WWE NXT Review - August 31, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Sarray def. Mandy Rose by Count-Out

I honestly can't remember the last time Rose wrestled on TV. It's been a few months at least, and it was definitely the first match she's on NXT TV in years. I love her being back on the brand and seemingly helping out Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne by aligning with them. This was a solid opener up until it ended abruptly with Rose getting "hurt" and subsequently counted out. Based on the way Dolin and Jayne reacted and the whole situation was handled, I suspect it was a work, but I could be wrong.

Kyle O'Reilly def. Duke Hudson

I was pleasantly surprised by how long and competitive this match ended up being. I know O'Reilly was selling an injury from the week before, but you never know when it comes to these NXT Breakout Tournament guys because most of them have been beaten pretty quickly on TV recently. I'm glad Hudson scored as much offense as he did before eating defeat and he continues to show major signs of potential if he can put all the pieces together. Considering Ridge Holland attacked O'Reilly last week, my guess is that he's next on O'Reilly's hit list.

NXT United Kingdom Champion Ilja Dragunov Addressed the Audience

Yes, Dragunov has been appearing more on NXT this past month than he has on NXT UK (even as the champion), but that's because this was taped the day after NXT TakeOver 36 and NXT had him on hand, so they figured they'd use him and have him address his historic title victory. It was a short and sweet promo that hit all the points it needed to. Dragunov carries himself like such a star. We've been conditioned as fans to expect someone to interrupt, but that didn't happen here. I assume we'll found out who his first feud as champion will be with on a future episode of NXT UK.

Imperium (Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner) def. Drake Maverick and Grayson Waller

If you saw Waller and thought to yourself, "Who the hell is that guy?", he's been a regular on 205 Live since the spring. He's actually one of the few Cruiserweights NXT has left because the rest got fired. He's very good, but this was basically a squash for Imperium, so we didn't get to see him or Maverick do much. Imperium picked up a needed win while Maverick and Aichner teased tension, so expect that to lead to a match between them one of these weeks either on NXT or 205 Live.

LA Knight def. Johnny Gargano

For a heel vs. heel match, I didn't expect this to go so long, but I'm happy it did. It felt fresh and both guys had strong showings. The only thing that took away from it was that Dexter Lumis and Indi Hartwell were at ringside and you knew they were to get involved somehow. Sure enough, they inadvertently cost Gargano the win, though I had no issue with the outcome itself. Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing how the InDex wedding will play out in two weeks, but beyond that, Gargano should drop some of the comedic elements to his character (despite playing it well) so he can be taken seriously again.

NXT Women's Champion Raquel Gonzalez def. Jessi Kamea (Non-Title)

Kamea has been a jobber to the stars since arriving in NXT years ago and I don't ever seeing that changing, so the outcome of this contest was never in doubt. It essentially served as a display of Gonzalez's dominance and a way to tease her against Franky Monet for sometime in the not-too-distant future. If Monet is next in line for a title shot, she'll likely lose so Gonzalez can transition into a feud with Kay Lee Ray (who had a nice sit-down interview on this show).

Roderick Strong def. Ikemen Jiro

Strong issued another open challenge last week and it was answered by Jiro via a video on WWE's YouTube channel/WWE.com over the weekend. I know he wasn't the most exciting opponent for Strong on paper, but at least it allowed him to bounce back from his recent loss to Dragunov on the show. They had a fun sprint with Strong's offense looking excellent as always and Jiro selling well for him. They're clearly killing time until Kushida is cleared and can defend his NXT Cruiserweight Championship against Strong.

Tommaso Ciampa def. Ridge Holland

I thought this marked Holland's first pinfall loss on NXT, but I forgot that Johnny Gargano beat him on the show last summer. Nonetheless, I had no problem with Ciampa beating him here as he's felt like an afterthought as a singles star for the longest time. I've enjoyed his team with Timothy Thatcher, but he really should break out on his own again and this was a good step in that direction. Unsurprisingly, they had a hard-hitting affair and worked very well together. I'd be very interested in seeing Ciampa challenge Samoa Joe for the NXT Championship at some point. That could be a hell of a match.

Overall Show

The last two weeks of NXT since TakeOver 36 have been enjoyable, but I can understand why some fans would find it hard to care knowing the hard reset of the black-and-gold brand (can we even call it that anymore with the new logo coming?) is going into effect in two weeks when its live again on USA Network. I don't want to be too negative just yet and I'm willing to give whatever this updated vision of NXT they have a chance. Like I said, though, these two hours were above average between the quality wrestling, storyline advancement, sit-down interviews and hype for next week. Everything served a purpose and I was never bored.

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