 Zoey Stark Challenged NXT Women's Champion Indi HartwellIt was awesome to see Hartwell open the episode and get showered with chants of "You deserve it" from the crowd because she definitely does. She carried herself like a champion here and did an excellent job with her promo, addressing her title win at Stand & Deliver and setting the tone for the reign she wants to have. Stark played her role well in this segment to establish herself as first in line for a title shot and tease that Hartwell's reign could be a short one. Pretty Deadly def. Tony D'Angelo and Channing "Stacks" LorenzoA video showed these teams getting into it verbally backstage after Stand & Deliver. Pretty Deadly should absolutely be main roster bound soon, but I'm fine with them having a feud with D'Angelo and Lorenzo before they go. I like D'Angelo and Lorenzo in the tag team division for now, but I don't like that they never had an actual turn as a team. Hey, at least they're over. This was a good match and Pretty Deadly winning extends the rivalry. Dijak def. Odyssey JonesThese two had a run-in in last week's Battle Royal. Both men have been directionless for months, so it was nice that they had a chance to showcase their skills. This was a fun hoss fight while it lasted and I appreciated that Jones was made to look credible in defeat. Now let's get Dijak rolling again. Otherwise, there's no difference between him being on the main roster or in NXT if he's going to be underutilized either way. Dragon Lee def. Nathan FrazerLee did not disappoint in his debut at Stand & Deliver and this was no different. He's a special treat and I hope he's treated as such. Giving him a short and sweet squash in his first match on NXT TV would have worked just as well, but I have no issue with him going out there and having an excellent match with the equally talented Frazer. This was everything you'd want it to be and then some. We also got the return of Noam Dar at ringside, who we haven't seen since NXT UK closed its doors back in September. He had the NXT UK Heritage Cup Championship with him as well. NXT Women's Champion Indi Hartwell def. Zoey StarkStark did nothing for me as a babyface a year or so ago, but she's really come into her own as a heel and has become a great foil for any babyface. There was reason to believe Hartwell's reign could be cut short, so that suspense added to the match. This was a well-worked match that gave Hartwell a notable win over a tenured member of the roster in her first defense. Post-match, Cora Jade returned and attacked Hartwell, so I'm happy she's back in the main mix after being gone for a few months. Ivy Nile def. Tatum PaxleyPaxley turned on Nile three weeks ago and their feud has barely been furthered since then. It doesn't help that Nile has done nothing but lose in the meantime, so this match had no heat. They had a decent match, but I don't think Paxley was made to look credible in defeat at all, so it doesn't look like NXT has any meaningful plans for her on her own. She has potential, but so does Nile and I'm not complaining that they're quickly moving on from this instead of dragging it out. NXT North American Champion Wes Lee def. AxiomNot only has Axiom been hunting down Lee backstage for weeks wanting a title shot, he was also arguably the highlight of that Fatal 5-Way at Stand & Deliver, so it made perfect sense for him to get a title shot on this show. This was a hell of a sprint that the crowd was into. Lee keeps having killer matches as champion, so I'm all for him holding the gold for the foreseeable future if the trend continues. Hilariously, Scrypts attempted to attack Axiom afterward, but Axiom laid him out immediately. Please tell me that was meant to end the Scrypts crap because it hasn't worked from the get-go. Bron Breakker Attacked NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes and Trick WilliamsI mentioned earlier that I wish D'Angelo and Lorenzo had an actual turn as a team, and I should probably say the same about Hayes and Williams. Hell, Breakker likely would have won at Stand & Deliver had Williams not interfered and cheated, so truthfully, Breakker shouldn't be blamed for being pissed at those two. You can argue that this wasn't a heel turn because of that, but it definitely came off like one. I'm happy if that's the direction they're going in because Breakker needed a fresh coat of paint anyway if he's not going up to the main roster right away. Could you imagine the heat Breakker would have if he faces Hayes in a rematch in Hayes' home state of Massachusetts at Battleground next month? Overall ShowThis is how you follow up and reshuffle the deck coming off a big show. Take notes, Raw! In all seriousness, this was NXT's strongest non-special show in some time. It had a little bit of everything: returns, tease of debuts, Dragon Lee's first match, championships being defended, new direction, and some above-average in-ring action to boot. Can the show be a bit more like this weekly? It reminded me of the black-and-gold era in that it actually felt important to tune in live. This was a needed show coming off Monday's abysmal Raw.
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