WWE NXT Review - April 12, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

NXT North American Champion Cameron Grimes def. Solo Sikoa

Sikoa hasn't had a ton of high-profile matches so far in NXT, especially in singles competition, but he definitely delivered here and had a stellar showing. This was also one of Grimes' better bouts as well. The two worked wonderfully together and had a hell of an opener that the crowd was white hot for. The crowd booing Grimes when he won was weird considering he's one of NXT's best babyfaces. Sikoa was protected in defeat with the interference from Carmelo Hayes, and it looks like a Triple Threat might be coming.

Joe Gacy Interrupted NXT Champion Bron Breakker

Apparently, after kidnapping Breakker's father Rick Steiner last week, Gacy just let him go. I mean, he had to have because we never found out what happened to him. Gacy's good with the delivery of his promos, but this didn't have a lot of substance. I've been saying for a while that NXT should be finding more for Gacy to do, and while I'm fine with this as a filler feud for Breakker, I'm not completely invested yet.

Von Wagner def. Ikemen Jiro

It's sad to see how far Kushida has fallen. Jiro was likely never going to be much more than an undercard comedy guy despite being skilled in the ring, but Kushida deserves better than being a punching bag for a guy as abysmal as Von Wagner. Granted, it was Jiro who got squashed here and not Kushida, but I'm sure that's coming. This was pretty standard stuff. Meanwhile, it's hard to care about Robert Stone's latest stable knowing almost all of his former factions and clients went on to be released.

NXT Women's Champion Mandy Rose def. Dakota Kai

Kai was out for revenge after everything they've done to her, Raquel Gonzalez (Rodriguez) and Wendy Choo this year. They had a good match, but it felt like they lacked chemistry as there were a few awkward spots. Worse yet, I hate the constant interference from the rest of Toxic Attraction in Rose's matches. It's gotten old by this point. I have no clue what you do with Kai now that she's lost the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship and failed to win the NXT Women's Championship unless a main roster call-up is in her future.

Natalya Attacked Cora Jade

I've seen a lot of split opinions online regarding Jade's promo, but personally, I think she's fairly well spoken considering she's only 20-years-old, and she's certainly a lot better than she was when she debuted and even when she was training with Raquel Gonzalez a few months ago. Hell, even Natalya played her role well in this segment and came off as believable when she acted genuinely moved by what Jade said before turning on her. I'm sure this legitimately means a lot to Jade and the idea should be for Jade to go over on her in the end, but the thought of Natalya being back in NXT does nothing for me because she's been dreadfully bland and boring for years.

Xyon Quinn def. Draco Anthony

Quinn hasn't been able to buy television time to save his life since his storyline with Legado del Fantasma ended earlier this year. He's got potential and it was weird for them to cut his momentum short by having him lose twice to Santos Escobar and then disappear from the show almost completely. That said, I'm glad he resurfaced here with a win over Anthony, who took offense to Quinn saying he had his back. This was a glorified squash as it should have been.

Pretty Deadly def. The Creed Brothers, Grayson Waller & Sanga, Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen, and Legado del Fantasma (Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde) in a Gauntlet Match to Win the NXT Tag Team Championship

Even with Imperium and MSK being broken up, NXT still has a solid base for a tag team division as seen here. Legado gave Creed Brothers a terrific first match, Briggs and Jensen were just kind of there, Waller and Sanga were fun foils for them, and the final stretch with them and Pretty Deadly had great suspense and entertaining action. All in all, this had an excellent layout and was well worked. I have no idea with Pretty Deadly taking the titles because it keeps Creed Brothers in chase mode for a little longer and immediately establishes Pretty Deadly as the top threat in the tag team division despite debuting a week ago.

Overall Show

This obviously wasn't as eventful as last week's post-Stand & Deliver show, but it was still enjoyable on the whole. The episode was bookended by two strong title matches and I liked Rose vs. Kai as well even though it could have been better. We had more developmental stuff this week with the likes of Von Wagner and Quinn, but both bouts were serviceable. There was also progression with Breakker and Gacy and Natalya's appearance was notable. This is the sort of show I'd like to see more of from NXT 2.0. Focus on what works and tone down what doesn't.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews