WWE NXT Level Up Review - March 11, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Trick Williams def. Guru Raaj

Williams has worked well as Carmelo Hayes' hype man since the NXT 2.0 relaunch, and while we haven't seen a ton of him in the ring on NXT TV, that's probably for the best given his level of inexperience. That was pretty apparent in this match, but at least he's shown signs of improvement since I first saw him in action late last year. This was serviceable and went about as long as it should have. Hayes enhanced it with his enjoyable commentary.

Ivy Nile def. Brooklyn Barlow

At first glance, Barlow almost looks like a carbon copy of Tiffany Stratton, just without the awful entrance music and gimmick. WWE sure loves their blondes. She didn't have a horrible showing by any means, but even though she was on offense for a brief bit, she didn't do much that really wowed me or stood out. This was more of a showcase for Nile than anything as she continues to roll and be booked to look dominant.

The Grizzled Young Veterans def. Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen

I haven't discussed them a whole lot in my reviews, but the recent backstage segments with Briggs and Jensen on NXT with Jensen looking for a lover have been awful. I know they're supposed to be to an extent, but they're not remotely entertaining and I'm not the biggest fan of their in-ring work, either. Thankfully, they had Grizzled Young Veterans to carry them along, but this wasn't anything out of the ordinary whatsoever. Grizzled Young Veterans won only after Jensen got distracted by a woman standing in the crowd staring at him and Fallon Henley came to their aid afterward, so a six-person tag team match one of these days seems likely.

Overall Show

The first two editions of Level Up were better than I thought they would be, but we've been back to the norm with these recent episodes. If not one match stands out, then that's an issue. I realize Level Up is all about giving those fresher faces a platform, but some of these people shouldn't be on TV at all yet. Williams, Nile and Grizzled Young Veterans all received some shine, but this was a mundane show on the whole from an in-ring standpoint.

SEE MORE: NXT Level Up Reviews