WWE NXT Level Up Review - April 29, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Damon Kemp def. Dante Chen

I've mentioned before how it's a shame officials appear to have given up Chen after initially pushing him around the time of NXT's relaunch, but this was a case where I was happy with Kemp going over with the recent roll he's been on. His improvement has been noticeable and this was nicely paced. I'd like to see him work with more experienced talent as those are the matches he'll really benefit from.

Arianna Grace def. Amari Miller

Apparently this marked Miller's first match in two months, but I honestly didn't even notice she was gone. The crowd was happy to have her back, but I've always found her to be a bland and boring babyface despite being decent in the ring. I actually feel bad for her because we're about to get this NXT Breakout Tournament with the women and she's barely been given a chance yet. Grace, the real-life daughter of Santino Marella, will be a part of that tourney. This was a basic bout, but at least it was bad at all.

Andre Chase def. Quincy Elliott

Elliott has had a handful of matches on NXT and Level Up as of late, so he seems to be a young prospect they're high on. He's a big dude, but he's getting around the ring better than he was when he debuted a few months ago. He's also got a new look but wasn't accompanied by his tag team partner. Chase is obviously seasoned, so he was a good person for Elliott to work with. The Chase U crap isn't for me personally, but this crowd loved it and were behind Chase him throughout. This ended up being better than I thought with Elliott holding his own and Chase carrying him to a competent contest.

Overall Show

On a side note, I'm happy Nigel McGuinness was back on the call this week. I was worried when Matt Camp replaced him last week that he may have been on the chomping block, but thankfully not. As for this edition of Level Up, it was a bit better than what we've been getting in recent weeks. Once again, there were no above-average matches, but I enjoyed the opener and the crowd was into almost everything. Plus, there was nothing egregiously awful, so I can't complain too much. Mediocre is basically the standard for this show, so I'll take whatever I can get.

SEE MORE: NXT Level Up Reviews