 NXT North American Champion Wes Lee def. Tyler Bate (Mustafa Ali Served as Special Guest Referee)I enjoyed the Triple Threat with Joe Gacy at Battleground, but I've wanted a straight-up singles banger between these two for a while now and we just didn't get it here due to the shenanigans with Ali as the special guest referee. I should have expected that, but it was still disappointing. It was still a very well-wrestled match, but I know they're capable of better. I thought Ali would stay babyface, but it's clear he's been a heel parading as a babyface since coming back to the brand. Tiffany Stratton Interrupted Chase U's Pep Rally for Thea HailChase U have turned into the biggest fan favorites in NXT these past few months. This was effective in building up the NXT Women's Championship match next week between Hail and Stratton with everyone playing their roles well. Hail won't win, but I appreciate the attempt to make Hail look like a threat by having her tap out Stratton. It was what it needed to be. By the way, when is Andre Chase due back? Edris Enofe & Malik Blade def. Tank Ledger & Hank Walker and Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen in an NXT Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contender's Triple Threat Tag Team MatchConsidering these are three undercard teams, any one of them could have won and that made the match more unpredictable. It was a nice sprint with all six guys making the most of the time they had. It's too early for Ledger and Walker while Briggs and Jensen have already faced Gallus a few times, so I liked that Enofe and Blade earned the title shot. They've barely been featured on NXT TV this year and they'll be quality opponents for Gallus. Cora Jade def. Dana Brooke by Referee StoppageBrooke has spent seven years on the main roster and hasn't improved as much as she should. She's still fairly abysmal based on what I saw from her here. I mean, I've seen her work on Main Event in recent years, but I was hoping she'd exceed my expectations with an impressive performance here and she did not. This was not very good, but at least Jade won (if not decisively). She needed it. NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes and Baron Corbin Faced OffThis was excellent final hype for next week's NXT Championship match. Both men cut great promos and touched on some very real points. I dug their intensity as well. We knew Hayes could talk, but Corbin has stepped up his game on the mic since returning to NXT. I just wish there was more consistency with his character, because he comes out wearing expensive clothes one week and then wrestles in gym shorts the next. A darker Corbin, closer to what he was doing as The Lone Wolf, would be ideal, but I assume this gimmick (whatever it's supposed to be) is here to stay. The Meta-Four (Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson) def. Valentina Feroz and Yulisa LeonApparently Noam Dar's new group has a name. I must have missed that. Legend and Jackson have been teaming on Level Up for some time now, and while they aren't an amazing team just yet, they are better together than they are apart. They have chemistry as partners, so hopefully they can improve with more reps. Feroz and Leon have always worked well together, but this was about giving Meta-Four a victory. The match was fine while it lasted. World Heavyweight Champion Seth "Freakin" Rollins def. Bron BreakkerRollins coming into this match hurt after Finn Balor's brutal attack on him at the beginning of Monday's Raw made this more interesting than it would have been otherwise. No, Breakker never had a chance of taking the title to begin with, but it was a logical story to tell and fit Breakker's new heel character. This was an entertaining main event, though I think I was expecting a bit better. The final few minutes were especially rushed. I understand Breakker kicking out of the Pedigree was supposed to lend him credibility, but it didn't come off as big of a deal as it should have. I appreciated that Ilja Dragunov didn't interfere to cost Breakker the win, and Balor attacking Rollins afterward was a cool touch. Overall ShowIt was smart to put Rollins vs. Breakker on Night 1 of Gold Rush so any potential new viewers could see everything else this episode had to offer and what's announced for next week. It won't go down as one of the best bouts of the year, but it definitely delivered and Rollins being back in the NXT setting was a fun throwback. Between that, the Hayes and Corbin exchange and the opener, I'd chalk up Night 1 of Gold Rush to being a success. The other stuff was serviceable.
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