WWE NXT Review - April 9, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Natalya Confronted NXT Women's Champion Roxanne Perez; Tatum Paxley Attacked Lyra Valkyria

I've been digging Perez's heel work so far and she's specifically exceeded my expectations on the mic. She cut a good promo here gloating about becoming a two-time champ before Natalya confronted her. Meanwhile, Paxley turning on Valkyria was a long time in the making. I assume Paxley got sick of how Valkyria was treating her, or perhaps she was only obsessed with her because she was champion. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Kiana James and Izzi Dame def. Fallon Henley and Kelani Jordan

I thought the six-woman tag team match from Stand & Deliver where the babyfaces went over was the payoff to this program, but apparently not. Ugh. Nothing against the four stars involved, but they all feel like they're treading water at the moment and these wins for Evans and Dame have so far amounted to nothing. This was a decent matchup and at least it didn't overstay its welcome.

Je'Von Evans def. Scrypts

This marked Evans' official NXT TV debut, but these two have been mixing it up over on Level Up, so they had chemistry coming into this contest. Needless to say, Evans is an incredibly impressive prospect and a blast to watch. Apparently he's only 19-years-old, which is wild. Props to Scrypts too for being a perfect first opponent for him on NXT TV. Evans has a bright future ahead of him if what we saw here was any indication.

NXT Women's Champion Roxanne Perez def. Natalya

As bored as I've become of Natalya as a character over the years, there's no denying what she's capable of in the ring. Thus, this was the quality contest you'd expect from these two. Perez popping up on Monday's Raw and declaring herself for the WWE Draft made this a little less predictable. Thankfully, Perez won with some help from Lola Vice, which furthers the feud between her and Natalya.

The Family (Luca Crucifino and Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo) def. No Quarter Catch Crew (Damon Kemp and Myles Borne)

The Family are faces, right? It's tough to tell these days. I'm not sure what purpose this was supposed to serve, but it was fine for what it was. It's worth noting that Charlie Dempsey hasn't defended the NXT Heritage Cup Championship on TV a single time since winning it, begging the question of why it's still a thing. It's also worth noting that Drew Gulak was conspicuous by his absence here after Ronda Rousey's allegations against him a week or so ago.

Ivar Attacked NXT North American Champion Oba Femi

Femi is improving by the week on all fronts and it's cool to see his progression. He, Dijak and Josh Briggs stole the show at Stand & Deliver and now he might be having another banger of a hoss fight with Ivar. This effectively set up an eventual championship clash between them. It was refreshing to see Ivar do something different than his Viking Raider persona for a change. He'd be a great addition to NXT if he sticks around.

Jaida Parker def. Brinley Reece

Parker is still very much a work in progress and should be getting more reps in on Level Up as opposed to NXT TV, but officials are obviously high on her and want to give her early exposure. This was the sort of match you'd see on Level Up because of how basic it was, but at least it didn't last longer than it needed to. Parker certainly has a presence about her, but time will tell as to whether she can put the pieces together in the ring.

Nathan Frazer and Axiom def. Baron Corbin and Bron Breakker to Win the NXT Tag Team Championship

This was the third match these two teams have had since January and it was just as enjoyable as the other encounters. I have no clue Frazer and Axiom didn't win the titles at Stand & Deliver, but at least Breakker got to have his NXT swan song in front of the Performance Center crowd. He's officially off to SmackDown, but it remains to be seen where Corbin goes from here and if he's headed back to the main roster, too. Plus, The Final Testament randomly laid out the babyfaces afterward. They just wrapped up their rivalry with The Pride at WrestleMania 40, so they may actually benefit from a run in NXT if there aren't any immediate plans for them on the main roster.

Carmelo Hayes Attacked Trick Williams and NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov

Williams and Dragunov had a solid verbal exchange prior to Hayes laying both of them out. Williams is the logical next contender to the NXT Championship and Dragunov doesn't have much competition left (as seen at Stand & Deliver when he randomly defended against Tony D'Angelo). Hayes' role in this segment was interesting, though. I thought we might get a Triple Threat for the title at Spring Breakin', but it looks like Hayes' NXT swan song will instead be next week when he and Williams have a rematch inside a steel cage.

Overall Show

Despite a fairly lackluster build, Stand & Deliver turned out to be a very entertaining event and this followed up on it nicely. I'm sure the show will look a lot different after the upcoming Draft, but they wasted no time in setting the stage for the two-week Spring Breakin' special at the end of the month. The best parts of this edition of NXT came in the last two segments, but the rest of it felt more eventful and lively than your average episode.

SEE MORE: NXT Reviews