WWE NXT Level Up Review - January 5, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Brooks Jensen def. Luca Crusifino

Jensen, Josh Briggs and Fallon Henley officially parted ways on NXT TV a week or two ago, which is bad news for Jensen. Briggs and Henley both had impressive showings in the Iron Survivor Challenge matches at Deadline, whereas Jensen wasn't even on the card. Level Up might be where he calls home for the time being unless the idea is for him to turn heel and feud with Briggs (which we already saw when he was briefly aligned with Kiana James). At any rate, this was a competent contest yet nothing out of the ordinary.

Kiana James and Izzi Dame def. Brinley Reece and Kiyah Saint

It's strange to see James pulling Level Up duty after picking up the biggest win over career over Roxanne Perez at Deadline, but I understand this was more for Dame's development because she's still quite green. This was a basic bout, but it would have benefited from featuring someone with more experience. I'd say it was like the blind leading the blind, but it wasn't that bad. It was just the definition of a developmental match.

Oro Mensah def. Dion Lennox

Lennox went viral with a section of wrestling Twitter after his appearance in the NXT Men's Breakout Tournament. You can probably guess why, and it has nothing to do with anything he said or did. In all seriousness, he seems to have potential and I was glad we had a chance to see what he could do here. He proved he could hang with Mensah and they had a nice match, even if the outcome was never in doubt.

Overall Show

It was back to the basics for Level Up this week with the newer prospects being focused on. I'm curious what's next for Jensen (if anything), James and Dame are building momentum, and Mensah vs. Lennox exceeded my expectations as the main event. By Level Up standards, this was a perfectly solid show, though I do miss the two-match format they tried out a few weeks ago. Three is too many for what's supposed to be a developmental program.

SEE MORE: NXT Level Up Reviews