WWE NXT Review - April 18, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

NXT Tag Team Champions Gallus (Mark Coffey and Wolfgang) def. The Creed Brothers and The Dyad in a Triple Threat Tag Team Match

The Dyad recently requested their releases from WWE (and were denied), so it was safe to say they weren't winning here. Considering neither of them were pinned, I don't know why they were even in there. Creed Brothers have now lost twice to Gallus in multi-team matches, so perhaps this is building to them taking the titles in a straight-up tag team match at Battleground next month. This was a fun matchup between three talented teams.

NXT Heritage Cup Champion Noam Dar def. Myles Borne (Non-Title)

The NXT UK Heritage Cup Championship has been officially renamed the NXT Heritage Cup Championship because, well, NXT UK is no more. I have no idea why the title is being brought back because NXT definitely doesn't need it, but maybe it will a gimmick exclusive to Dar to give him something to do and not defended as regularly as it was in NXT UK. This was a fine re-debut for Dar. As for Borne, he was on a roll on Level Up at one point but hasn't been featured much at all lately. Was he hurt?

Bron Breakker Attacked Odyssey Jones and Was Challenged by Duke Hudson

Jones was ambushed by Breakker before he could have his match against an unknown opponent. Breakker going around wrecking dudes as part of this new heel turn has been working out well and I like his mini feud with the popular Hudson going into Spring Breakkin'. Hudson played his role nicely in this segment to set up Breakker's match with Andre Chase for next week. I just feel bad that Jones had to be the fall guy here. He's been directionless since coming back from his injury.

Roxanne Perez def. Zoey Stark

Stark already failed to beat Indi Hartwell for the NXT Women's Championship two weeks ago, so coming off her latest loss to Perez here, I'm convinced she's main roster bound in the upcoming WWE Draft. Both she and Perez are great in the ring, so unsurprisingly, this was a great match. Post-match, Hartwell declared she'll defend her title against both Perez and Tiffany Stratton in a Triple Threat at Spring Breakkin'. It's an interesting matchup because I can see any one of them realistically walking away with the gold.

Cora Jade def. Gigi Dolin

I can see both of these women as NXT Women's Champion before long, but this was hardly a showcase of the potential both women have. It was decent while it lasted but too short to really be anything. The focus was on Jacy Jane resurfacing and attacking Dolin to cost her the win, along with Lyra Valkyria showing up afterward and hyping up her match with Jade next week. On the bright side, it's nice to have some stories in the women's division outside of the title picture, though NXT has always done a good job of that.

Dijak def. Apollo Crews

It's not often we get two former main roster talent clashing one-on-one, so I thoroughly enjoyed this. Unlike Jade vs. Dolin, they were given enough time to show what they're capable of. Dijak and Ilja Dragunov are set to collide soon (which I'm extremely excited for), so it was only logical for Dijak to go over. By the way, whatever the hell happened to Crews' feud with Dabba-Kato? Crews lost to him a month or so ago and I don't think we've seen Dabba-Kato on the show since.

NXT North American Champion Wes Lee def. Charlie Dempsey

Dempsey is an impressive prospect and I was happy he had a strong showing in defeat here. Meanwhile, Lee continues to kill it as North American champ with yet another excellent outing under his belt. Dempsey and Drew Gulak attacked Lee after it was over, so while it's possible Lee finds a partner to face them in a tag team match, it's more likely Lee defends against Gulak next and I'm in full favor of that. 

Grayson Waller Hosted The Grayson Waller Effect with NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams

Waller vs. Hayes is the perfect NXT Championship match to do at Spring Breakkin' because it doesn't need an extended build, just a simple verbal exchange and we got that here. I liked the mic work from both guys and there were some quality digs in there, though Waller acknowledging that Hayes needs help from Williams to win his matches was weird because it's true. If Hayes is indeed a babyface champion, theene he should beat Waller clean next week to dispel that.

Overall Show

It's not often an ordinary edition of NXT TV will feature so much above-average action, but that was the case this week and we were treated to a very entertaining show. This may even end up being better than Spring Breakkin' next week, though that card has promise as well. While NXT has largely been a breeze to watch since Stand & Deliver, I'm curious how much of a toll the upcoming Draft will take on the roster and how much the weekly show will suffer because of it (if at all) before they're able to replenish the pot.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews