WWE NXT Level Up Review - April 22, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Edris Enofe and Malik Blade def. Quincy Elliot and Damaris Griffin

Elliot and Griffin are two giant dudes. They came out together and were acting like a team as far as their mannerisms went, so they might be a permanent duo. They certainly have potential, but they're also very inexperienced and need more time to develop. That said, this was better than I thought it would be and they had quality chemistry with Enofe and Blade. This was nicely paced and it gave Enofe and Blade another win.

Fallon Henley def. Thea Hail

As little as I care about the team of Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen, Henley has certainly benefited from her alliance with them thus far and I'm glad she's finding her footing both as a character and in the ring. Meanwhile, Hail has a presence about her, but she's much less refined as a wrestler. This had its fair share of sloppy spots and likely would have been better off being a bit shorter.

Bodhi Hayward def. Dante Chen

I still couldn't give two craps about the Chase University nonsense, but to give credit where it's due, Hayward is at least improving. He and Chen have that intensity in common, so this was a serviceable main event. It wasn't terrible, but it was pretty much what you'd expect given the level of experience involved. It's crazy to think Chen was being built up on NXT TV for a brief bit only to be demoted to Level Up and lose to a guy like Hayward. They've clearly given up on him already.

Overall Show

Level Up remains NXT's version of Level Up except with a lot less people watching (the fact WWE doesn't advertise it at all doesn't help). For as much as I've complained about Dark over the years, at least the wrestling quality on that show is usually up to par, whereas the wrestling quality on this show has been largely below-average. Most of the people on NXT TV started out on 205 Live/Level Up, so this show is good for giving viewers a glimpse of the future, but don't come into this show expecting anything special from an in-ring standpoint. This was a passable albeit forgettable episode.

SEE MORE: NXT Level Up Reviews