wrestling / TV Reports
Pantoja’s WWE NXT No Mercy Review
Image Credit: WWE, TNT Sports
Loading...WWE NXT No Mercy
September 30th, 2023 | Mechanics Bank Arena in Bakersfield, California | Attendance: 4,954
That No Mercy video game-style intro was 10/10 and one of my favorite things I’ve seen all year. I’m a bit behind on this review as I had plans this past week and used my free time to cover the STARDOM Grand Prix finals.
Baron Corbin vs. Bron Breakker
Bron opening this with a tope con hilo was not what I expected. He’s wild in terms of athleticism. That set up a brawl all around the arena that included Corbin taking a bump on the announce table that seemed to knock out audio from the booth. Once they got to the ring, they kept up the hard-hitting stuff, delivering exactly what I’d want on paper from these two. I liked that Bron used more of his athleticism on things like a Frankensteiner here, allowing Baron to be more of the typical power guy. Corbin delivered in that sense, hitting a very impressive Deep Six and slamming Bron through the announce table. Bron looked on the verge of winning but Mr. Stone showed up. He quickly got disposed of but Bron then walked into End of Days, giving Corbin the win in 9:35. Just some good, hard-hitting wrestling between two tough dudes. Better than I expected to be honest. [***½]
NXT North American Championship: Dominik Mysterio [c] vs. Trick Williams
“Whoop That Trick” is pretty cool. So was Booker T’s reaction to it. Dragon Lee is our guest referee. Dom attacked quickly with a dropkick but since Lee was handing the title away at ringside, he didn’t count in time, starting a beef between himself and Dom. Outside of that, this was mostly a standard match between two guys who have a lot of potential but haven’t quite put it all together yet. Trick took the heat for a bit and once he got going, Dragon Lee was out from a bump. I’ve never liked ref bumps in guest referee matches. Like, Lee can take a beating, why should one bump take him out? Dom eventually tried to use the title as a weapon as Trick woke Dragon Lee up. Trick avoided it and hit a jumping knee to win the title in 9:40. This was a solid little match here even if it didn’t wow in any way. [**¾]
NXT Tag Team Championship: The D’Angelo Family [c] vs. Angel Garza & Humberto Carrillo vs. Bronco Nima & Lucien Price vs. The Creed Brothers
The tag division in NXT has been something I haven’t really gotten into lately outside of the Creed Brothers. The Family is decent fun though and I am ALL for Garza and Carrillo getting some love. For the most part, this was kind of every other multi-team match in wrestling. Lots of moving parts, the action never slowed, and some standout spots. It wasn’t as chaotic or exciting as, say, something you’d see with top teams in AEW but it worked. I do wish companies would stop doing these with only two legal participants. That makes no sense. This really got going when the Creeds went off, with Julius doing his thing. He’s incredibly impressive every single time I see him. He’s got some great hot-tag offense. The main story was about Tony having to leave for an injury but returning against doctor’s orders to save his partner. The finish was kind of simple as after a barrage of big moves, we got a Brutus Bomb onto a crowd outside. That left the champs alone with Price and they beat him with Bada Bing in 12:06. Just some good fun in a wild tag like this. [***¼]
Heritage Cup: Noam Dar [c] vs. Butch
It warmed my heart to see Bate with Butch. If there’s one thing I think WWE has fumbled, it’s those two. The Heritage Cup is something that has always had an interesting concept when it comes to the rules even if they don’t always work out that way. Round One was rather even but in Round Two, Dar got help from Meta Four to steal a pin and go ahead 1-0. Round Three meant that Butch had to get aggressive and he was, throwing suplexes and pouncing on Dar at any opening. It led to him tying things up with the Bitter End at the 1:58 mark of the round. Butch remained aggressive in Round Four, laying into Dar with forearms. I liked how Dar opted to change the momentum by going to submissions even if that’s something Butch does well. Dar got choked out to end the round but time expired so we went to Round Five though that ended in a stalemate too. In Round Six, Butch had to go up another notch but Meta Four got involved. Man, Tyler Bate is kind of useless as a second, isn’t he? Even with him doing nothing, Gallus showed up to jump him and Joe Coffey hit Butch with a lariat, giving Dar a win in 18:51. That was a good match that utilized the gimmick well but the finish was cheap, Bate was kind of pointless, and we did that entire tournament just to keep the cup with Dar. [***¼]
NXT Championship: Carmelo Hayes [c] vs. Ilja Dragunov
Their first match at Great American Bash was fantastic (****¼). Melo’s gimmick of having the jerseys in the rafters is so cool. Ilja hit a running boot at the bell and Melo had real trouble getting anything going because of that. Ilja just kept the pressure on, pounding away on the champ and keeping him grounded. Melo had to resort to throwing strikes and such which worked for a bit but that’s much more up Ilja’s alley than his. The spot where they both went down as Melo slapped Ilja looked really good. The same goes for Ilja leaping into an enziguri. Some of the bumps Ilja took were wild as he landed on his head several times and the stomps on his head looked brutal. They ran back a key spot from the last match and it was a cool idea but it didn’t come off too smoothly. The drama late was top-notch, especially as Melo kicked out of two H-Bombs (even if I don’t like finisher kickouts). Melo threw a few more big shots but couldn’t survive a top rope H-Bomb, giving us a new champion after 21:07. An outstanding match that topped the first one. It was an Ilja-style match which I love and Melo adapted very well to it, coming together to deliver something special. [****½]
NXT Women’s Championship Extreme Rules Match: Becky Lynch [c] vs. Tiffany Stratton
I really liked the ending to their first match as Tiffany wisely rolled through a miss but Becky pounced. Tiffany made a mistake here, starting with brass knuckles which weren’t enough to combat Becky’s entire shopping cart of weapons. They fought through the crowd for a while, which included Becky using a chain handed to her by her stylist. They kept up the intensity even when they got back to the ring, with Tiffany turning the tide a bit. I liked the spot where she used a trash can lid to block things Becky threw at her and then hit her hard with it. They leveled things up afterward, going for bigger spots and some memorable moments. The highlight was Tiffany’s gorgeous Swanton Bomb through a table outside. It’s not the most effective move to put someone through a table but it looks really pretty. She added another Swanton inside for two and then they did the finish from the previous match but outside. Tiffany rolled through her moonsault only to eat a Manhandle Slam. Soon after, Tiffany actually missed the Prettiest Moonsault Ever, landing on chairs. Becky hit a Manhandle Slam onto the chair too, retaining in 20:20. That’s a star-making performance in a loss for Tiffany and one of the best NXT Women’s Title matches in recent memory. [****¼]
