WWE NXT Level Up Review - December 16, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Dyad (Rip Fowler and Jagger Reid) def. Bronco Nima and Lucien Price

This had a strange dynamic because Dyad are obviously heels and Nima and Price are bigger than both of them, so Nima and Price were on offense for a majority of this match despite being the babyfaces here. As little as I care for the former Grizzled Young Veterans in this role, they can still go in the ring, so they made this match passable and Nima and Price had passable showings. The Dyad's double-team finisher also looked cool because they had to adjust it due to not having the size advantage.

Ivy Nile def. Lash Legend

I realized at the start of this match that we haven't seen Legend in action all too much as of late (since early November to be exact). I'm not complaining, though. Level Up is where she should be relegated for now until she shows more improvement. Nile, on the other hand, has come along very well over the last year. The size difference made more sense in this match compared to the opener because Legend was the heel and Nile was the babyface. They had a nice match and Nile locking in her submission finisher out of nowhere always gets a reaction.

Chase U (Andre Chase and Duke Hudson) def. Javier Benal and Xyon Quinn

You knew Bernal and Quinn weren't winning this thing from the moment the match was announced because it was clear they wouldn't be able to coexist. They're two totally different characters, but both are heel undercard jobbers, so at least they have that in common. Their backstage promo earlier in the episode was not funny at all, but they made for a mildly entertaining team here. Combine that with the crowd loving Chase U and I thought this was a quality main event.

Overall Show

Like last week, this was a slightly better edition of Level Up than what we've gotten for most of 2022. They told a story in the main event and it was fun for what it was, Nile vs. Legend exceeded expectations, and the opener was perfectly fine (we don't see The Dyad in action nearly enough). I appreciate when we get more established names as opposed to new, inexperienced people in every match. The match quality was up as a result and made the show less of a chore to watch than usual.

SEE MORE: NXT Level Up Reviews