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Hey so remember in my preview how I said we’d see the winner of the NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament crowned on this week’s show because that’s what WWE was advertising? Well, surprise! That ain’t happening! Right at showtime, WWE announced that the final match of the tournament would now be happening next week. Oh well, I guess they just had so much great stuff on the card for this week’s NXT 2.0 that they couldn’t fit it in, right? Right?
We open with Diamond Mine backstage as they head to the ring for Roderick Strong and Damon Kemp‘s tag match next. Strong stops them and tells The Creed Brothers and Ivy Nile that they don’t need them out there and to take the night off, confusing the team.
Roderick Strong & Damon Kemp vs Pretty Deadly
A fine tag match to open this week’s show with everyone performing well here. This is the best work we’ve seen from Kemp so far, who pulls off some nice suplexes throughout. The end is marred by some shenanigans when Pretty Deadly tries to use the belts as weapons, which brings out The Creeds and Julius ends up getting clobbered and the distraction lets Pretty Deadly hit Strong with Spilled Milk for the pinfall.
Winners: Pretty Deadly
We now find NXT North American Champion Cameron Grimes in the locker room where he’s met by Solo Sikoa, who tells him he’ll have his back tonight, but wants the next title shot after this weekend. Duke Hudson gets involved then and we get a match set up tonight between Sikoa and Hudson.
Next, we see Grayson Waller lecturing a bunch of young Performance Center trainees about the NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament finals earlier in the day. This draws the ire of Josh Briggs, who challenges him to a match.
We now see Legado del Fantasma and Tony D’Angelo, Stacks, and Two-Dimes meet on a yacht where they continue pretending they’re gangsters or crime bosses or something. The cinematography and editing here are pretty lousy, looking like a student film. Anyway, they set up a six-man tag match at NXT In Your House this weekend where whoever wins, get the losing guy’s team.
Cora Jade vs Elektra Lopez
An ok match here, nothing too spectacular. It’s good to see Lopez in actual matches again and not just accompanying Legado del Fantasma around. Jade takes this one with a Senton Splash for the pinfall.
Winner: Cora Jade
Next, we get an interview with Wes Lee ahead of his match and Sanga approaches him to compliment him and tell him he has his back.
We then go to a video package for Roxanne Perez telling her life story and what winning the NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament would mean to her.
Wes Lee vs Xyon Quinn
A very short, but ok match. There’s not a lot here, but they tell a decent story with simplicity. One standout visual is Quinn javelin throwing Lee into the middle turnbuckle, but Lee is able to surprise him and roll him up for the pinfall.
Winner: Wes Lee
We now go to Diamond Mine’s locker room, where a belligerent Roderick Strong blames The Creeds for his loss and lays out the ultimatum that if they don’t win the NXT Tag Team titles at In Your House, they’re out of Diamond Mine.
Then there’s a video package from Joe Gacy, where he brings up all of the Steiner family’s past and issues and then tries to show that Bron Breakker is out of control. This rivalry has been ridiculously silly and everything involving Gacy as of late reeks of the worst crap from 1994/1995 WCW. Like Dungeon of Doom bad. No good has come from it and honestly, it’s taken a lot of shine off of Breakker. Hopefully, this garbage is finished after this weekend.
Women’s Championship Summit
And speaking of unwatchable crap, we now have another of these awful summits WWE has fallen in love with where it’s not quite a contract signing, but rather opponents yelling at each other from opposite sides of a table and then inevitably coming to blows. This of course can only work if those involved are good on the mic, which is where this speeds off of a cliff.
Everyone here, including the usually likable Kayden Carter and Katana Chase, is totally obnoxious, and yet, Wendy Choo finds a way to out-jackass them all. And that’s not a dig at Choo herself, she’s putting her all into this nonsense that’s she’s given. It’s one hundred percent a condemnation of the horrific creative here. It took all of my strength to not turn the show off here and call it a night. It’s that bad.
It’s also never good when the heel you’re supposed to hate is the only one making any sense, as seen here when Mandy Rose is desperately pleading with the crowd, asking them how they could possibly want the shithead in the cow pajamas to be a Champion? Sing it, sister!
As could be expected, violence breaks out when Choo shoots a spitball at Rose and a brawl ensues. Do kids even find this crap entertaining? I mean, when I was a kid, we had Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin, The Undertaker, etc. all playing it pretty seriously and we were all enthralled. Hell, we still go back and watch it. Sure there was the occasional Mantaur or Duke “The Dumpster” Droese, but not one dancing lady in a cow onesie shooting spitballs to be found anywhere near the titles and the kids seemed just fine with it.
From that shitshow, we go to the locker room to find a couple of women acting like actual wrestlers (how about that?!) and getting in each other’s face and fighting when Kiana James mouths off to Ivy Nile. They did more in one minute to create a convincing and heated battle than that entire schlockfest preceding it.
Solo Sikoa vs Duke Hudson
A very nice intense match here between two of the brand’s best talents. There’s a lot of back and forth throughout and some big, hard-hitting action, but Sikoa takes it with a Diving Top Rope Splash for the pinfall.
Winner: Solo Sikoa
Next, we get a video package from Tiffany Stratton to match the Perez one from earlier.
We then get another video, this time of recent high school graduate Thea Hail, who is choosing which college she wants to attend. There are hats out from Notre Dame, Alabama, and UNC, but she rejects them all and instead chooses Chase U to the delight of Andre Chase.
Grayson Waller vs Josh Briggs
The good thing about the injury to Briggs’ tag team partner Brooks Jensen is that it’s giving Briggs a lot more singles exposure, which is good cause he’s the real money talent of the duo and has the size and charisma to be a star I think. The match itself is ok, but it ends abruptly when Von Wagner leaps to the apron and the distraction allows Waller to hit the diving Stunner to Briggs for the pinfall.
Winner: Grayson Waller
After the match, Wagner beats the hell out of Briggs in the ring before Jensen runs in to get his back.
Ivy Nile vs Kiana James
A solid one here with a lot of intensity. It had a legit fight feel throughout and James did a really good job of chirping and heeling it up throughout. Nile takes it though with an Exploder Suplex variation for the pinfall.
Winner: Ivy Nile
After the match, Pretty Deadly heads out and mocks Nile about The Creeds, which brings the brothers out, who clear out the NXT Tag Team Champions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mEndwrVkzo
We then get another hype video for Giovanni Vinci coming soon to NXT 2.0 and it appears this might be the new direction for Fabian Aichner.
Cameron Grimes vs Nathan Frazer
Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams are on commentary for this one and it’s a solid main event match. Grimes wins it with a Cave-In for the pinfall.
Winner: Cameron Grimes
After the match, Hayes and Williams try to jump Grimes, but he runs them off as NXT 2.0 ends.
And that’s that for this week’s show, which has some solid matches throughout, but some truly awful comedy segments that brought the show down.
Till next time friends.
5/31 NXT 2.0
Review by Ryan Fassett
3/10
There were some decent matches this week, but the reliance on stupid comedy and the lack of serious build towards a big event this weekend really cut this episode down to something forgettable.
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