their opponents kept getting to them. Doudrop went up for offense but Toxic Attraction ran down and got taken out by Nikki. That allowed Doudrop to be left alone to fall to the neckbreaker/450 splash combo in 10:18. Mostly a TV match but a fun one even with the lame ending. [***]

NXT & NXT UK Championships: Bron Breakker [c] vs. Tyler Bate [c]

“Tyler Two Belts” chants at the start. The opening exchanges saw them match each other for power but Bate took control with his technical skills. He overwhelmed Bron early with some simple yet effective offense. Bron got going for a bit with some impressive stuff but it always felt like whatever Bate did was always a bit more impressive. The powerbomb counter of the Frankensteiner attempt was madness. I loved that Bate paid homage to Johnny Saint and Bron paid homage to his dad. I also dug Bron taking a kick out right into an offensive move, which showed smarts. Bate survived an onslaught from him and started in with some of his signature stuff. He’s scary good. The bridge into the Tyler Driver ’97 near fall was madness. The closing stretch was phenomenal with several close calls but never overdoing it. Bate went for the springboard clothesline a second time and ate a Spear giving Bron the win in 17:13. A great main event that was Bron’s best match and reminded everyone of how great Bate is. [****]

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

Another strong show this weekend. It didn’t have the highs of yesterday’s event but it was bookended by great matches and featured three good ones in the middle. I can’t ask for much more.